|
Coach Mittie can be reached via email at j.mittie@tcu.edu or in his office at (817) 257-7962.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the first 22 seasons of TCU women's basketball, the Lady Frogs had just four winning seasons and zero trips to the NCAA Tournament. On Aug. 19, 1999, the face and reputation of the TCU women's basketball program changed with the hiring of Jeff Mittie as TCU's sixth head coach. Now entering his 10th season at TCU, Mittie has led the Lady Frogs on one of the greatest turnarounds in women's basketball history. The 42-year-old Mittie has guided the Lady Frogs to winning seasons in each of his nine years, while taking TCU to eight consecutive postseason tournaments, including seven NCAA Tournament berths from 2001 through 2007. Since his arrival in Fort Worth, Mittie has compiled a 196-95 (.674) record in nine seasons, while nearly matching the win total the program accomplished in the first 22 seasons of existence. With 196 wins at TCU, Mittie has accounted for 48.5 percent of the school's wins in 31 seasons of basketball. Prior to Mittie's arrival, TCU owned a 208-402 (.340) mark. Overall, Mittie has been a head coach for 16 seasons, compiling a 347-154 (.693) record. He ranks as women's college basketball's current leader in victories for a coach age 42 or younger. His winning percentage ranks 28th among all active coaches, as well as 29th all-time for coaches with a minimum of 10 years of Division I experience. Under Mittie, the Lady Frogs were one of only 12 programs to advance to seven straight NCAA Tournaments between 2001 and 2007. TCU currently is the only school in the state of Texas to reach the postseason tournaments following each of the past eight seasons. Others have taken notice of the recent success experienced by TCU. Two of Mittie's former assistant coaches, Larry Tidwell and Yolanda Wells-Broughton, have moved on to Division I head coaching positions at Lamar University and Texas Southern, respectively, during the last two years. TCU earned its eighth straight postseason berth, and first Women's National Invitational Tournament appearance, in 2007-08 after Mittie led the squad to its highest finish in three seasons as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Lady Frogs rallied from a 5-7 start to the season and at one point won 11 of 12 games on their way to a 23-12 campaign. In addition to finishing runner-up to undefeated Utah in the MWC standings, the squad tied a single-season program record for conference victories with a 13-3 leage record. The season marked one of several firsts for TCU. Not only did Mittie's squad post the program's first-ever win in five trips to New Mexico, it also ended one of college basketball's longest losing streaks to a single team during its second-round WNIT win over former Southwest Conference rival Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. The victory, the 500th game in Mittie's coaching career, was the Frogs' first win in 38 all-time matchups against the Lady Raiders, although it was only the second matchup with Tech in the Mittie era. The 2007-08 season signified the end of the line for one of TCU's most successful senior classes. Lorie Butler-Rayford, Moneka Knight, Jenna Lohse, Helen Roden and Adrianne Ross helped the Frogs rack up 111 victories, the second-most wins over a five-year period in program history. Ross (second team) and Butler-Rayford (third team) each concluded their careers with all-conference honors, while newcomer Helena Sverrisdottir provided TCU with promise for future seasons by taking home MWC Freshman of the Year honors. Following the season, Ross earned a spot on the opening day roster of the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars' and joined former Lady Frog Sandora Irvin as the only TCU players to reach the WNBA. TCU also continued the recent dominance of its home floor by matching the school record for home wins previously set a year earlier with 15 victories. The Lady Frogs are 41-7 (.854) during the last three seasons at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum and 117-26 (.818) overall during Mittie's nine seasons on campus. Including in the run was a 19-game winning streak that stretched from Jan. 25, 2006 until Feb. 22, 2007. During the 2006-07 season, the Lady Frogs finished 21-11 overall, earning their sixth 20-win season in seven years. In its second season in the MWC, the Lady Frogs tied for second with an 11-5 league record and earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.In the NCAA Tournament, the Frogs traveled to Hartford, Conn., where they lost to tournament Cinderella Ole Miss in the first round. The Rebels went on to advance to the Elite 8 before falling to eventual national champion Tennessee. Despite losing in the first round to Ole Miss, Mittie still had advanced the Lady Frogs to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in five of seven appearances. Individually, Ross recorded one of the finest seasons ever for a Lady Frog during her junior campaign. In addition to being named Co-Player of the Year and earning First Team All-MWC honors, Adrianne Ross became just the second player in school history and second under Mittie to earn All-America honors. Ross was named to the Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America Team, joining former Lady Frog Sandora Irvin as the only All-Americans in school history. Ross was also a WBCA/Kodak All-America finalist. In 2005-06 Mittie guided his young team to a 19-12 overall record during its inaugural season in the Mountain West Conference. TCU ended league play with an 11-5 mark and a third-place finish. Despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the country that featured 12 top-25 teams, the Lady Frogs advanced to their sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. On March 20, 2006, Mittie led his team to an instrumental victory as the Frogs knocked-off No. 20 Texas A&M in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The win was key because it snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Aggies. Mittie led TCU to new heights in 2004-05. The Lady Frogs knocked off their first top-five squad by defeating then-No. 3-ranked Georgia in Honolulu at the Rainbow Wahine Classic. TCU followed up that performance with an 80-75 victory over then-No. 13/14 Michigan State in the title game the next day. The Spartans went on to finish the season as the Big Ten regular-season and tournament champions and were runners-up in the NCAA Championship to Baylor. TCU ended the season with a 23-10 record for its fifth consecutive 20-win season and Mittie's ninth as a head coach. Despite a first-round loss to Oregon in the NCAA Tournament, TCU made its fifth straight showing in the Big Dance. Although TCU did not win the regular-season title in Conference USA, it did claim its second tournament crown in four years with the league. The Lady Frogs finished with a 10-4 record to tie for third with Houston and went on to win the tournament in Charlotte, N.C., by defeating fifth-seeded USF, top-seeded DePaul and No. 2 seed Louisville in the championship game. While many Lady Frogs have been honored under Mittie's tutelage, Sandora Irvin won awards in 2004-05 that left little argument for her not being the greatest player in school history. Irvin was tabbed an All-American by The Associated Press, Kodak/Women's Basketball Coaches Association and the United States Basketball Writers Association. She picked up C-USA Player of the Year honors and was selected to the league's All-Decade Team as well. In addition to holding 10 TCU career records, she reestablished the NCAA career and single-game records for blocked shots with 480 and 16. An historic day for TCU, Mittie and Irvin took place April 16, 2005, in Secaucus, N.J., when she became the first-ever Lady Frog selected in the WNBA Draft. Irvin was chosen third overall by the Phoenix Mercury, making her the earliest draftee from a C-USA team in league history. She currently plays with San Antonio. In 2003-04, Mittie continued to forge the TCU name across the country. The Lady Frogs began and finished the year ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll for the first time in school history. The Purple and White was the only team from C-USA to remain in the rankings every week the entire season, finishing at No. 20 and No. 22. The squad also achieved new program-highs in the polls during the year of 13th by the AP and 15th by the coaches. Overall, the Lady Frogs registered a 25-7 record, and their 78.1 percent winning percentage was the best in school history. The 25 victories also tied a school record initially set in 2000-01. TCU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. In addition to the all-conference accolades that were earned by two TCU players, Mittie had his first All-America honoree at the NCAA Division I level. Irvin was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-American by the AP and Kodak/WBCA, becoming the first Lady Frog in school history to earn such distinction. The season before, Mittie pulled off perhaps his greatest coaching job by doing a one-eighty with his team when it stood a mere 10-12 and appeared out of contention for a third consecutive NCAA bid. The squad entered the C-USA Tournament as the fifth seed with a 15-13 record and went on to oust the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds en route to the crown. It was the third straight year Mittie and the Lady Frogs won a conference title of some sort. In the NCAA Tournament, TCU reached the second round and gave eventual national champion Connecticut one of its toughest battles of the tournament. The Lady Frogs actually took a halftime lead over the Huskies, becoming only the sixth team in the five seasons prior to lead Connecticut at the half of a home game. Mittie's squad finished the year with a 20-14 mark. Mittie continued to establish the Lady Frogs as being one of the nation's premier defensive squads in 2002-03, and it was exemplified Dec. 30, 2002, when TCU set an NCAA record for fewest points allowed in a game by holding Texas Southern to just 16. The unbelievable performance shattered a nearly 20-year-old standard previously held by Jackson State. The Lady Frogs ended up in the top 20 nationally in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots per game. While Mittie's record-setting victory over Texas Southern certainly turned heads around the nation, his victory two days earlier was one of the greatest of his career and in TCU history. The Purple and White downed eighth-rated Vanderbilt in a rout, 70-53, to pick up its first-ever win over a top 10 team. In 2001-02, Mittie captured the C-USA Coach of the Year award after the Lady Frogs claimed the C-USA regular-season championship in TCU's first stint with the league. He also guided the Lady Frogs to their first national ranking in program history and their second straight 20-win season despite the fact that just one starter returned from the previous year. TCU also made its second appearance in a row in the NCAA Tournament Second Round and finished 24-7. The 2000-01 season was revolutionary for TCU, as Mittie led the Lady Frogs to their first NCAA Tournament showing. Mittie's squad, though, was not satisfied with simply making the tournament. The Lady Frogs upended the East Region's sixth seed Penn State, a Final Four team the year before. The victory was the program's first against a ranked school and the triumph by the 11th-seeded Lady Frogs was the biggest first-round upset of the 2001 tournament. The 2000-01 Lady Frogs also rewrote the TCU single-season records book by breaking more than a dozen school marks. Thanks to an incredible 25-8 record, the Lady Frogs' win total crushed the previous Division I best of 16 set the two prior seasons. Mittie was also tabbed the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for leading TCU to the regular-season and conference tournament titles. It was the first conference title of any kind for the Lady Frogs. In the 1999-00 season, Mittie's