CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami is finalizing an agreement to bring Toledo women's basketball coach Tricia Cullop to the Hurricanes as the replacement for the retired Katie Meier, a person with knowledge of the talks said Thursday.
Cullop emerged as a finalist in recent days and talks progressed quickly toward a deal, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school had not made any announcement.
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.
Cullop, an Indiana native, has also been named the MAC coach of the year six times, including the last three seasons.
She has one tie of sorts to Miami, having played for Lin Dunn at Purdue. Dunn was Miami's coach for nine seasons before taking over at Purdue in 1987.
In April 2023, Toledo announced that Cullop signed a contract extension that would have tied her to Toledo through the 2029-30 season.
Meier retired last month, ending a 19-year stint where she led Miami to the NCAA Tournament 10 times and guided the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight last season. Meier, the 2011 AP Coach of the Year who had four years remaining on her contract with the Hurricanes, will remain with the university as a special adviser and ambassador for the athletic department. She was 362-208 at Miami.
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.