Kim McNeill heads into her sixth season at the helm after agreeing to contract terms to become head women’s basketball coach at East Carolina University on March 28, 2019. On April 28, 2023, McNeill agreed to a contract extension securing her position through the 2026-27 season. Through five seasons at ECU, McNeill has compiled a 70-77 record leading the Pirates.
2023-24 was a season of resilience for McNeill and her Pirates. Despite multiple season-ending injuries, the team still finished with a 19-14 record, including a 9-9 record in American Athletic Conference play. The team also made a phenomenal run to reach the AAC Tournament Final for the second year in a row. It was the first time the Pirates had reached league finals in consecutive seasons since 1991 and 1992. In doing so, the Pirates won three games in three days, including a win over top-seeded Tulsa in the quarterfinal round. The Pirates posted some remarkable stats on the year, once again reaching the top 10 in program history in steals and turnovers forced as even shorthanded, McNeill’s signature defense was a force to be reckoned with. The team also posted the second most blocks in ECU history and the second highest free-throw percentage in program history, a marked improvement under McNeill’s leadership.
McNeill also once again guided individuals to tremendous success in her fifth year at the helm. Danae McNeal became the second Pirate in five years to win a second Defensive Player of the Year Award as well as being named unanimous First-Team All-Conference. McNeal and Lashonda Monk, both under McNeill’s tutelage are the only players in American Athletic Conference history to win the award twice. McNeal also posted a record-breaking season with the second-most points in a season in ECU history, the fifth-most steals and finished her career at ninth in career scoring, sixth in career steals and third in free throw percentage. Additionally receiving honors, transfer forward Tatyana Wyche was named to the AAC All-Newcomer squad after posting a career season with 6.8 points and 6.4 rebounds as well as 51 blocks, seventh in ECU history in a season.
McNeill's fourth season was a breakout for the Pirates which saw the head coach named AAC Coach of the Year while leading the team to a 23-10 record and a third-place finish in the conference in the regular season. The team then made a run, winning three games in three days to claim the 2023 AAC Tournament Championship and the third NCAA Tournament bid in program history where the Pirates earned a 13-seed and traveled to Austin to play the No. 4-seed Texas Longhorns. In the AAC Championship Game, the Pirates trailed Houston by as many as 11 after scoring just two points in the first quarter before clawing back using their defense and timely transition offense to claim the 46-44 win.
Under McNeill's tuteledge on the year, Danae McNeal was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player and Amiya Joyner was named Freshman of the Year while torching the program record books. Synia Johnson was named AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player and Amiya Joyner was named to the All-Tournament Team. McNeill's group also played their classic signature defense, breaking program records for single season steals (428), turnovers forced (790) and scoring defense (56.7). The Pirates also finished nationally ranked in several categories, finishing third in steals per game, fifth in turnover margin, third in turnovers forced per game and 24th in scoring defense.
In McNeill's third season, Taniyah Thompson was named the AAC Most Improved Player in addition to earning conference First-Team honors.
McNeill’s second season at the helm once again saw the Pirates near the top of the country in steals. East Carolina checked in at fifth in steals per game, grabbing 12.1 per game. The Pirates were also seventh in the NCAA in turnovers forced (22.05) and 13th in turnover margin (+6.23). The Pirates finished sixth in the AAC, their highest finish in the league since finishing in fifth in 2014-15.
McNeill once again saw Lashonda Monk earn AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors under her tutelage. Monk became the first player in AAC history to not only win consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards, but the first to ever win it a second time. Monk finished the season leading the AAC and ranking 13th in the country in steals per game at 2.95 per game, earning AAC Second-Team All-Conference honors as well. Dominique Claytor was also in the top-35 of the country in steals per game, ranking 33rd with 2.64.
In McNeill’s first season in Greenville, the Pirates made history on the defensive end. ECU finished second in the country in steals (407), steals per game (13.6) and turnovers forced (24.10) as well as third in turnover margin (+8.13).The 407 steals by ECU were both a school record and both Lashonda Monk (third) and Dominique Claytor (14th) finished in the top-14 of the nation in steals.
Under McNeill’s guidance, Monk put together one of the best individual seasons in ECU history. The junior guard finished the season with 125 steals, breaking both the ECU and the AAC single-season record and finishing third in the NCAA. Monk became the first ECU player to win the AAC Defensive Player of the Year award and was named Second-Team All-AAC. Monk also made history by breaking the ECU career steals record as well as becoming the 23rd Pirate to reach the 1,000 career points plateau.
Along with Monk, Taniyah Thompson also earned postseason honors, becoming a unanimous selection to the AAC All-Rookie team after leading all AAC freshmen in scoring, minutes and steals. It was just the third time that ECU has had multiple postseason honorees since moving to the AAC in 2014.
Prior to arriving at ECU, the Bassett, Va., native led Hartford to consecutive America East Conference Championship game appearances and three-straight winning seasons. She owns a 59-38 (.608) record in three seasons directing the Hawks, producing a winning record in all three campaigns.
Coming off a successful three-year tenure at Hartford, McNeill led the Hawks back to the postseason for the first time since 2013. The Hawks made history when they became the first-ever No. 6 seed to reach the America East title contest in 2018 before returning as finalists in 2019. McNeill’s last game on the Hartford bench was a first-round setback to Providence in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
Defense has been a hallmark for McNeill’s teams as the 2018-19 Hawks finished the year second in the NCAA in steals per game (13.0), turnovers forced (24.5) and turnover margin (9.35). It was the third-straight season that UHART had ranked in the top-10 in both steals and turnover margin.
Offensively, McNeill helped rewrite the school record books. In each of her final two seasons, the Hawks dished out more than 400 assists - including a school-record 441 in 2017-18. Its 66.8 scoring average topped all America East squads in 2016-17 and set a new program standard. In addition, Hartford led the America East in three-point shooting percentage (.345) and had the fewest turnovers in program history during McNeill’s debut campaign.
McNeill mentored 12 America East All-Conference selections, including 2018 America East Scholar-Athlete Lindsey Abed and 2017 Rookie-of-the-Year Sierra DaCosta.
Prior to accepting the Hawks’ top women’s basketball position, McNeill spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach at the Division I level. She distinguished herself as an effective and successful recruiter and coach while working in some of the NCAA’s top conferences, including the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Atlantic-10.
McNeill came to Hartford after spending five seasons on Joanne Boyle’s staff at the University of Virginia, starting as an assistant coach before being elevated to associate head coach in 2013. She helped pilot the program to three WNIT appearances, including back-to-back berth in 2014-15 and 2015-16. The Cavaliers posted a 90-71 record during her five-year stint, which included the program’s first 25-win season since 1999-00 (in 2011-12).
Virginia was the third stop in which McNeill had worked alongside Boyle, having previously served as an assistant 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 to 2011.
McNeill started her career at James Madison where she worked for three overall seasons (2000-01 and 2002-04). Between the two stints at JMU, she served as an assistant at Howard University for one year.
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 All-Defensive Team as a senior. Prior to transferring to Richmond, she earned 1996 Big South Conference Rookie-of-the-Year honors at Radford.
McNeill and her husband, Cory McNeill, are the parents of twins, Cayden and Gabrielle.
