Kim McNeill enters her third season as head coach of the University of Hartford women’s basketball team in 2018-19. Hired on May 25, 2016, as the eighth coach in Hartford history, McNeill became the fastest coach in program history to win 25 games.
In her second season at the helm, the Hawks posted a 19-13 record marking the program’s winningest season since 2012-13.
McNeill helped Hartford make America East Conference history in 2017-18. Behind a pair of thrilling come-from-behind wins against number three Binghamton and number two UAlbany, the Hawks became the first-ever number six seed to advance to the title game of the conference tournament.
Hartford closed out the inaugural season of the McNeill era with a 17-14 record, posting the most non-conference victories in four years and coming two points shy of knocking off eventual America East Champion UAlbany in the Tournament’s semifinals.
Among her five predecessors at the Division I level, McNeill’s winning percentage marked the best debut by a Hartford women’s basketball coach.
Under McNeill, the Hawks were a force to be reckoned with defensively in 2016-17. Hartford led the America East and ranked No. 5 in the nation in steals per game that season, while also ranking No. 10 in the nation in turnover margin. Hartford’s defensive-minded style of play also led to 370 assists, a number that shattered the previous program record of 316.
Hartford’s offense also received a significant boost in McNeill’s first season. The Hawks led all America East squads and broke the program’s record by averaging 66.8 points per game. In addition, Hartford, which finished the season as the top three-point shooting team in the league with a .345 percentage, also committed the fewest turnovers in program history.
Four Hawks received America East All-Conference distinction in McNeill’s first season, highlighted by Sierra DaCosta, who was named the league’s Rookie of the Year. With McNeill’s guidance, DaCosta was second among America East freshmen in scoring en route to becoming Hartford’s first Rookie of the Year since 2005-06, and the program’s first major award winner in seven years.
McNeill has 17-plus years of coaching at the Division I level under her belt, a stretch that includes 16 seasons of experience as an assistant coach. She has distinguished herself as an effective and successful recruiter and coach, having worked as an assistant coach in some of the NCAA’s top conferences, including the ACC, SEC, Pac 12, A-10 and CAA.
McNeill arrived at Hartford by way of the University of Virginia, where for five seasons from 2011-16, she served on Joanna Boyle’s staff. She was elevated to Associate Head Coach in 2013.
McNeill worked alongside Boyle for eight total seasons, previously serving as an assistant coach on her staff at the University of Richmond (2004-05) and at the University of California (2005-07). Prior to rejoining Boyle’s staff at Virginia, she spent four seasons under Andy Landers at the University of Georgia from 2007-11. Before Richmond, McNeill worked three seasons (2000-01 and 2002-04) at James Madison.
McNeill is no stranger to building winning programs. Five of the six programs she has been a part of have earned berths to either the NCAA Tournament or the Postseason WNIT (California, Georgia, James Madison, Richmond and Virginia). She has helped lead 10 teams to postseason play, guiding six squads to NCAA Tournament berths and four to appearances in the Postseason WNIT.
At Virginia, McNeill helped pilot the program to three WNIT appearances, including back-to-back berths in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The Cavaliers posted a 90-71 record during her five-year stint. Included in that time is the program’s first 25-win season since 1999-00 (2011-12). In her four seasons at Georgia, the Lady Bulldogs participated in four-consecutive NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 in both 2010 and 2011.
A talented recruiter – especially along the East Coast – McNeill helped Virginia land 13 players in a span of five recruiting classes (2012-16) who ranked in the nation’s top-100. The Cavaliers’ 2016 recruiting class was ranked 13th nationally by ProspectsNation while the 2016-17 class included the Gatorade Players of the Year from both New York and New Jersey. In addition, she helped Georgia ink 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes that were ranked among the nation’s top five.
At James Madison, she helped the Dukes make a run to the WNIT semifinals during her inaugural season in 2001. Between the two stints at JMU, she was an assistant coach at Howard University for one year.
A native of Bassett, Va., McNeill was a three-year letterwinner and co-captain at Richmond, where she received her bachelor’s degree in sport science in 2000. On the court, she was named to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) All-Defensive Team as a senior. Prior to transferring to Richmond, she was named the 1996 Big South Rookie of the Year at Radford.
McNeill and her husband, Cory McNeill, reside in West Hartford, Conn. They are the parents of four-year old twins.
