Meier on brink of UM history for all-time wins

Katie Meier is known for her boundless enthusiasm and energy, and she is bouncing off the University of Miami gym walls heading into the Hurricanes’ season opener Tuesday against Jackson State.

She feels this team has the perfect blend of youth and experience and says the chemistry is as good as it’s been in many years.

Meier is on the brink of UM history. With a win Tuesday she will become the all-time winningest basketball coach — men or women — in school history. She would pass Ferne Labati

(303 wins) to take the top spot.

In her 16 years at Miami, Meier has coached the Canes to 11 postseason berths and eight NCAA Tournaments.

“We have a lot of new and great returnees,” Meier said. “You can feel it in practice.

When we need energy, hype and freshness or diving on the floor, we have that. When we need poise, confidence, calm and execution, we have that, too. It’s a great mix.”

She has high hopes for freshman guard Ja’Leah Williams of Pompano Beach Blanche Ely High, who is drawing comparisons to former UM star Riquna “Bay Bay” Williams (no relation), who now plays in the WNBA.

“Ja’Leah’s better than we thought when we were recruiting her and she was a very high recruit for us, but sometimes you’re not sure how they’ll use that athleticism and putting it in a system,” Meier said. “We believe in pace and space and she’s definitely a pace-and-space player. The crowd’s going to love Ja’Leah.”

Williams also has a great sense of humor. Ja’Leah has already perfected a Meier impersonation, propping reading glasses on the edge of her nose and shouting out Meier-isms.

Williams said she chose UM over other schools because assistant coach Fitzroy (“Fitz”) Anthony started attending her games when she was in eighth grade and the entire staff made her feel special long before she committed.

That was especially true after she underwent back surgery in May 2019.

“I had surgery on my back and I didn’t think I’d play basketball again, but the Miami coaching staff would check up on me, and that felt special to me,” she said. “They treated me as family. I had not committed to them, never told them they were top this or that, but they were showing me that I was family already and that’s what really brought me toward this program.”

Williams has a mentor in graduate student Mykea Gray, a 5-4 point guard who is back after suffering a season-ending ACL tear last year. Before that, she started all 96 games of her UM career and averaged double digits every season.

“I didn’t realize how much I took her for granted,” Meier said. “I always admired and revered her, but just having her in there with the pace she can set the tone for the team. No one’s going to outwork Mykea. She always has on her hand “HOH” — heart over height — and she displays that every day.”

Another key veteran is forward Destiny Harden, whom Meier calls the team’s “X factor.” She averaged 10.7 points and 5.4 rebounds last year for the Canes, who went 11-11 overall and 8-10 in the ACC.

“Destiny’s skill-set is so versatile and she’s such a competitor,” Meier said. “If you roll out a ball on a driveway and grew up on Elm Street in Wheaton, Illinois, like me, and had to pick five, you’re going to pick Destiny Harden. You don’t have to ask, ‘Do I have a point guard? Do I have a forward?’ You just know Destiny’s a baller, and I’m going to take her.”