Indiana University Athletics
IU Announces Coaching Change (3-1-05)
3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Bennett has a 72-74 record in five seasons at Indiana and a 296-177 career record in 17 seasons as a head coach. She opened her Hoosier tenure with a 20-11 record in 2000-01. In 2002, she led Indiana to the Big Ten Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Indiana became the lowest seeded team (No. 5) to win the Big Ten Tournament, upending top-seeded Purdue, 55-41, and second-seeded and regular season champion Penn State, 75-72 en route to the crown.
During her tenure, the Hoosiers have knocked off two top 10 teams, three top 15 teams and six top 25 teams. Bennett became the first coach in school history to defeat at least one nationally-ranked opponent in each of her first three seasons.
Bennett also boasts substantial international coaching experience. She led the 2004 Big Ten Foreign Tour team to a perfect 4-0 record in Australia and she served as assistant coach of the 2003 Pan American Games two summers ago.
Although she is leaving, Bennett says the Hoosier program has a promising future.
" First of all, I would like to thank the administration and the university for the opportunity to be a part of such a great program for five years," said Bennett. "It has been truly rewarding, and I appreciate being a part of such a great tradition. While I have found this experience very rewarding, at this time I also feel that it is mutually best for myself and for the IU women's basketball program to go in a different direction. This team has a lot of potential, and Hoosier fans should look forward to watching them achieve success in the coming years."
Indiana Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan appreciates Bennett's efforts during her tenure.
"In the short time that I have worked with Coach Bennett, I have seen nothing but hard work from her and her players," said Greenspan. "She has worked extremely hard and we thank her for everything she has done for this program. Her passion, dedication and hard work will be missed here at Indiana. We wish her the best in her future endeavors."
Although Greenspan did not specify a timetable, he intends to work expeditiously to find the next Indiana coach.
"We will form a search committee that will represent a broad cross section of constituents involved," Greenspan said. "We will use the search committee as we have in the past - to provide wisdom, guidance and support in determining the characteristics and attributes that will be ideal in the next head coach.
"I know that Kathi will continue to work hard in the transition period, monitoring the players' academic progress and offseason conditioning program," Greenspan said. "We will follow the proper professional protocol in our search and not interfere with other teams' postseason play. The new head coach will have the opportunity to build their staff at their own discretion.
"We're looking for a coach with proven success, a great academic profile and unquestioned integrity," Greenspan continued. "We want someone with a passion for recruiting and building a highly-successful program in the classroom and on the court."
