Director of Athletics Mark Alnutt announced the hiring of Rekha Patterson as the head coach of the Southeast Missouri women’s basketball program during a press conference Wednesday morning.
Patterson has spent the past two seasons (2013-15) as the associate head coach at Ball State. She previously worked on the staffs at Baylor (2009-13, 2002-04), Creighton (2007-08), Ball State (2006-07) and Eastern Illinois (2004-06).
"We are extremely excited to have recruited Rekha Patterson to become our next head coach for our women’s basketball program," Alnutt said. "Her career has prepared her very well for this role as she has been a part of a national championship and has outstanding ties to the Midwest region. I firmly believe that our women’s basketball program will be in good shape for many years to come. Please help me in welcoming Rekha Patterson to the Redhawks Family."
"I am very excited to have Rekha serve as the next women’s basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State," said Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator Cindy Gannon, who conducted the coaching search along with Alnutt. "We had a very impressive pool of candidates, but when we met with Rekha, she delivered immediate energy and passion for women’s basketball and becoming the next head coach at Southeast. She is familiar with the Ohio Valley Conference after spending time at Eastern Illinois and has been a part of winning a national championship at Baylor. I am confident that she has the passion, vision and desire to do great things at Southeast. I would like to welcome Rekha to the Redhawks family and look forward to the future of our women’s basketball program."
Patterson, the eighth head coach in Southeast women’s basketball history, agreed to a four-year contract which will run through 2019. She will earn a base salary of $94,000 plus a $10,000 annuity. Additional incentives and contract details are being finalized. She is the first female head coach in the NCAA Division I era for Southeast and fourth female head coach in the 39-year history of the program.
"I am truly humbled to be the next women’s basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University," Patterson said. "I would like to thank Dr. Dobbins, Mark Alnutt and Cindy Gannon for this opportunity. It has always been a dream of mine to be the head coach of a women’s basketball program and I would like to thank Southeast for having the faith in me to lead these young women. This profession is truly a gift and I completely understand the role that we as coaches play in the lives of these players."
During her coaching career, Patterson has been on staff of programs that have advanced to postseason play in 11 of 13 seasons. She has worked with teams that have reached two Final Fours, the Sweet 16 four times and has been a part of seven Big 12 championships.
Patterson has helped guide Ball State to back-to-back appearances in the WNIT over the last two seasons. In 2014-15, the Cardinals were 13-5 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play. In her first season back at Ball State, the Cardinals advanced to the 2014 MAC Tournament championship game. Ball State became the first team to ever play five games in a single MAC Tournament.
In 2014, Patterson was a participant in the Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) program that is run by the NCAA.
Patterson has coached a National Player of the Year (Brittney Griner), two National Freshmen of the Year, four College All-Americans, an Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year (Rachel Galligan) and numerous all-conference performers.
While at Baylor from 2009-13, Patterson was part of the first women’s basketball team to ever win 40 games as the Lady Bears posted an unbeaten mark on the way to the national championship in 2011-12. She spent the 2012-13 season as the associate coach and recruiting coordinator after working the previous three years as the coordinator of basketball operations.
Patterson was an assistant coach at Creighton (2007-08), Ball State (2006-07) and Eastern Illinois (2004-06). While at EIU, she was the post coach for Galligan as she earned the top freshman honor in the OVC.
From 2002-04, Patterson began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Baylor. Prior to that, she spent a year working at the NCAA national headquarters, where she was an education services intern.
A native of Red Springs, North Carolina, Patterson was a four-year letterwinner and two-time team captain in women’s basketball at North Carolina A&T, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations in 2001. She received a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in sport management from Baylor in 2004.
Her mother, Eva Patterson-Heath, is the head coach of the Fayetteville State (N.C.) women’s basketball program and has taken her team to the NCAA Division II national tournament. She previously won over 500 games as the head coach at Red Springs (N.C.) High School.
