Whitley: Kelly Finley leading Florida women from scandal to success UF players back Kelly Rae Finley to clean up Newbauer's mess Carpe Diem, Ballers! - University of Florida Advancement
Gators Down No. 11 LSU for Fifth-Straight SEC Victory - Florida Gators NCAA women's college basketball rankings: AP, Coaches, USA Today
1 She is winning. That is all some people care about. 2. She was the principle recruiter for UF for all these girls. They are her girls. 3. She really cares about them. ( See the interview after the LSU game) if you had a daughter you would want her to play for Kelly Rae. 4. Take the interim tag off Mr Stricklin. Do it now. Make us proud!
At 15-5 she already has as many wins as her predecessor's best season, with 9 games to go. If we only beat the unranked teams left on our schedule, she will finish with as many SEC wins as Butler's best season. Take off the interim tag.
What a great story. Also goes to show what a coaching change CAN do. Not that success is a given of course but I think coaching in basketball is more significant than in football where it's more organizational ability amd leadership than Xs and Os. Larry Brown for example won at every stop and was almost always taking on reclamation projects. Granted he's a hall of fame coach but the point stands. His program turnarounds were often very quick and much of it was before the age of free agency amd transfers. Lon Krueger is another one. I wish I could throw calipari in there but his success was almost always due to talent infusions at Umass,Memphis and Kentucky.
SEC SCHOOL CONFERENCE OVERALL W L PCT W L PCT STREAK South Carolina 7 1 .875 19 1 .950 Won 7 Tennessee 7 1 .875 18 2 .900 Lost 1 Ole Miss 5 2 .714 17 3 .850 Lost 1 Florida 5 2 .714 15 5 .750 Won 5 LSU 5 3 .625 17 4 .810 Lost 2 Georgia 4 3 .571 15 4 .789 Lost 1 Arkansas 4 3 .571 14 6 .700 Won 3 Missouri 4 4 .500 15 6 .714 Lost 1 Mississippi St. 3 4 .429 12 7 .632 Won 1 Vanderbilt 2 5 .286 11 10 .524 Won 1 Kentucky 2 5 .286 9 8 .529 Lost 1 Alabama 2 6 .250 11 8 .579 Won 1 Texas A&M 1 6 .143 11 8 .579 Lost 2 Auburn 1 7 .125 9 10 .474 Won 1 Breaking down the first in-season top 16 women's basketball reveal
Anyone know where Kelly Rae is from? Where did she play college ball? Did she coach elsewhere before UF?
It's probably too much to expect a win over the #1 team in the country Sunday but if Kelly Rae's women keep it close they should still jump up in all the rankings 1 South Carolina 19-1, 7-1 CONF SEC NETWORK January 30 12:00 NOON ET Florida 15-5, 5-2 CONF South Carolina vs. Florida - Game Preview - January 30, 2022 - ESPN
Kelly Rae Finley - Women's Basketball Coach - Florida Gators I didn't see her playing history in there, but she played at Northwestern for a year then transferred to Colorado State and played two more years there.
She is from Minnesota. She coached at Harvard for four years, one as a volunteer and three as asst coach and recruiting coordinator 2008-12 Then four years assistant coach at university of Colorado. Once again as recruiting coordinator 2012-2016. Signed a top 25 class in 2015. Then one year at University of Arizona 2016-17, again recruiting coordinator. Signed #34 class that year. Joined UF 2016. Promoted to associate Head Coach in 2019. Kelly Rae Finley - Wikipedia
The Florida Gators (15-5, 5-2 SEC) take a five-game win streak into a home matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks (19-1, 7-0 SEC), who have won six straight. The contest begins at 12:00 NOON on Sunday, January 30, 2022. Florida Team Stats Florida's 69.2 points per game this season out-paces the 50.1 points per contest South Carolina gives up. The Gators are 14-3 when they score over 50 points. The Gators hit 74.4 percent of their free throws as a team, top in the SEC. Kiara Smith knocks down 3.7 free throws per game to lead Florida while connecting on 67 percent of her attempts at the line. South Carolina Team Stats The Gamecocks score 70.7 points per game, more than the 64.4 Florida allows. When South Carolina gets to the 64-point mark, it is 16-1 on the year. The Gamecocks are a strong offensive rebounding team this season, averaging 16.7 per game. That mark is good enough for first in the SEC and fifth in the country.
Might be a good way for Scott to start putting some things in the rear view. Drop the interim tag, move forward.
Women with a better record than the men. Not many would have predicted that. Kudos to her and the team. Maybe the women's team will finally be a player in the sec again and get some fan support. Been a long time.
That's my thought. I think she has clearly coached herself into major contention. A lot of basketball left and the competition is much tougher in these last 9 games. I am optimistic but you never know. RPI projections would have us 2-7 over those games... and the other 2 (@Auburn which beat Tennessee this week and Arkansas which beat LSU handily) are by no means certain wins. If we name her interim now and close out 0-9 after it would really not look good IMO. Just think its wiser to wait and see for sure.
