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After a historic regular season, Kelly Rae Finley has earned her flowers.
The #Gators announce the hiring of Kelly Rae Finley as the women’s basketball program’s head coach.
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall) February 28, 2022
Florida announced Monday it has promoted the interim coach full-time. The Associated Press reports Finely has agreed to a five-year deal with the school. Notably, she has served as interim coach in the wake of former coach Cameron Newbauer’s July resignation.
The Gators have found success under the Minnesota native. In the 2021-2022 season, she helped achieve the school’s first 20-win season since 2016. Also, the team earned a top five seed in the SEC tournament for the first time since 2016 as well.
Surely, this promotion is a long time coming. In her first season as head coach, the Gators beat five ranked opponents, including a win over Kim Mulkey and No. 6 LSU Jan. 23. Now, Florida has all but clinched its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016’s first round exit. With her promotion out of the way, Finley can now focus on getting the Gators their first tournament win since 2014.
Finley has been with the program since 2017. In 2019, she was promoted to associate head coach under Newbauer. Specializing in guard play, she is credited with the success of star KiKi Smith, who is averaging a career-high 4.6 assists per game in Finley’s first full season. Additionally, her 10 SEC wins are among the best in school history, tying Carol Ross’ 10-3 record in 2001 and Amanda Butler’s 10-6 record in 2016.
Finley’s first game as permanent head coach is Thursday against the winner of Texas A&M v. Vanderbilt as the school looks for its first ever SEC title.
