UMass Lowell Looking for New Coach to Run Women's Basketball

Read Time:1 Minute, 26 Second

The month of March can be a tale of different things for college basketball fans. On the one hand, there is the excitement of playing in March, be it a conference tournament or the Big Dance. However, there is the other side of March, which is schools making decisions on the future of their programs based on the performance of those teams.

At UMass Lowell, a decision has been made on the future of the women’s basketball program. That decision does not include Denise King. Last Wednesday, she was informed that her services would no longer be needed at the school. This past season, the Lady River Hawks went 3-25 overall and 1-15 in America East play. The team finished the season with a nine-game losing streak and did not make the America East Conference Tournament. King took the River Hawks to three AE playoff appearances in four seasons as their head coach.

Her overall record at UMass Lowell was 23-88 in those four seasons as the ninth head coach in the program’s history. She had been a member of the River Hawks staff since 2018 when she arrived on campus as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Tom Garrick. In King’s three seasons as head coach, the team’s win total has fallen below expectations. Hence the change. In 2022-23, the overall record was 5-22; in league play, it was 4-12. In 2023-24 the overall record was 4-25 and in conference play, it was 4-12.

The school’s Athletic director Lynn Coutts thanked Ms. King for her seven years with the program and also announced a national search for a new head coach would begin immediately.