Tennessee is in the market for a new women’s basketball coach.
Kellie Harper was fired after five seasons coaching the Lady Vols.
Here are candidates to monitor throughout the Lady Vols’ search.
Swing for the fences
Niele Ivey
Current job: Notre Dame coach
Ivey has established herself as one of the best coaches in the country just four seasons into her career, and she’s the kind of coach who could make an immediate impact.
She is 89-32 at Notre Dame and has led the Irish to three straight NCAA Sweet 16s, even this season when they were without All-American point guard Olivia Miles. Ivey led Notre Dame to the 2023 ACC regular-season championship, which earned her ACC Coach of the Year honors. The Irish won the ACC Tournament championship this season.
Ivey, 46, has a long track record of strong recruiting, too. She was an assistant on Notre Dame legendary coach Muffet McGraw’s staff from 2007-19. Besides the laundry list of All-Americans she recruited as an assistant, Ivey has brought in top-20 recruits like Miles, Sonia Citron, Cassandre Prosper and Hannah Hidalgo, who was a first team All-American this season as a freshman.
It would be incredibly difficult to hire Ivey with her strong ties to Notre Dame, though. Besides coaching there, she played for McGraw from 1997-2001 before her WNBA career.
As a private school, Ivey’s salary isn’t made public.
Lindsay Gottlieb
Current job: USC coach
This would be tough to do, but Danny White has to swing big. Gottlieb, 46, has transformed the USC program since she took over in 2021, and she has made a splash with big-name recruits.
Freshman JuJu Watkins, who was ranked No. 1 in the 2023 class, led USC to a Pac-12 Tournament title and the Elite Eight – USC has a chance to go to the Final Four for the first time since 1986. And Gottlieb has a 2024 class full of three five-star and three four-star recruits to add to the wealth of talent next season.
Gottlieb is 62-31 at USC and led the Trojans to a 29-5 record this season. She went to a Final Four and was 179-89 at Cal from 2011-19 before she took a job as an assistant coach in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2019-21. Gottlieb has only missed the NCAA Tournament four times in her 14 years as a head coach.
As a private school, Gottlieb’s salary isn’t made public.
Jeff Walz
Current job:Â Louisville coach
If you’re going to swing big, Walz is an enticing candidate with his track record at Louisville. Walz, 52, has taken the Cardinal to two national championship games, four Final Fours and won four ACC regular-season titles. Louisville has only missed the NCAA Tournament once in Walz’s 17 seasons. He has gone 464–135 with the Cardinal, and this season was the first time since 2018 they did not advance to at least the Elite Eight. He was an assistant on Maryland coach Brenda Frese’s staff when they won the national championship in 2006.
Walz’s name was floated when Kentucky was searching for a new coach, though it ultimately hired Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech. Walz is under contract through 2029 and he made $1.75 million this season. That base salary is set to increase by $50,000 each year for the rest of his contract.
Scott Rueck
Current job:Â Oregon State coach
Rueck is an Oregon man born and raised, and he has coached at Oregon State, his alma mater, since 2010. But with the end of the Pac-12, could Tennessee lure him away? SEC basketball is a lot more attractive than the West Coast Conference.
After being picked 10th in the Pac-12 preseason polls, the Beavers finished third in the best conference in the country this season. Oregon State earned a No. 3 seed and made a run to the Elite Eight, where they fell to No. 1 seed South Carolina.
Rueck, 54, missed the tournament the last two seasons, but those are seeming like more of a fluke after this season and considering his record. He led the Beavers to six straight NCAA Tournaments before the pandemic canceled the 2020 tournament. That run included a trip to the Final Four in 2016, the Elite Eight in 2018 and two other trips to the Sweet 16. Rueck is under contract through 2031 and makes $1,094,520 at Oregon State.
Cori Close
Current job:Â UCLA coach
Close has had her ups and downs since she took over as UCLA’s coach in 2011, but she led the Bruins to one of their best season of her tenure. UCLA was a top-10 team this season and finished tied for second in stacked Pac-12. The Bruins made a run to the Sweet 16, where they fell to reigning champion LSU. Close has led UCLA to eight NCAA Tournament appearances, which includes a trip to the Elite Eight in 2018.
Close, 52, has gone 287-140 at UCLA, and has put together a 54-17 record the last two seasons. She has also put together strong recruiting classes, bringing in talent like Kiki Rice, Lauren Betts and a class of three five-stars in 2024.
Close could be a tough hire as a California native, but with conference realignment, coaching in the SEC is an attractive job. Close made $774,722 at UCLA this season.
