UM hires Toledo women’s basketball coach Tricia Cullop to replace retired Katie Meier

The University of Miami has a new women’s basketball coach for the first time in 19 years, as Tricia Cullop was hired to replace Katie Meier, who announced her retirement last month.

Cullop, a 52-year-old Indiana native, spent the past 16 seasons as the head coach at the University of Toledo, where she was the most successful women’s coach in school history.

The Rockets were 353-169 under Cullop, made 11 trips to the postseason and won seven championships, including a postseason WNIT title in 2011, MAC tournament championships in 2017 and 2023, and five Mid-American Conference regular-season championships.

Last season, Toledo posted a 28-6 record, including a 15-1 mark at home, where the Rockets averaged 4,351 fans per game, which ranked first in the MAC and 33rd nationally. The women’s team at Toledo drew almost identical numbers as the men’s team.

In 2022-23, the Rockets won 29 games, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years, upsetting fifth-seeded Iowa State before falling to fourth-seeded Tennessee.

Collup is beloved in the Toledo community, known for her engaging personality, and for developing a fan base. Her teams ranked top 30 in the country in attendance 10 out of the past 11 seasons and led the MAC attendance since she was hired.

“I am thrilled that Miami gets the whole package in Tricia Cullop,” said Meier, who is remaining at Miami as a special advisor for the athletic department. “She has the support of her community. Her players love her. She’s respected and really admired for how she has given back to women’s basketball. I think it’s a huge, really smart hire.”

Cullop was named MAC Coach of the Year six times, including each of the past three seasons. The Rockets were 28-6 overall and 17-1 in the MAC last season.

“This opportunity is a dream come true,” Cullop said. “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.”

Her introductory news conference will take place next week at a date and time to be announced.

“We are excited to welcome Tricia to the University of Miami family,” said UM athletic director Dan Radakovich. “Tricia is a proven winner who understands what it takes to build a championship culture, develop talent, mentor student-athletes and generate excitement around a program.”

Cullop is a respected leader in her profession, having served as the president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) during in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. In 2022, she received the WBCA Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award, which is awarded to the member coach who best reflects Eckman’s character traits of courage, ethical behavior, honesty, sportsmanship and commitment to the student-athlete.

Off the court, Cullop’s Rockets posted the best grade-point average in program history (3.84) in the 2023 fall semester. Six student-athletes earned a 4.0 GPA.

Christine Brennan, a USA Today columnist and CNN commentator, is a Toledo native and has followed Cullop’s career. She believes Cullop will build on the tradition Meier established.

“I think it’s the perfect time for UM to hire Tricia Cullop,” Brennan said. “Women’s basketball is on fire nationally. Set against that backdrop, Tricia is the perfect person to build on what is going on nationally at UM. Her team sold out the Women’s NIT and people were in line for hours to get in. Toledo always had a tradition of supporting women’s sports, but she built Toledo basketball into something bigger than anyone could have imagined. She is a great coach, and she knows how to sell a program.”

Cullop arrived in Toledo after eight seasons as the head coach at Evansville, where she compiled a record of 123-110. She was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in her final season in 2008. Before that, she was an assistant coach at Radford, Long Beach State, and Xavier.

A native of Bicknell, Indiana, Cullop received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Purdue. She was a team captain for the Boilermakers under former Miami head coach Lin Dunn, as well as a three-time academic All-Big Ten selection. She was named the Purdue Mortar Board Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 1993 and inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.