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University of Miami head coach Katie Meier enters her fourth year at the helm of the Hurricanes' women's basketball program. A well known and respected figure in women's basketball, Meier has worked tirelessly to put her mark on Miami's program and to build a winning tradition.
Hired on April 19, 2005, UM Athletics Director Paul Dee announced the appointment of Meier in front of national and local media, fans, alumni and support staff, signifying the beginning of a new era.
Following an unprecedented career as one of the greatest athletes to ever play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Meier quickly established herself in the coaching ranks. Upon her appointment at UM, following an impressive four-year tenure as the head coach at Charlotte where she helped bring the 49er program into national prominence, Meier made it clear that her goal is to make Miami one of the premier women's basketball programs in the country.
In her first season, Meier wasted little time in making the first steps towards those goals. After receiving little attention in the ACC preseason polls, the Hurricanes posted an impressive overall record of 17-13 and, fighting through a conference that would send nine teams to the postseason, including three to the NCAA Final Four, finished with sixth-place, 6-8 record in ACC play en route to earning a berth into the second round of the 2006 Women's National Invitation Tournament.
Throughout the season Miami posted wins over ranked teams such as Mississippi (No. 25), Boston College (No. 21) and Virginia Tech (No. 25)--and nearly knocked off then-No. 1 Duke in double-overtime. The Hurricanes also recorded wins over two eventual conference champions in Hartford (America East) and Oakland (Mid-Continent). Under her direction, standout Tamara James produced one of the greatest seasons ever seen by a UM player in 2005-06, including becoming the University's all-time leading scorer before being taken as the No. 8 overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics.
In Meier's second season in 2006-07, the Hurricanes got off to a strong start, winning seven of their first eight games--including a 79-70 win over Indiana to claim the UM Thanksgiving Tournament title. On Dec. 1, Meier picked up her 100th career victory as the Hurricanes defeated Jackson State, 77-50. However, with only eight healthy players to call upon by the start of the ACC schedule, Miami faced challenge after challenge competing in a league that ranked among the top-three strongest women's basketball conferences nationally and produced two of the NCAA Tournament's four No. 1 seeds in 2006-07.
Regardless, Renee Taylor emerged as the ACC's leading scorer--upholding Miami's streak of producing the league's leading scorer in all three years it has been a member. The All-ACC Second Team selection set school records in single-game scoring with 42 points at Houston and became the 19th Hurricane to score at least 1,000 points--and just the sixth to do so in her first two seasons. In addition, transfer Maurita Reid emerged as a defensive threat, tying the school record with 10 steals versus Wake Forest and finishing among the ACC's leaders and NCAA's top 10 in steals per game.
The 2007-08 season, Meier's third with the Hurricanes, saw Maurita Reid continue her rise among the ACC elite. The senior was nothing short of impressive shooting beyond the arc and picking opponents pockets. She hit four or more three-pointers on 10 different occasions and finished the season with 110 steals, good for second in the conference and fifth in the NCAA. The Queens, N.Y. native led the team in points (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.6 rpg) and was also named the ACC All-Defensive Team.
However, Reid wasn't the only contributor for the Hurricanes. A strong freshmen class, led by guard Epiphany Woodson, helped build a foundation for Miami's immediate future. Woodson ended the season as the team's third leading scorer (6.4 ppg) and shared starts with the veteran LaToya Cunningham at the point.
The 2008-09 season is shaping up to be one of Meier's best in South Florida as she and her staff recruited a strong incoming class, ranked as high as No. 21 in some basketball publications. The young talent added with the exisiting leadership will be something to look out for in the rugged ACC.
Building a Tradition at Charlotte Meier could solely be responsible for bringing the 49er women's basketball program into national prominence. Prior to her appointment as head coach at Charlotte in 2001, the 49ers had only one previous postseason appearance--a WNIT berth in 1990.
During her four-year tenure at Charlotte, Meier led the 49ers to three postseason berths--one NCAA Tournament appearance (2003) and two WNIT appearances (2004, 2005)--and a combined overall record of 76-45 (.628).
In her inaugural campaign at Charlotte, Meier led the 49ers to a 16-13 finish to record their first winning season in eight years.
The following season, she guided the 49ers to a 21-9 finish marking the most wins (21) in over a decade at Charlotte. With a 12-2 record in Conference USA play, Meier and the 49ers also earned the school's first-ever C-USA regular-season championship and earned the school's first-ever appearance at the NCAA Tournament. In 2003-04, Meier and the 49ers concluded the season with a 17-14 record while earning a trip to the 2004 WNIT. Along with marking the first time in school history that the 49ers had made back-to-back postseason appearances, Meier also led Charlotte to their first-ever postseason victory with a 78-71 win over Clemson in the first round of the WNIT.
In 2004-05, she enjoyed an overall record of 22-9 to tie for the third-most single season wins in Charlotte history and the most wins for the program in a single season since 1990-91. The 49ers also advanced to the postseason for the third-consecutive season and the WNIT for the second-straight year.
Prior to Charlotte, Meier spent seven seasons at Tulane University, serving as an associate head coach from 1999-01 and an assistant coach on the Green Wave staff from 1994-99. As a member of the Tulane coaching staff, Meier helped the Green Wave to an overall record of 164-52 (.759) in seven seasons, including the highestranking in school history (13th by the Associated Press) in 2000 and a school-record 27 wins the same season.
During her time at Tulane, Meier and the Green Wave also saw an impressive seven-year run at the NCAA Tournament.
Meier began her collegiate coaching career at the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she served as an assistant coach during the 1993-94 season.
Establishing Her Legacy as a Player Meier's success as a coach is a direct reflection on her playing career as a standout at Duke University. A four-year letterwinner for the Blue Devils under head coach Debbie Leonard from 1986-90, Meier's name is scattered throughout the Duke record books.
She currently ranks among the school's all-time career leaders in scoring average (16.2 points per game), steals (232), free throws made (447) and free throws attempted (624). She is also listed among Duke's leaders in career points (1,761), field goals made (653), field goals attempted (1,283), assists (409) and rebounding average (6.1 rebounds per game).
Meier wasted no time making her mark at Duke, earning ACC Rookie of the Year and Basketball Yearbook Freshman All-America honors 1986. Meier injured her knee in 1988 during her junior season and ultimately missed the entire 1989 campaign while recovering.
Meier returned to Duke for her senior season in 1990 without missing a beat, earning Kodak/WBCA District 2 All-America and All-ACC First Team accolades while being named the Blue Devils' most valuable player.
In 2002, Meier was honored by Duke for her efforts as a player when she was named to the inaugural induction class in the Blue Devils' Hall of Honor. That same year Meier was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference's 50th Anniversary Team. In 2006, she was once again honored by the conference when she was named one of 12 ACC Tournament Legends at the 2006 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament.
Meier's success on the court was only outdone by her accomplishments in the classroom. She was named to the Dean's List from 1986-88. In 1988 she also earned GTE Academic All-America Second Team honors. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature with cum laude honors in 1989, Meier went on to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching English from Duke in 1990.
Following her playing career at Duke, Meier moved overseas to play three seasons with BBC Mini-Flat Waregem in Belgium from 1990-93. There, she helped lead her team to three First Division regular season titles and one Belgian Cup Championship.
While in Belgium, Meier also spent time teaching classes of conversational English while coaching teams of 15- to 17-year-olds.
A native of Wheaton, Ill., Meier graduated from Wheaton High School in 1985.
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