Coaches on the rise
JR Payne
Current job:Â Colorado coach
If White wants a coach with a Tennessee connection, there’s a Tennessee native on the rise in Colorado. Payne, who’s from Jackson, has strung together three 20-plus win seasons with the Buffs. Payne, 46, has also developed players who weren’t top-tier recruits into players capable of a postseason run. Colorado started off this season with a splash when it upset reigning champion LSU in its first game.
Her first five seasons at Colorado weren’t all that impressive. But the last three seasons have seen a 71-28 record and three straight NCAA Tournament bids, including two straight trips to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Payne signed a contract extension last year that lasts through 2028. She makes $730,000 at Colorado.
Yolett McPhee-McCuin
Current job:Â Ole Miss coach
Coach Yo built a strong SEC program at Ole Miss, and she’s one of the rising stars in women’s basketball. She has led the Rebels to three straight NCAA Tournaments and has had a 72-27 record the last three seasons. Ole Miss beat Tennessee this season for the first time in McPhee-McCuin’s tenure.
Last season, Ole Miss pulled off an upset against No. 1 seed Stanford to go to the Sweet 16. McPhee-McCuin, 41, changed the trajectory of the Ole Miss program, and she has found more and more success in SEC play each season.
McPhee-McCuin signed a contract extension last season that runs through 2027. She made $1,035,000 at Ole Miss this season.
Kara Lawson
Current job: Duke coach
Tennessee probably needs to go outside the Summitt coaching tree for this hire, but the former Lady Vols star point guard is still a solid candidate with her success as a pro and her strong recruiting at Duke already.
Lawson, 43, would have been a risky hire last time around with no experience in women’s college basketball. But she has spent the last four seasons at Duke, where she has started to find success after the Blue Devils opted out of the 2020-21 season.
Lawson has a 68-33 record at Duke, but has gone 48-19 the last two seasons. The Blue Devils have made the last two NCAA Tournaments, finished tied for second in the ACC last season and made a run to the Sweet 16 this year after upsetting No. 2 seed Ohio State.
She played in the WNBA from 2003-15 after playing at Tennessee from 1999-2003. Lawson won a WNBA title in 2005 and an Olympic gold medal in 2008. She also spent a season as an assistant coach in the NBA for the Boston Celtics the season before she got hired at Duke.
As a private school, Lawson’s salary isn’t made public.
Tomekia Reed
Current job:Â Jackson State coach
Reed has a 99-47 record in five seasons and the Tigers won five straight SWAC regular-season titles, three SWAC tournament titles to earn NCAA Tournament berths in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Jackson State impressed in its last two tournament runs and came close to upsetting LSU in 2022. The Tigers fell to UConn in the first round this year, but Reed drew praise from Huskies coach Geno Auriemma.
Reed consistently schedules tough for her team and plays against Power Five competition. Coaching in the SEC would be a jump for Reed, but she has proven she can coach.
Reed is an interesting candidate given her contract, which paid her approximately $135,000 per year, at Jackson State expired Sunday. The last time her contract was up, she interviewed for jobs in the Pac-12, Big 12, American and Mountain West conferences.
Jennie Baranczyk
Current job:Â Oklahoma coach
Baranczyk was already set to join the SEC coaching ranks next season with Oklahoma joining the conference, but could she be leading a different team?
Baranczyk, 42, was hired to lead the Sooners after nine seasons at Drake, where she went 196-96. In three seasons at Oklahoma, Baranczyk has found even more success. She has gone 74-26 and won the last two Big 12 regular-season titles, which earned her Big 12 Coach of the Year honors. The Sooners have only made it to the NCAA second round the last three seasons, but Baranczyk’s start there is promising.
Baranczyk is under contract through 2028 and made $600,000 this season at Oklahoma – though she could make up to $750,000 if she stays at Oklahoma until May 1.
Wild card
Shea Ralph
Current job:Â Vanderbilt coach
Yes, she’s a UConn alum. And yes, she coaches at in-state rival Vanderbilt, but the current administration may not mind that in the name of winning. Ralph, 46, has built the Commodores into a solid SEC program, which is no small feat.
After being an assistant on Auriemma’s staff at UConn form 2008-21, Ralph has spent the last three seasons at Vanderbilt. Her first two seasons were uphill battles, going 28-38, but this season was her best yet. Vanderbilt went 23-10 and finished sixth in the SEC at 9-7. The Commodores earned an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament and won their play-in game against Columbia before losing to Baylor in the first round.
It would be a risky hire because of the fan base’s potential reaction. But she’s worth considering with her recruiting at Vanderbilt and how much progress she made in three seasons.
As a private school, Ralph’s salary isn’t made public.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols basketball coaching candidates for Kellie Harper replacement
