Kyra Elzy

Kyra Elzy
Current position
TitleAssistant Coach
TeamDuke
ConferenceACC
Biographical details
Born (1978-08-17) August 17, 1978 (age 46)
La Grange, Kentucky
Playing career
1996–2001Tennessee
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2002–2004Western Kentucky (assistant)
2004–2008Kansas (assistant)
2008–2010Kentucky (assistant)
2010–2012Kentucky (AHC)
2012–2015Tennessee (assistant)
2015–2016Tennessee (AHC)
2016–2020Kentucky (AHC)
2020–2024Kentucky
2024–presentDuke (assistant)
Head coaching record
Overall61–60 (.504)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
SEC Women's Basketball Tournament (2022)
Awards
Maggie Dixon Award winner (2021)

Kyra Elzy (born August 17, 1978) is a women’s basketball coach who is an assistant coach for Duke University and was previously the head coach at the University of Kentucky.

College career

Elzy attended Tennessee between 1996 and 2001, sitting out the 1998 – 99 season due to an injury. Under acclaimed coach Pat Summitt, she was a member of the teams that won the national championship in 1997 and 1998, as well as the team that finished as the national runner-up in 2000.[1] She was named the winner of the Holly Warlick defensive player of the year award in 1997.[2][3]

Coaching career

Elzy served as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky and Kansas before joining Matthew Mitchell's staff at Kentucky as an assistant ahead of the 2008 season. She then served as associate head coach from 2010-2012 before returning to her alma mater as part of Holly Warlick's initial staff at Tennessee.

In 2016, Elzy was re-hired by Mitchell as associate head coach at Kentucky before being named interim head coach following Mitchell's retirement in 2020.[4] Following a 6-0 start to the 2020-21 season, Kentucky removed the interim tag from Elzy, making her permanent head coach.[5]

On March 11, 2024, following back-to-back losing seasons and after failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years, Kentucky announced that Elzy had been fired as head coach.[6]

Elzy was hired to be an assistant coach on Kara Lawson's staff at Duke in the summer of 2024. [7]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (2020–2024)
2020–21 Kentucky 18–9 9–6 T–5th NCAA Second Round
2021–22 Kentucky 19–12 8–8 7th NCAA First Round
2022–23 Kentucky 12–19 2–14 T–13th
2023–24 Kentucky 12–20 4–12 12th
Kentucky: 61–60 (.504) 23–40 (.365)
Total: 61–60 (.504)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Career statistics

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1996–97 Tennessee 39 - - 36.3 36.6 56.9 3.5 1.8 1.4 0.5 - 5.8
1997–98 Tennessee 24 - - 40.8 41.4 68.6 4.0 1.5 1.5 0.5 - 7.0
1998–99 Tennessee 1 - - 0.0 0.0 100.0 3.0 3.0 1.0 0.0 - 2.0
1999–00 Tennessee 37 - - 36.7 36.4 49.2 2.6 0.9 1.0 0.1 - 3.1
2000–01 Tennessee 26 - - 43.5 46.3 57.1 1.7 0.4 0.8 0.1 - 2.0
Career 127 - - 38.3 38.7 58.4 3.0 1.2 1.2 0.3 - 4.4
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[8]

References

  1. ^ Hale, Jon (December 14, 2020). "Kyra Elzy named full-time coach for Kentucky women's basketball team". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "Kyra Elzy - Women's Basketball Coach". University of Kentucky Athletics. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  3. ^ McKinney, Josh (April 27, 2016). "Kyra Elzy returns home, named UK women's basketball associate head coach". WYMT. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  4. ^ Crane, Evan (November 12, 2020). "Matthew Mitchell Retires from Coaching; Kyra Elzy Named Interim Head Coach". UKAthletics.com. Kentucky Wildcats Athletics. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  5. ^ Thompson, Tyler (December 14, 2020). "Kentucky names Kyra Elzy Women's Basketball head coach, removes interim tag". Kentucky Sports Radio. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  6. ^ "Kyra Elzy, Kentucky Women's Basketball Head Coach, Relieved of Duties". UKAtheltics.com. March 11, 2024.
  7. ^ "Kyra Elzy". Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  8. ^ "Kyra Elzy College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
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