April 21, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Former WNBA general manager and American University Head Coach Melissa McFerrin has been named the head women's basketball coach at the University of Memphis it was announced by Athletics Director R.C. Johnson, Saturday. McFerrin is on the road recruiting and will be introduced to the Memphis at a press conference, Thursday, Apr. 24th at 2 p.m. at the Athletic Office Building.

"We are very proud to have Melissa McFerrin join the Tiger family as our new head women's basketball coach," said Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson. "She brings a wealth of experience from both the collegiate and professional ranks and has been involved as a player and coach at some of the most respected institutions in the country."

McFerrin, the 2008 Patriot League Coach of the Year, spent the past four seasons at American University in Washington D.C. Her 2007 American team advanced to the Patriot League championship game and her 2008 squad won the school's first-ever Patriot League regular season championship, finishing with an 18-14 overall record. That team won 11 of 12 games down the stretch, advancing to the post season for the first time since 1997-98 with a WNIT bid. In four seasons at American, McFerrin compiled a 50-70 record and guided five different players to all-conference honors, while two other players earned all-freshman honors.

"I am extremely excited and honored to be a Tiger," McFerrin said. "I know that the University of Memphis is about winning and that is exactly the type of place that I want to be. I am so appreciative to R.C. Johnson and Lynn Parkes for making this opportunity available to me. We will become the Class of Conference USA. We will have the vision, the plan, the ability and the desire to rise to the top of Conference USA. We will build our program around sound team values and effort. The City of Memphis will be central to our plans. We want fans from Memphis, we want players from Memphis and we want a strong relationship with the coaches of Memphis."

Prior to her stint with American, McFerrin was an associate head coach at the University of Minnesota from 2002-2004. She helped Minnesota to a 50-15 record, including an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2004 and a Sweet Sixteen berth in 2003. She signed two recruiting classes ranked in the top 20 at Minnesota, and helped guide two Kodak All-Americans, including WNBA player Lindsey Whalen.

McFerrin's time at Minnesota came after a five-year association with the WNBA. She began her affiliation with the WNBA as an assistant coach with the New York Liberty from 1997-1999, assisting with coaching duties for the 1997 WNBA Championship runner-up Liberty squad. She moved to the Washington Mystics as an assistant coach in 1999-2000, taking over as the Mystics' General Manager in 2000. As the GM, she guided a team that made its first-ever WNBA play-off appearance in 2000, and handled all player trades and draft decisions before joining the coaching staff at Minnesota.

Her WNBA stint followed a 14-year coaching career that made three different stops. McFerrin began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wayland Baptist University in Texas from 1983-84. She was then hired as an assistant coach at Central Michigan University, where she helped the Chippewas to a 95-77 record in her six seasons, including a 1985 Mid-American Conference championship.

She left Central Michigan in 1990 to become an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at The Ohio State University. At Ohio State, she helped the Buckeyes to a 118-90 record and a 1993 Big Ten championship and an NCAA National Championship runner-up. That 1993 squad benefited from a 1992 McFerrin recruiting class that was ranked No. 1 in the nation, one of seven Buckeye recruiting classes to be nationally-ranked under McFerrin's watch at OSU. In 1996, McFerrin helped guide the Buckeyes to the NCAA Second Round before leaving the following season for the WNBA.

A native of Cassville, Mo., McFerrin was a four-year letterwinner and starting point guard for the University of Missouri Tigers from 1979 to 1983. She helped Missouri to a 1983 Big Eight tournament championship and NCAA tournament berth and a 1982 NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance, earning Big Eight honorable mention honors and Scholar-Athlete awards along the way. She graduated cum laude with a degree in secondary education from Missouri in 1983, and received her master's degree in physical education from Central Michigan in 1988.

McFerrin takes over a Memphis team that finished 10-20 last season, earning the seventh seed in the Conference USA tournament. She replaces Blair Savage-Lansden, who resigned from the school in March.

"Our success may not come overnight, but it will happen," McFerrin said. "This program has the support and the commitment from the University of Memphis, R.C. Johnson and Lynn Parkes. I know they want us to be successful and we want to make the University and the City of Memphis proud."

"I know that Coach McFerrin has a lot to accomplish in a very short time period," Johnson said. "We are committed to building our women's basketball program at Memphis and feel that Melissa is the right coach for the Lady Tigers."