TOLEDO, Ohio — For the first time since 2008, the University of Toledo will be searching for a new Toledo women's basketball head coach.
Tricia Cullop, the winningest coach in program history (353-169), is leaving to accept the head coaching job at the University of Miami in Florida, the school officially announced on Friday.
“This opportunity is a dream come true,” Cullop said in a press release from the school. “Miami has a world-class education, winning tradition, competes in the one of top conferences in the country, and is in a beautiful location. While I will be eternally grateful for the opportunity given to me by the University of Toledo 16 years ago, I am also extremely excited for the challenge of what lies ahead.”
UToledo athletic director Bryan Blair released a statement on Cullop's departure:
Tricia Cullop is one of the finest head coaches in the history of Toledo Athletics, and we have been fortunate to have her leading our Women's Basketball program for the last 16 seasons. She has been a remarkable community leader, mentor and role model, and a proven champion in all her aspects, and we wish her well in her next endeavor.
We will immediately begin a thorough, yet efficient, national search for our next women's basketball head coach. Our women's basketball program is known nationally for championship basketball, academic excellence and incredible fan support that annually ranks among the nation's top 30 in attendance. I have absolutely no doubt that we will find an exceptional new leader to take the helm.
Cullop spent 16 seasons at the helm for the Rockets. She led them to nine 20-win seasons, five Mid-American Conference regular-season titles and two MAC tournament championships in 2017 and 2023. Toledo also won the WNIT in 2011.
The Indiana native was also named the MAC coach of the year six times, including the last three seasons.
In April 2023, the university announced that Cullop signed a contract extension that would have tied her to Toledo through the 2029-30 season.
Cullop came to Toledo in 2008 after eight seasons as the head coach at Evansville University in Indiana.
This past season, the Rockets won their third straight regular-season conference championship before falling in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Toledo advanced to the quarterfinals of the WBIT.
Cullop's introductory press conference will take place next week at a date and time to be announced, the University of Miami said.
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