Melissa McFerrin

Melissa Lynne McFerrin (born December 20, 1960)[1] is an American retired college basketball coach, having most recently served as head coach of the Memphis Tigers women's basketball team. McFerrin played point guard in college basketball at the University of Missouri from 1979–1983, reaching the Sweet 16 in 1982. She announced her retirement from coaching in February of 2021.[2]

Melissa McFerrin
Biographical details
Born (1960-12-20) December 20, 1960
Cassville, Missouri
Playing career
1979–1983Missouri
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1983–1984Wayland Baptist (grad asst.)
1984–1990Central Michigan (asst.)
1990–1997Ohio State (asst.)
1997–1999New York Liberty (asst.)
1999–2000Washington Mystics (asst.)
2002–2004Minnesota (asst.)
2005–2008American
2008–2021Memphis
Head coaching record
Overall243–269 (.475)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Patriot League regular season (2008)
Awards
Patriot League Coach of the Year (2008)

Early years

McFerrin grew up in Cassville, Missouri, and participated on the track team in high school, competing in the high jump where she placed first in class A in 1978.[3]

College

McFerrin attended the University of Missouri between 1979–83, earning a letter in basketball each of her four years as the starting point guard for the Tigers.[4] She help the team to the Big Eight title in 1983 and two NCAA tournament appearances in 1982 and 1983. In her senior year, she was honored as the Big Eight Scholar Athlete, graduating with a bachelor's degree in secondary education. In 1983 she earned all big eight honorable mention in 1983.[5]

Coaching

After college, she started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wayland Baptist. After a single season at Wayland Baptist, she spent six years as an assistant at Central Michigan.[6] While at Central Michigan she earned a master's degree in physical education in 1988.[7] McFerrin then moved on to Ohio State where she served as an assistant for seven years. During her time at Ohio State the team won the Big Ten in 1993, and finished as national runner-up in the NCAA tournament.[4] She served as the recruiting coordinator during her tenure at Ohio State. The 1992 recruiting class was ranked as the number one recruiting class in the nation, in no small part to the fact that it included Katie Smith in the class.[8]

In 1997, McFerrin moved to the professional ranks, joining the New York Liberty as an assistant coach.[9] In her  three years at the Liberty the team finished as runner-up twice, losing to Houston in the finals in 1997 and 1999. She then moved on to the Washington Mystics where she stayed for three years, two of which as the general manager. In her first season as general manager. the Mystics made the WNBA playoffs for the first time ever.[10]

In 2002, McFerrin returned to the college coaching ranks, initially as an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota, and then as an associate head coach for the same team.[5][7]

In 2004, McFerrin took on her first head coaching position accepting the position at American University.[4] She remained at American for four seasons. In her final year at American, the American Eagle she finished first in the Patriot League and earned an invitation to the WNIT tournament. She was named Patriot League Coach of the year.[11][12]

McFerrin became the head coach at the University of Memphis in 2008. After an initial losing season, the team put together four consecutive winning seasons and four consecutive postseason invitations, making the finals of the WBI in 2010 and earning invitations to the WNIT in the next three years. In 2013 Memphis became part of the American Athletic Conference. The team has one postseason appearance in the four years since joining the American conference, a WNIT invitation in 2016.[13]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
American Eagles (Patriot League) (2004–2008)
2004–05 American 12–167–74th
2005–06 American 7–214–107th
2006–07 American 13–196–8T-4th
2007–08 American 18–1411–31stWNIT 1st Round
American: 50–70 (.417)28–28 (.500)
Memphis Tigers (Conference USA) (2008–2013)
2008–09 Memphis 12–185–11T-9th
2009–10 Memphis 20–1410–6T-2ndWBI Finals
2010–11 Memphis 21–138–86thWNIT 1st Round
2011–12 Memphis 25–813–32ndWNIT 2nd Round
2012–13 Memphis 17–158–8T-5thWNIT 1st Round
Memphis Tigers (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2021)
2013–14 Memphis 13–186–127th
2014–15 Memphis 14–177–117th
2015–16 Memphis 18–1312–64thWNIT 1st Round
2016–17 Memphis 14–167–9T-5th
2017–18 Memphis 10–205–11T-8th
2018–19 Memphis 11–205–11T-9th
2019–20 Memphis 14–175–11T-11th
2020–21 Memphis 4–102–7
Memphis: 193–199 (.492)93–114 (.449)
Total:243–269 (.475)

      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

References
  1. "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 26 Sep 2015.
  2. "Melissa McFerrin steps down as Memphis women's basketball head coach". WREG. February 14, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  3. "1976 MSHSAA Class A Girls State Outdoor Track Meet" (PDF). www.mshsaa.org. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  4. "AUEAGLES.COM: Melissa McFerrin - Head Women's Basketball Coach". www1.american.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  5. "Melissa McFerrin's Joins Gopher Women's Basketball Coaching Staff". Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  6. "Centralight, July 1984 — Central Michigan University History". cmuhistory.cmich.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  7. "Melissa McFerrin Promoted to Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach". Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  8. "Melissa McFerrin's Joins Gopher Women's Basketball Coaching Staff". Retrieved 2017-07-05.
  9. "New York Liberty 1997 Season - New York Liberty". New York Liberty. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  10. "American University". aueagles.com. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  11. "Archived Announcements, Office of the President | American University, Washington, DC". www.american.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  12. "2009-10 Memphis Women's Basketball Information Guide". issuu. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  13. "Tigers Announce Contract Extension for Melissa McFerrin". University of Memphis. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
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