Matthew Mitchell (basketball)

Matthew Mitchell
Biographical details
Born	December 16, 1970 (age 53); Louisville, Mississippi
Alma mater	Mississippi State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1995–1996	Winston Acad. (MS) (asst.)
1996–1998	Central Holmes Acad. (MS)
1998–1999	Manchester Acad. (MS)
1999–2000	Tennessee (grad. asst.)
2000–2003	Florida (asst.)
2003–2005	Kentucky (asst.)
2005–2007	Morehead State
2007–2020	Kentucky
Head coaching record
Overall	309–143 (.684)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
	2× SEC Coach of the Year (2010, 2012)

Last updated March 12, 2024

Matthew LaMont Mitchell (born December 16, 1970)^[1] is an American former college basketball coach, who was most recently head coach for University of Kentucky women's basketball.^[2] On November 12, 2020, Mitchell announced his retirement from coaching.^[3]

Coaching

Mitchell became the head coach of UK on April 23, 2007, succeeding former UK coach Mickie DeMoss.^[2] Prior to becoming the coach at Kentucky, Mitchell spent two years as the head coach at Morehead State.^[2] Mitchell started his coaching career as graduate assistant under Pat Summitt at Tennessee, and he also spent time as an assistant coach at Florida and Kentucky before becoming a head coach.^[2]

Following the 2009–10 season, Mitchell was named the SEC Coach of the Year.^[4] In addition to Mitchell's recognition, Victoria Dunlap was named the SEC Player of the Year and A'dia Mathies was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. The Wildcats joined the unbeaten national champion 1998 Tennessee squad as the only teams in SEC women's basketball history to sweep the major post-season awards.^[4]

Mitchell's success on the court has already moved him up to No. 4 in all-time wins at Kentucky with 86. His winning percentage of 63.7 percent (86–49) ranks third.

Year Three proved to be the best year yet as Mitchell was named SEC Coach of the Year for his remarkable job in turning around a team that went 16–16 overall, 5–9 in conference play the year prior to a 28–8 overall record in 2009–10. The Cats' 28 overall wins, including 11 SEC wins were school records and UK finished second in the league despite being picked to finish 11th in the preseason polls.

In his fourth season Mitchell once again led the Wildcats to an outstanding season with a 25–9 overall record and a school-record-tying 11 wins (11–5) in the SEC. UK took a second-place finish in the league standings for the second-consecutive year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

Mitchell led Kentucky to one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2011–12 with a 28–7 overall record, including an 18–0 mark at home, and an appearance in the Elite Eight for the second time in three years. The Wildcats won their first SEC regular season championship since 1982 with a school-record 13–3 mark in league play. The Cats finished No. 12 in the final AP poll & No. 8 in final USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, marking the highest final AP ranking since finishing 11th in 1983 and the highest final ranking in the coaches' poll in school history. He was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons by the AP.

In January 2018, Mitchell earned his 300th career victory, with his 270th coming in his twelfth year as Kentucky's head coach.^[5]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Morehead State Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference)(2005–2007)
2005–06	Morehead State	16–13	11–9	4th
2006–07	Morehead State	14–16	13–7	4th
Morehead State:		30–29 (.508)	24–16 (.600)
Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference)(2007–2020)
2007–08	Kentucky	17–16	8–6	5th	WNIT Quarterfinals
2008–09	Kentucky	16–16	5–9	10th	WNIT second round
2009–10	Kentucky	28–8	11–5	2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
2010–11	Kentucky	25–9	11–5	2nd	NCAA second round
2011–12	Kentucky	28–7	13–3	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2012–13	Kentucky	30–6	13–3	2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
2013–14	Kentucky	26–9	10–6	4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2014–15	Kentucky	24–10	10–6	T-4th	NCAA second round
2015–16	Kentucky	25–8	10–6	T-4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2016–17	Kentucky	22–11	11–5	T-4th	NCAA second round
2017–18	Kentucky	15–17	6–10	9th
2018–19	Kentucky	25–8	11–5	4th	NCAA second round
2019–20	Kentucky	21–7	10–6	T–3rd	Postseason not held due to COVID-19
Kentucky:		281–125 (.692)	119–69 (.633)
Total:		311–154 (.669)
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

Personal

Mitchell attended Mississippi State University from 1993 to 1995, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing.

He is married to the former Jenna Ramsey, from Amelia Island, and he has three daughters, Lacy,^[2] Saylor and Presley Blue.

