Clemson's McKinney resigns from basketball postThe Associated Press
Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Cristy McKinney resigned as coach of the Clemson women's basketball team Wednesday, one week after the end of her fifth-consecutive losing season at the helm of the program.
In a statement released by the school, McKinney said a change was needed for both her and the university after her five years as head coach.
"I would like to thank Clemson University for the opportunity to coach at such a fine institution in such a great athletic department," McKinney said. "I'd also like to thank all of the people who supported me during my time at Clemson."
Clemson ended the season with a 13-18 record, giving McKinney a 58-93 record for the Lady Tigers over all. The school ended its season last week with a 54-59 loss at North Carolina State in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
"It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season," McKinney said last week.
Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips said in the statement that he appreciated McKinney's work and dedication to the school. "She is an outstanding professional who always had her student-athletes' well being at the forefront," he said, adding that a coaching search would begin right away.
McKinney came to Clemson in 2005 after 12 years as head coach at Rice, where she earned 20 or more wins in three of her seasons. She took that school to the second round of the NCAA tournament at the end of the 1999-2000 season.
Similar success eluded her at Clemson, though she notched first-round ACC tournament wins in 2008 and 2009 - the first back-to-back conference tournament wins for the school in a decade. Clemson also beat cross-state rival South Carolina in each of the last two seasons.
McKinney, a Rockwell, N.C., native, is a 1979 graduate of N.C. State. She played four seasons under the late coach Kay Yow and scored 1,359 points.
http://www.thestate.com/2010/03/10/1195467/clemsons-mckinney-resigns-from.html
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