Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team has completed its coaching staff for the upcoming season with the addition of two assistant coaches as well as a new member of the support staff it was announced today by head coach Jim Littell.
Joining the Cowgirl coaching staff will be Jessica Grayson and Taelor Karr. Additionally, Allison Ray will assume the role of director of basketball administration.
“Jessica comes to us from a highly successful program at Stephen F. Austin. She does an outstanding job teaching guard play and is an excellent recruiter. She is a coach who has played a key role in the success of her players through encouragement, mentoring and investment in their well being,” Littell said.
Grayson joins the program after a five-year run at Stephen F. Austin where she helped the Ladyjacks to a 122-31 record and four postseason appearances. During that time, the program won at least 23 games each season and made a trip to the NCAA Championship in 2021, two WNIT appearances (2018, 2019) and one WBI appearance (2017).
This past season, she was a part of a historic season that saw the Ladyjacks achieve a No. 30 NCAA NET ranking and receive votes in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1998.
During her time with the program, she had a hand in developing 14 All-Southland Conference performers, one player of the year and one newcomer of the year.
After beginning her career as a graduate assistant at Valdosta State in 2005, Grayson served as an assistant coach at Tennessee-Martin for three seasons before a two-year stint at Austin Peay. A native of McMinnville, Tenn., she served as the head coach at Clarksville Academy during the 2012-13 campaign before spending three years as an assistant at Illinois State.
Karr comes to Stillwater after having spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach at Santa Clara. Prior to her time with the Broncos, Karr served as a graduate assistant manager at Oregon.
“Taelor had a very successful playing career under one of the most successful coaches in the country in Kelly Graves. She is very good with her skill development and instruction and is an enthusiastic worker on the recruiting trail,” Littell said.
A native of Paola, Kan., Karr played collegiately for Graves at Gonzaga for two seasons. She was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and a first-team all-league selection as a senior in 2012-13. Karr averaged 11.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per contest in her final collegiate season. Additionally, she made 69 3-pointers on the year, which ranks fifth all-time in program history for a single season.
During her junior campaign, Karr led the nation in assist-turnover ratio. Her 152 assists that season rank eighth on the school’s all-time single-season chart.
She began her collegiate career at Kansas State where she was named to the Academic All-Big 12 second team and was twice named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Karr played professionally in France for Dunkerque before joining the coaching ranks.
After spending the past two seasons as the graduate assistant for the Cowgirls, Ray will assume her new role with the program. Her variety of responsibilities will include correspondence with compliance, assisting with team travel arrangements and serving as a liaison to all campus organizations.
Over the past two seasons, Ray, who was named the ShotTracker Specialist of the Year in 2019-20, has helped coordinate team travel and meals as well as manage the team’s equipment and apparel. Additionally, she has handled the Cowgirls’ ball kid program.
A prep standout in softball and basketball who originally hails from Pilot Point, Texas, Ray graduated from OSU in May of 2019 with a degree in marketing/sports management. This past spring, she received her master’s in business administration with a concentration in global marketing.
