Search continues to replace Meier

The search to replace retired University of Miami women’s basketball coach Katie Meier is well underway. A decision is expected within a week, and longtime Florida Gulf Coast University coach Karl Smesko has emerged as one of the leading candidates, according to multiple sources.

Smesko, who has been at FGCU for 22 years, has a 549-101 (.847) record, which ranks ahead of UConn (.799), Tennessee (.798) and Stanford (.773).

FGCU led the nation in made three-pointers each of the past four seasons.

Other potential candidates include Toledo coach Tricia Cullop, Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger and Columbia coach Megan Griffith.

Cullop is the winningest coach in Toledo women’s basketball history. In her 17 seasons at the helm, the team has made 10 trips to the postseason and has won seven championships, including a postseason WNIT title in 2011, MidAmerican Conference tournament championships in 2017 and 2023, and five MAC regular-season championships.

Kieger spent six seasons as a UM assistant under Meier, and then was hired as head coach at Marquette, her alma mater. She was at Marquette from 2014 to 2019 and left for Penn State.

Griffith was hired by her alma mater Columbia in 2016 and has led the Lions to the most successful stretch in the program’s NCAA Division I history. She coached the team to its first regular season Ivy League title in 2023. The Lions won the Ivy title again in 2024 and earned the school’s first berth in the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA MEN

FINAL FOUR

National Semifinals

Saturday

Purdue vs. N.C. State, 6:09 UConn vs. Alabama, 8:49

National Championship Monday, April 8

Semifinal winners, 9:20

NIT MEN

Thursday’s Championship

Indiana St. vs. Seton Hall

NCAA WOMEN

FINAL FOUR

National Semifinals

Friday

NC State vs. South Carolina, 7 UConn vs. Iowa, 9:30

National Championship

Sunday

Semifinal winners, 3

NIT WOMEN

Wednesday’s Semifinals

Saint Louis 57, Vermont 54 Minnesota 74, Troy 69

Saturday’s Championship

St. Louis at Minnesota, 3

WOMEN’S INVITATIONAL Wednesday’s Championship

Illinois 71, Villanova 57