The University of Tennessee at Martin has hired Kevin McMillan to take over the reins of the Skyhawks women’s basketball program, director of athletics Phil Dane announced late Sunday afternoon. McMillan, who has an impressive resume at both the collegiate and high school levels, was introduced to Skyhawks fans in a Monday press conference.
“I want to thank Chancellor Rakes and athletics director Phil Dane for the opportunity to come and coach at The University of Tennessee at Martin,” said McMillan “I feel confident that the university, athletics department and Phil are very committed to the women’s basketball program being as good as it can be. In every encounter during the interview process, that level of commitment became more and more evident.”
McMillan added that, “I plan to get a staff in place as quickly as possible and we look forward to getting to work immediately.”
The 42-year-old McMillan becomes the eighth head coach in UT Martin women’s basketball history. In doing so he brings a great deal of winning experience at both the collegiate and high school level with him. He spent two seasons as an assistant at Middle Tennessee State under head coach Rick Insell, and has 17 years as a high school head coach. Together he sports an overall record of 484-135 and most recently led Gibson County High School to an undefeated 35-0 season and a Tennessee state championship.
“I am very pleased that someone with his strong resume was available and interested in this position when it came open,” said Dane. “We share very similar philosophies when it comes to discipline, academics and student welfare which helped me feel very confident about the selection of Kevin to lead our women’s basketball program forward.”
Dane added that, “Kevin’s familiarity with our program and our familiarity with his track record in west Tennessee helped make this an easy fit. His resume speaks for itself when it comes to basketball knowledge and I am confident he will be able to use that knowledge to succeed in the Ohio Valley Conference. As an assistant at Middle Tennessee Kevin showed he knows what type of student-athlete it takes to compete at the division I level.”
At Middle Tennessee, McMillan was the head assistant in charge of recruiting and on-floor coaching. As a recruiter he put together one of the top 10 recruiting classes in the nation according to Blue Star Scouting Services in 2005, while also bringing in a junior college All-American and the 2007 Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year. His recruiting classes helped Middle Tennessee claim back-to-back Sun Belt championships in 2006 and 2007, along with a pair of berths in the NCAA Tournament. In the 2006-07 season, Middle Tennessee recorded a nation’s best and a school record 27 consecutive wins and became the first team in Sun Belt history to go through the conference schedule with a record of 18-0, while also defeating No. 8 Georgia and achieving a rank of No. 16 in the AP Top 25.
As a floor coach, McMillan was responsible for the offensive and defensive game plans and implementation. During his tenure Middle Tennessee had the top turnover margin in the country (+16), while the offense was No. 1 in the country for three-pointers per game (9.2) and No. 4 in the nation in scoring per game (81.6). While McMillan was on the sidelines at Middle Tennessee, the Blue Raiders achieved a record of 50-15 overall.
In the high school ranks, McMillan has proven himself as one of the most successful women’s head coaches in Tennessee. In his 17 years as a head coach he amassed a record of 434-120, while winning one state title and making six trips to the state tournament. McMillan’s teams have also captured 17 district, region and sub-state championships, earning him numerous coaching accolades. He has twice been named the Jackson Sun’s West Tennessee Coach of the Year, in 2009 and 2003, and the district coach of the year 10 times.
Under his coaching leadership, 31 players have gone on to play basketball in college. Two of McMillan’s former players, Randi Morgan and Megan Fuqua, played at UT Martin. Morgan was a four-year member from 1999-03 and Fuqua played two seasons from 2003-05 before transferring to Lambuth University where she earned NAIA national player of the week recognition.
McMillan’s most recent stint was at Gibson County High School from 2007-09. During his tenure, McMillan led Gibson County to a record of 62-6, including a pair of state tournament berths and an undefeated 35-0 run to the 2009 state championship that earned him his most recent coach of the year recognition. In his two-year tenure he was named district coach of the year in both 2008 and 2009, as his teams won a pair of region and sub-state tournaments along with a district crown in 2009.
Prior to jumping to the collegiate ranks as an assistant at Middle Tennessee, McMillan spent eight years as the head coach at Westview High School in Martin, Tenn. While at Westview, he compiled a record of 195-67 and reached the state tournament in 2001, 2003 and 2005. His Charger teams won the sub-state championship five times, while he was named the district coach of the year in 2001, 2003 and 2005. The 2003 season earned McMillan his first West Tennessee Coach of the Year honor after leading Westview to the championship game of the Tennessee state tournament.
From 1990-97, McMillan was the head coach at Millington High School, amassing a record of 177-47. He led Millington to five consecutive district championships from 1993-97 along with a pair of sub-state titles in 1994 and 1997. His 1994 squad qualified for the Tennessee state tournament and advanced to the quarterfinal round.
McMillan played basketball at Wake Forest for one season, 1985, before transferring to Rhodes College to finish out his career from 1986-89. At Rhodes he was a three-time all-conference selection and in 1988 was named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. In only three seasons, McMillan scored 1,372 career points and still ranks ninth all-time at Rhodes for career-points scored.
McMillan received his B.A. in math and business in 1989 from Rhodes; then completed his M.S. in health and human performance at Middle Tennessee in 2007. He and his wife Paige have two sons, Ben and Matt.