| Keitha Adams | |
| Current Title: | Head coach |
| Current Team: | UTEP |
| Current Conference: | C-USA |
| Birth Date: | 13 February 1967 |
| Birth Place: | Oxford, Kansas |
| Alma Mater: | Southwestern College |
| Coach Years1: | 1987–1989 |
| Coach Team1: | Belle Plaine HS (asst.) |
| Coach Years2: | 1991–1994 |
| Coach Team2: | Winfield HS |
| Coach Years3: | 1994–1996 |
| Coach Team3: | Independence CC (asst.) |
| Coach Years4: | 1996–2001 |
| Coach Team4: | Independence CC |
| Coach Years5: | 2001–2017 |
| Coach Team5: | UTEP |
| Coach Years6: | 2017–2023 |
| Coach Team6: | Wichita State |
| Coach Years7: | 2023–present |
| Coach Team7: | UTEP |
| Overall Record: | (college) (junior college) |
| Tournament Record: | 1–2 (NCAA) 8–2 (WNIT) |
Keitha Rachelle Adams (born February 13, 1967) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at UTEP.[1]
Prior to the 2006–07 season, Adams was known as Keitha Green.[2] [3] [4]
Adams began her coaching career in 1987 as a girls' basketball assistant coach at Belle Plaine High School in Belle Plaine, Kansas while studying at Southwestern College, from which she would ultimately graduate in 1989.[5] After graduating from Southwestern, Adams joined Winfield High School in Winfield, Kansas and coached softball, volleyball, and track before ultimately settling on basketball full-time in 1991.[6] [7]
In 1994, Adams became a women's basketball assistant coach at Independence Community College; she was also a men's and women's tennis coach in the 1994–95 season.[5] Independence promoted Adams to head coach in 1996. In five seasons as head coach, Adams had a cumulative 127–37 record and two Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference titles in 2000 and 2001.[5]
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) hired Adams as head women's basketball coach on April 20, 2001.[5] Adams coached at UTEP for 16 seasons and accumulated a 284–209 record, three Conference USA regular season titles (2008, 2012, 2016), one C-USA Tournament title (2012), two NCAA tournament appearances (2008 and 2012), and two WNIT appearances (2014 and 2016)—the only such titles and postseason bids in program history.[5]
Following a 24–7 season in 2013–14 and appearance in the 2014 WNIT, UTEP signed Adams to a six-year contract extension.[5]
In her final season as head coach, UTEP went 8–23 season in 2016–17.
At UTEP, Adams created a mentorship program that helped ensure a high graduation rate among her players.[8] Adams is credited with building a successful women's basketball program that also "encourages interaction between players and fans."[9] She was inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame in 2010.[10] In 2016, she was recognized as the Conference USA Coach of the Year.[11]
Adams resigned from UTEP[12] to become head coach at Wichita State on March 29, 2017.[13]
In 2023, Adams returned as head coach for UTEP.[14]
The following table shows Adams' head coaching record at the NCAA Division I level. Source:[15] [16]