Kathy Olivier

Katherine Ann Olivier (née Ricks; born November 6, 1959)[1] is an American college basketball coach who most recently was the women's basketball head coach at UNLV. She resigned from that position on March 6, 2020.[2]

Kathy Olivier
Olivier in 2017 during a game at San Jose State.
Biographical details
Born (1959-11-06) November 6, 1959
Los Angeles County, California
Playing career
1977–1979Cal State Fullerton
1979–1981UNLV
Position(s)Forward
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1981–1982UNLV (GA)
1982–1983UC Irvine (asst.)
1983–1986USC (asst.)
1986–1993UCLA (asst.)
1993–2008UCLA
2008–2020UNLV
Head coaching record
Overall414–401 (.508)
Tournaments5–5 (NCAA)
0–3 (WNIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As head coach:

As assistant coach:

  • NCAA Division I (1984)
Awards
As player:
  • Honorable mention All-American (1980)

Early life and education

Born Katherine Ann Ricks in Los Angeles County, Olivier graduated from Valencia High School in Placentia, California in 1977.[1] As Kathy Ricks, Olivier played collegiate basketball and tennis at Cal State Fullerton from 1977 to 1979 and UNLV basketball from 1979 to 1981. She was the leading scorer in both her seasons at Cal State Fullerton, averaging 15.6 points and 9.2 rebounds as a freshman[3] and 19.3 points and 7.7 rebounds as a sophomore.[4] At UNLV, Olivier earned honorable mention All-America honors in 1980 after a junior season averaging 16.3 points and 5.7 rebounds.[5][6] In her fourth consecutive year as her team's leading scorer, Olivier averaged 20.2 points and 9.2 rebounds as a senior in 1980–81.[5] Olivier graduated from UNLV in 1981 with a degree in physical education.[7]

Coaching career

Assistant coach (1981–1993)

Olivier began her coaching career in 1981 as a graduate assistant at UNLV, followed by a season as an assistant coach at UC Irvine in 1982–83.[7]

From 1983 to 1986, Olivier was an assistant coach at USC under Linda Sharp, including USC's 1984 national championship team.[5]

Olivier moved to rival UCLA as an assistant coach under Billie Moore in 1986. In seven seasons with Olivier on the staff, UCLA had five winning seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 1992.[5]

UCLA (1993–2008)

Following Moore's resignation, UCLA promoted Olivier to head coach on May 3, 1993.[8] In 15 seasons at UCLA, Olivier went 232–208, with the program's first Pac-10 regular season title in 1999 and first Pac-10 Tournament title in 2006.[7][5] UCLA made five NCAA Tournaments (1998–2000, 2004, 2006), with its most successful run being to the Elite Eight in 1999.[7] Following a 16–15 season, Olivier resigned from UCLA on March 11, 2008.[9]

UNLV (2008–2020)

Returning to her alma mater, Olivier became women's basketball head coach at UNLV on April 22, 2008.[7] After losing records for the first three seasons, UNLV went 22–10 in 2011–12 with a second place finish in the Mountain West Conference and WNIT appearance.[7] Since the 2011–12 season, UNLV has always had .500 or better records in Mountain West play, but UNLV's next season with an overall winning record was in 2015–16 with an 18–14 finish.[7] In 2016–17, UNLV had its second straight winning overall season at 22–11 (12–6 MW) and made the WNIT for its second postseason appearance under Olivier.[10]
After 12 years as UNLV head coach, Olivier resigned as head coach on March 6, 2020.[2]

Head coaching record

Sources:[11][12][13][14]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UCLA Bruins (Pac-10 Conference) (1993–2008)
1993–94 UCLA 15–1210–85th
1994–95 UCLA 10–175–13T–8th
1995–96 UCLA 13–148–10T–6th
1996–97 UCLA 13–147–116th
1997–98 UCLA 20–914–4T–2ndNCAA second round
1998–99 UCLA 26–815–3T–1stNCAA Elite Eight
1999–2000 UCLA 18–1112–64thNCAA First Round
2000–01 UCLA 6–235–1310th
2001–02 UCLA 9–204–148th
2002–03 UCLA 18–1112–64th
2003–04 UCLA 17–1311–7T–3rdNCAA first round
2004–05 UCLA 16–1210–86th
2005–06 UCLA 21–1112–63rdNCAA second round
2006–07 UCLA 14–187–117th
2007–08 UCLA 16–1510–8T–4th
UCLA: 232–208 (.527)142–128 (.526)
UNLV Lady Rebels (Mountain West Conference) (2008–2020)
2008–09 UNLV 14–185–117th
2009–10 UNLV 13–186–107th
2010–11 UNLV 11–204–128th
2011–12 UNLV 22–1010–42ndWNIT First Round
2012–13 UNLV 12–198–8T–4th
2013–14 UNLV 13–199–9T–6th
2014–15 UNLV 13–1710–8T–5th
2015–16 UNLV 18–149–9T–5th
2016–17 UNLV 22–1012–6T–3rdWNIT First Round
2017–18 UNLV 19–1214–4T–1stWNIT First Round
2018–19 UNLV 12–1810–8T-5th
2019–20 UNLV 13–179–9T-5th
UNLV: 182–193 (.485)106–99 (.517)
Total:414–401 (.508)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal life

Olivier has a daughter, Alexis, and coached her at UCLA from 2006 to 2008.[15] She was previously married to chemical engineer Jim Olivier.[8]

References
  1. "Kathy Ricks", '79-'80 UNLV Lady Rebels, UNLV, p. 27
  2. Anderson, Mark (March 6, 2020). "UNLV's Kathy Olivier resigns as women's basketball coach". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  3. "Cal State Fullerton Athletics". Cal State Fullerton Athletics.
  4. "Cal State Fullerton Athletics". Cal State Fullerton Athletics. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  5. "Kathy Olivier". UCLA. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  6. "Kathy Ricks, Graduate Assistant", UNLV Lady Rebels Basketball '81-'82, UNLV, p. 6
  7. "Kathy Olivier". UNLV. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  8. Gustkey, Earl (May 4, 1993). "UCLA Hires Assistant to Take Over as Coach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  9. Arritt, Dan (March 12, 2008). "Olivier steps down as UCLA women's coach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  10. "2020-21 UNLV Lady Rebels Women's Basketball Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  11. "NCAA Statistics". stats.ncaa.org.
  12. "2020-21 Mountain West Basketball Standings". ESPN.
  13. 2019-20 MW Record book, pp. 34-36
  14. 2011-12 Pac-12 women's basketball media guide, pp. 71-72
  15. "Player Bio: Alexis Olivier - UCLA Official Athletic Site - UCLA Bruins Official Athletic Site | UCLABruins.com". October 8, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-10-08.
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