March 23, 2026, 6:57 p.m. ET
University of Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin announced the hiring of a new women’s basketball head coach on Monday.
Former Rhode Island Rams coach Tammi Reiss will take over as the 12th head coach in the program’s history. Reiss led the Rams to their first NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament appearance in 30 years, completing a seven-year rebuild of the program she took over in 2019. The Atlantic 10 Conference named Reiss the Coach of the Year three times in that span, including the 2025-26 campaign, and she was a Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year watch list member last season.
Rhode Island went 138-73 (80-33) under Reiss, and the Rams finished only her introductory season with a losing record. Prior to that, Rhode Island had just one winning season in 15 years. Reiss led the program to a pair of first-place (tie) finishes in the A10.
She was a three-time All-American at Virginia and drafted fifth overall by the Utah Starzz in the inaugural 1997 WNBA draft. She played 50 games over two seasons before retiring. Between college ball and the establishment of the WNBA, Reiss served as an assistant with Virginia. She spent 2001-2003 as an assistant in the WNBA.
Reiss’s next coaching job came at the college level in 2011 with San Diego State as assistant coach of the Lady Aztecs. That team swept the Mountain West regular season and made the NCAA Tournament. She joined Cal State-Fullerton as an assistant in 2013, and then worked for Syracuse in the same role.
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