PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University's (WSU) head women's basketball coach is sticking around for a while.
The university announced Thursday that Kamie Ethridge signed a contract extension through the 2029-2030 basketball season. The Athletic "National Coach of the Year" is 95-90 overall through her six seasons at WSU and has led the women's team to four straight postseason tournaments and two back-to-back Pac-12 championships.
"Since her arrival in 2018, Kamie has solidified Washington State women's basketball as a destination where student-athletes can receive a world-class education while competing at the highest levels," said Anne McCoy, WSU's Interim Athletics Director. "Her leadership has resulted in historic seasons for WSU, including this most recent campaign when WSU reached the postseason for the fourth-consecutive year, marking another program first. We are thrilled Kamie shares the same love and passion for Washington State that so many of us do and excited she will be leading our program for many years to come."
Since taking over in Pullman, Ethridge has made three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2021, 2022, 2023), and set program records for most wins in a regular season with 23 victories in 2022-23, breaking the 44-year-old single-season program record of 21 wins set by the 1978-79 team.
The Cougs made their first appearance in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll in school history during the 2020-21 season reaching a ranking of No. 25 in the Jan. 12, 2021, AP Top-25 Poll. Going into the 2023-24 season, the team had its first ever appearance in the Preseason AP Top 25 poll, ranking at No. 24 in preseason and later ranking as high as No. 21.
After the historic 2022-23 season, Ethridge earned National Coach of the Year honors from The Athletic, making Ethridge the first WSU women's basketball head coach to be named a National Coach of the Year by any National publication.
"National caliber success in women's basketball is only possible through the acts and backing of a strong and committed network of donors," Ethridge said. "My most sincere thanks go to each of our donors! To every one of you who has assisted us financially so that we might grow our program and address our needs, my appreciation is without measure. I emphatically believe there exists an army of passionate Cougar women's basketball supporters who are anxious to impact the experiences, resources, facilities, and opportunities afforded to the young women in this program. I hope you will reach out to me as I look forward to meeting you personally and talking specifically about my vision and the needs of Cougar women's basketball. It is a great day to be a Coug! Let's all work together and make some noise."
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