Former Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller joins the Tulsa Shock as an assistant

Former Colorado and University of Tulsa head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller will join interim head coach Teresa Edwards on the Tulsa Shock bench as an assistant for the remainder of the season the team announced today. She steps into the open position created when assistant Wayne Stehlik left after the resignation of head coach Nolan Richardson on July 8.

McConnell-Miller was the head basketball coach at the University of Tulsa from 1999 to 2005. From 2005 to 2010, she was the head basketball coach at the University of Colorado. Colorado fired McConnell-Miller at the end of the 2010 season. She spent five seasons coaching the Buffs and had a 65-88 record. Her contract ran through 2012-13 and McConnell-Miller and Colorado had a dispute over her remaining compensation which was settled this past February.

“I’m very excited to have the enthusiasm and energy that she’s going to bring to us. We need that. We need to put the fun back in basketball in Tulsa and I really believe Kathy will bring that,” said Edwards in a statement about McConnell-Miller.  “I think what really sold me on Kathy was her persistence and attention to detail. She was trying to help me from afar as much has as she could. I’m very confident that I have a loyal comrade with me on this one. We are aiming to do great things here and we are going to work extremely hard.”

At the University of Tulsa, McConnell-Miller led the Golden Hurricanes to two WNIT appearances (2004 and 2005) before moving to Colorado where she led the team to the 2008 WNIT post-season tournament. She is the sister of Duquesne head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio who played in the WNBA for the now-defunct Cleveland Rockers and coached the Minnesota Lynx from 2003 before resigning mid-season in 2006.

“I’m extremely excited to be part of this city and its incredible fans once again with the Tulsa Shock organization,” said McConnell-Miller in a statement. “I think my expectations are to help bring a championship caliber team to this city and engage as quickly as I can to help Coach Teresa Edwards with the goals she has set for this team. I want to help bring out the absolute best in our players. Coaching is my passion and to be sitting beside one of the greatest players to ever play basketball is something I look forward to a great deal.”

McConnell-Miller will be on the bench for the first time on Tuesday July 26 when the Shock take on the Atlanta Dream at the BOK Center at 7 p.m.