Chattanooga Mocs women's basketball

Head Coaches

The Chattanooga women's team has had only eight coaches in their 50-season history: Grace Keith, Sharon Fanning-Otto, Craig Parrott, Wes Moore, Jim Foster, Katie Burrows, Shane Poppies, and Deandra Schirmer.

Grace Keith

Keith had settled into teaching for two years at Chattanooga's Hixson Elementary School, following her 12 years of coaching the girls' basketball team at Hixson High School. Title IX became law in 1972 and began affecting the mostly male-dominated college athletics across the US, allowing women to participate. Harold Wilkes, then athletic director for UTC and friend to Keith's superiors, offered her a job as head coach for the UTC Mocettes. After a few chaotic months of building a program, the former intramural Chattanooga team began its varsity era in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, eight years before the NCAA allowed women's basketball as a sport. In 1976, Keith retired from basketball to return to teaching.

Sharon Fanning-Otto

One of the players Keith recruited was Chattanooga High School standout Sharon Fanning, who also played and later coached both UTC's volleyball (until 1978) and women's basketball teams. Fanning also renamed the Mocettes as the Lady Mocs. In 1982, the NCAA began hosting women's championships. The Lady Mocs joined the Southern Conference, which only included East Tennessee State, Marshall and Appalachian State University. UTC claimed the first regular season title that year and went on to win five straight titles under Fanning's leadership. She went on to become an eight-year head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats in 1987 and retired in 2012, following a 17-year coaching career with the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs.

Craig Parrott

Craig Parrott had spent several years coaching high school basketball teams before Fanning offered him an assistant coaching job at UTC in 1986. The following year, Fanning departed for Kentucky and Parrott was asked to fill the position. He became the first coach to take the program to the NCAA Tournament, after winning the SoCon Tournament in 1989. In the 1991–92 season, he again led the team to the NCAA, after sharing the regular season conference title and winning the SoCon. In 1998, he returned to coaching high school teams in Walker County, Georgia, and retired in 2014.

Wes Moore

Wes Moore became the fourth Chattanooga women's basketball coach in 1998. In 15 seasons, he led the Lady Mocs to 12 SoCon regular season titles, nine SoCon tournament championships, and nine NCAA Tournament berths, becoming the winningest coach in UTC and SoCon history. The six-time SoCon Coach of the Year had an overall record of 358–113, 222–42 (SoCon). In 2013, he went on to coach the NC State Wolfpack.

Jim Foster

On May 9, 2013, Chattanooga announced the hiring of Jim Foster to become the new head women's basketball coach. Foster has 37 years of coaching experience at St. Joseph's, Vanderbilt, Ohio State University and Chattanooga, along with four Big Ten Conference coach of the year awards. Soon after taking the job at Chattanooga, Foster was voted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Foster retired from coaching at the end of the 2018 season.

Katie Burrows

In May 2018, Katie Burrows was named as the new head women's basketball coach. An alumna of Chattanooga, Burrows served as an assistant coach under Moore and Foster, respectively.

| postseason

Shawn Poppie

On March 30, 2022, Shawn Poppie was named as the new head women's basketball coach. Previously he was assistant coach under Kenny Brooks at the Virginia Tech since 2016.

Deandra Schirmer

On April 4, 2024, Deandra Schirmer was named as the 8th head women's basketball coach. Previously she was the women's basketball head coach at Valdosta State from 2019 to 2024.

NCAA tournament results

The Mocs have appeared in seventeen NCAA Tournaments, with a combined record of 1–17.

References

References

1. [http://www.gomocs.com/news/2015/10/28/WBB_1028150913.aspx?path=wbb Mocs Take Home Court Advantage to Heart]
2. Henley, Gene. (November 3, 2015). "UTC women ranked 25th in preseason AP poll".
3. (February 16, 2015). "Hall of Fame: Grace Keith Coached for Love of the Game".
4. "Alumni Highlights: Sharon Fanning-Otis '75".
5. Herpst, Scott. (July 7, 2014). "Parrott looking forward to retirement".
6. "NC State Wolfpack Athletics Staff: Wes Moore".
7. (May 9, 2013). "Jim Foster's next stop: Chattanooga". Associated Press.
8. (May 25, 2018). "Chattanooga promotes Katie Burrows to replace Jim Foster". Associated Press.
9. (March 30, 2022). "Shawn Poppie Named Women's Basketball Head Coach". gomocs.com.
10. (2024-04-04). "Schrimer to lead Chattanooga women's hoops".