Kelly Rae Finley Explained

Kelly Rae Finley should not be confused with Kelly Findley.

Kelly Rae Finley
Current Title:Head coach
Current Team:Florida
Current Conference:SEC
Birth Date:27 April 1985
Birth Place:Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Player Years1:2004–2005
Player Team1:Northwestern
Player Years2:2006–2008
Player Team2:Colorado State
Player Positions:Forward
Coach Years1:2008–2009
Coach Team1:Harvard (volunteer assistant)
Coach Years2:2009–2012
Coach Team2:Harvard (assistant)
Coach Years3:2012–2016
Coach Team3:Colorado (assistant)
Coach Years4:2016–2017
Coach Team4:Arizona (assistant)
Coach Years5:2017–2021
Coach Team5:Florida (assistant)
Coach Years6:2021–present
Coach Team6:Florida

Kelly Rae Finley (born April 27, 1985) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Florida Gators women's basketball team.[1] An assistant coach for the Gators from 2017 to 2021, she served as the interim head coach of the Gators for the 2021-22 season and was hired as the 11th head coach of the program following the regular season. Prior to her tenure at the University of Florida, she was an assistant coach with Harvard, Colorado, and Arizona.

Biography

Finley grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and attended the Breck School, where she played basketball under her father, Ray Finley, and led the team to the Minnesota Class 2A State Championship as a senior in 2004.[2]

After attending Northwestern for her freshman season in 2004–05, Finley transferred to Colorado State University and played for the Rams from 2005 to 2008.

Coaching career

Finley began her coaching career as a volunteer assistant with Harvard for the 2008–09 season. She became a fulltime assistant from 2009 to 2012. She followed up with coaching stints at Colorado from 2012 to 2016 and Arizona for the 2016–17 season. She served as a recruiting coordinator at all three schools.[3] In 2017, she joined Florida's staff under new head coach Cameron Newbauer. She was promoted to associate head coach in 2019.[4]

Following allegations of player mistreatment, Newbauer resigned as head coach abruptly on September 27, 2021. Finley was named the interim head coach for the 2021-22 season. Despite the preseason turmoil surrounding Newbauer's departure and expectations that the Gators would finish 11th in the Southeastern Conference,[5] the season ended with the Gators exceeding expectations to finish 4th in the conference and earning an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 2016. Finley was given the permanent head coaching position on February 28, 2022.[6]

Career statistics

College

|-| style="text-align:left;" | 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;" | Northwestern|13||-||18.3||36.5||22.7||30.0||2.5||0.9||0.5||0.2||1.8||3.5 |-| style="text-align:left;" | 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;" | Colorado State| style="text-align:center;" colspan="12" |Sat out due to NCAA Transfer Rules|-| style="text-align:left;" | 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;" | Colorado State|20||-||17.1||35.0||35.9||83.3||3.0||0.8||0.7||0.3||1.6||4.5 |-| style="text-align:left;" | 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;" | Colorado State|24||-||8.3||25.6||22.2||52.9||1.4||0.5||0.3||0.0||0.5||1.4 |-| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 | Career|57||-||13.6||33.3||29.1||62.7||2.2||0.7||0.5||0.1||1.2||3.0 |- class="sortbottom"|style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Parler. Denver. Newbauer Steps Down as Women's Basketball Head Coach. floridagators.com . Florida Gators Athletics. July 28, 2021 . July 16, 2021.
  2. Web site: Kelly Finley - Women's Basketball . 2022-04-14 . Colorado State University Athletics . en.
  3. Web site: Kelly Rae Finley - Women's Basketball Coach . 2022-04-14 . Florida Gators . en.
  4. Web site: Finley Promoted to Associate Head Coach . 2022-04-14 . Florida Gators . en.
  5. Web site: UF women’s basketball coach Kelly Rae Finley signs 5-year, $3.7 million deal . 2022-04-14 . MSN . en-US.
  6. Web site: Kelly Rae Finley Named 11th Women’s Basketball Coach at Florida . 2022-04-14 . Florida Gators . en.
  7. Web site: Kelly Finley College Stats. Sports-Reference. July 7, 2024.