One of Team LGBTQ’s most decorated college basketball coaches of all time is calling it a career.
Today, University of Miami women’s basketball coach Katie Meier announced her retirement following a 19-12 season.
Meier coached the Hurricanes for 19 seasons and finished as the winningest coach in the history of Miami basketball, with a 362-208 record. She is one of many coaches who have come out in women’s basketball.
Although she will no longer be in charge of the team, Meier revealed that she will stay on at Miami as a special adviser and ambassador for the athletic department.
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Away from the court, Meier has been publicly out for years and has filled her Instagram feed with tributes to her wife Hunter Reno.
The two have been married since May 2022.
As she revealed the news of her retirement on Instagram, Meier waxed poetic about her marriage.
“I have an incredible wife, Hunter, who has supported me with positivity and love and frankly deserves her own retirement party,” she wrote.
Based on the adventures that Meier and Reno share on social media, that party is going to put a smile on everyone’s face.
After embarking on what she called her “dream job” in 2005 when she was hired after four years of coaching UNC Charlotte, Meier oversaw a culture of winning at Miami. During her tenure, the Hurricanes qualified for 10 NCAA Tournaments.
Following a 28-5 run of dominance in the ACC during the 2010-11 season, Meier was named the Associated Press National Coach of the Year. She also earned USA Basketball Coach of the Year in 2013.
But perhaps her most triumphant achievement occurred last year. After a 22-13 regular season, the Hurricanes entered the NCAA Tourney as a ninth seed and then embarked on a run of upsets all the way to the Elite Eight, defeating Oklahoma State, top-seeded Indiana, and Villanova along the way.
The Canes eventually lost to Kim Mulkey and eventual national champion LSU because sometimes karma doesn’t do its job. Nonetheless, the run proved that a Meier-led team could be a force to be reckoned with on college basketball’s biggest stage.
“Miami is an incredibly special place, and my journey here has been an honor and a privilege,” Meier noted, “Today is a day to celebrate and reflect on the amazing success that was achieved through collaboration with special people.”
With her new gig as a special adviser, she’ll continue working with many of those people in the years to come. And now she’ll have more time to spend with the most special person in her life.