first TCU squad posted a 16-14 overall record and compiled a 7-7 mark in WAC play, good for a share of fourth place in the league standings. Appointed to the TCU post Aug. 19, 1999, Mittie is the sixth head coach to guide the Lady Frog basketball program since the 1977-78 season. Mittie's .675 winning percentage at TCU easily ranks as the best in school history thanks to a 173-83 record. He is also the all-time winningest coach in program history, a distinction he claimed with a 74-49 victory over UAB on Feb. 28, 2003. Remarkably, it took Mittie less than four seasons to better Hall of Famer Fran Garmon, who spent 10 years at the helm. In addition to increasing the win total, Mittie has sought to upgrade TCU's non-conference schedule and increase attendance. In 2000-01, the Lady Frogs hosted Tennessee in front of a then-arena-record 7,262 fans. During the 2005-06 campaign TCU hosted No. 2 Duke. In 2001-02, TCU averaged a school-record 2,621 fans per contest over 15 home games. The Lady Frogs crushed that mark in 2003-04 by averaging a throng of 3,470 each game, tops in C-USA and 31st in the country. TCU came in a hair under that figure with 3,462 in 2004-05. The overall attendance figures since Mittie's arrival on campus are staggering. TCU has ranked in the top 50 in home attendance in seven of the last eight seasons. A total of 370,115 fans have attended TCU home games over the past eight years for an average of over 2,606 per contest. During the Lady Frogs' first 17 years in Division I before the Mittie era, just over 100,000 patrons witnessed a home game and TCU had on average less than 600 fans per game. Nine of the top 10 and 24 of the top 25 home crowds in TCU women's basketball history have come during Mittie's tenure. Mittie played a large part in helping the Lady Frogs host a women's basketball conference tournament for the first time in March 2004. TCU set a C-USA attendance record over the course of the event with 22,031 patrons, shattering the old mark of 10,966 set in 2002 at DePaul. The championship game between TCU and Houston also drew a record crowd of 4,387, bettering the 3,069 that witnessed Cincinnati and Tulane in the 1999 title game. Upon his arrival on campus, Mittie also spearheaded a drive to take a summer trip overseas. That plan came to fruition in May 2001 when the Lady Frogs took a 12-day, five-game, four-city excursion to Australia. TCU tra veled over the Pacific Ocean again in 2004-05 to Honolulu for the Rainbow Wahine Classic. During the 2006-07 season, the Lady Frogs traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout. Prior to his move to Cowtown, Mittie pieced together a 75-42 (.641) mark in his four campaigns at Arkansas State, posting a pair of 20-win seasons and winning 17 or more contests in each of his four years with the Lady Indians. Twice his teams topped the Sun Belt Conference in grade point average as well. In his final season at Arkansas State, Mittie's squad finished 18-14 with victories over a pair of ranked foes in Virginia (No. 8) and Kansas (No. 19). His team eventually advanced to the final eight of the Women's NIT. Prior to taking over the Arkansas State program, Mittie fashioned a 76-17 (.817) mark in three years as head coach at Missouri Western. In 1995, Mittie guided the school to a remarkable 31-3 slate, which included a 15-1 conference record, and he led the club to the Division II Final Four. That squad finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally and captured both the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular-season and tournament championships. For his efforts, he was tabbed league and district Coach of the Year, and was among eight finalists for the national honor. Mittie garnered league Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career in 1994 when his Griffons posted a 29-3 overall and 16-0 league record and captured the MIAA regular-season title. His club also made a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight. In Mittie's first season, his club compiled a 16-11 record, an improvement of 11 wins over the previous year. Before assuming the head coaching duties, Mittie served one season as assistant basketball and baseball coach at the school. Mittie saw several of his players pick up numerous honors during his three-year stay at Missouri Western. Two of his standouts, Tonya Foster and Amy Towne, were all-conference, all-region and All-America selections during their careers. Both Foster and Towne set school records for single-season points scored, field goal percentage and blocked shots. They also set marks for career field goal percentage and blocked shots. Seven squad members picked up Academic All-MIAA honors and two snagged GTE/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District VII accolades. Mittie's teams continue to hold school records for highest single-season winning percentage (.912), most wins and fewest losses in one year (31 and three) and single-season field goal percentage (.479). Mittie also is tied for the longest winning streak in school history (21). Former TCU assistant Josh Keister matched Mittie's 21-game winning streak when he served as head coach in 2006-07. Missouri Western's 2001-02 squad tied his record for fewest losses when it went 27-3. Mittie has never had a losing record and has averaged 22 wins and just 10 losses per season. Eleven times Mittie has advanced his teams to either the NCAA or WNIT Tournaments, where he is a combined 15-11. A native of Blue Springs, Mo., Mittie earned his undergraduate degree in sports management from Missouri Western in 1989 and his master's in sports management from the United States Sports Academy in Mobile, Ala., in 1992. Mittie and his wife, Shanna, are the proud parents of three children, daughters Logan and Madison, and son Jordan. JEFF MITTIE YEAR-BY-YEAR
* Regular-season champion JEFF MITTIE'S POSTSEASON HISTORY
JEFF MITTIE'S MILESTONE GAMES
TCU PLAYER HONORS EARNED UNDER JEFF MITTIE
|
 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