Matthew and his wife Jenna are very active in community service. In June 2014, Matthew and Jenna pledged $1 million over the next 10 years to the University of Kentucky Athletics Department. Just a few months later, they launched The Mitchell Family Foundation, a non-profit organization set to benefit charities in the Lexington community. The first fund-raising event of the Foundation in September 2014 brought in renowned author and leadership expert, John C. Maxwell. In October 2016, Matthew and Jenna were presented the 2016 Community Service Award by the National Urban League of Lexington.

Retirement and Injury

On November 12, 2020, Mitchell announced his retirement following months of recovery after suffering a concussion from an accident. The accident happened in March 2020 during a family vacation in Mexico. Associate head coach Kyra Elzy, who had been leading the program on an interim basis, was eventually named Mitchell's successor.

Related Research Articles

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The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball program is the men's college basketball team of the University of Kentucky. It has eight NCAA championships, the best all-time winning percentage, and the most all-time victories. The Wildcats compete in the Southeastern Conference and are currently coached by John Calipari.

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The Kentucky–Tennessee rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Kentucky Wildcats and the University of Tennessee Volunteers. The passionate rivalry between these two Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools, located about 173 miles (278 km) apart, dates to their first college football game in 1893, and has continued across all sports, with the men's basketball series gaining particular attention in recent years.

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The 2012–13 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2012–13 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, coached by Matthew Mitchell, are a member of the Southeastern Conference, and play their home games on campus at Memorial Coliseum—unlike UK's famous men's program, which plays off-campus at Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington.

The 2013–14 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented University of Kentucky during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by seventh year head coach Matthew Mitchell, played their home games at the Memorial Coliseum and were members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished with a record of 26–9 overall, 10–6 in SEC play for a fourth-place finish. They lost in the 2014 SEC women's basketball tournament to Tennessee. They were invited to the 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament which they defeated Wright State in the first round, Syracuse in the second round before losing to Baylor in the sweet sixteen.

The 2014–15 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented University of Kentucky during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by eighth year head coach Matthew Mitchell, play their home games at the Memorial Coliseum with one game at Rupp Arena and were members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 10–6 in SEC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the SEC women's tournament where they lost to Tennessee. They received an at-large to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Tennessee State in the first before getting upset by Dayton the second round.

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The 2016–17 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represents University of Kentucky during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by tenth year head coach Matthew Mitchell, play their home games at the Memorial Coliseum with one game at Rupp Arena and were members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 22–11, 11–5 in SEC play to finish in a tie for third place. They advanced to the semifinals of the SEC women's tournament where they lost to South Carolina. They received an at-large to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Belmont in the first round before losing to Ohio State in the second round.

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The 2021–22 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by second-year head coach Kyra Elzy, will play most of their home games at Memorial Coliseum and two at Rupp Arena and compete as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

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The 2023–24 Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represents the University of Kentucky during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by fourth-year head coach Kyra Elzy, are playing most of their home games at Rupp Arena as Memorial Coliseum undergoes extensive renovations this season and compete as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Wildcats will play five games at other venues in and near their home city of Lexington, Kentucky. Four home games, including the season opener, are at the Clive M. Beck Center at Transylvania University in Lexington, and one is at Davis–Reid Alumni Gym at Georgetown College in the city of that name.

References

↑ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
1 2 3 4 5 "Matthew Mitchell bio". University of Kentucky. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
↑ Crane, Evan (November 12, 2020). "Matthew Mitchell Retires from Coaching; Kyra Elzy Named Interim Head Coach". UKAthletics.com. Kentucky Wildcats Athletics. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
1 2 Smith, Jennifer (March 3, 2010). "UK women sweep SEC post-season awards". KentuckySports.com.
↑ "Mitchell Earns 300th Career Win as No. 16 Kentucky Tops Vanderbilt". UK Athletics. January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.

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[NCAA_Coaches-1] "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 25, 2015.

[UKABio-2] 1 2 3 4 5 "Matthew Mitchell bio". University of Kentucky. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.

[3] Crane, Evan (November 12, 2020). "Matthew Mitchell Retires from Coaching; Kyra Elzy Named Interim Head Coach". UKAthletics.com. Kentucky Wildcats Athletics. Retrieved November 12, 2020.

[2010Awards-4] 1 2 Smith, Jennifer (March 3, 2010). "UK women sweep SEC post-season awards". KentuckySports.com.

[5] "Mitchell Earns 300th Career Win as No. 16 Kentucky Tops Vanderbilt". UK Athletics. January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.

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