East Carolina University has announced a three-year extension of head women’s basketball coach Kim McNeill‘s contract that will now secure her position through the 2026-27 season. The new agreement, approved by the University’s Board of Trustees and announced by ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert Friday, extends McNeill’s existing contract to March of 2027.
“Today is a great day for me and my family,” McNeill said. “I’m very honored to know that I will be the head women’s basketball coach here at East Carolina University for the next several years. Thank you to Chancellor Rogers for this great opportunity and to Jon Gilbert for believing in me and giving me time to build this program the right way.
“There are a lot of people that have played a part in the success of this program. My staff is the best in the business, and they always have my back. I’ve been blessed to have players who have bought into our culture both on and off the court. To Pirate Nation, thank you for embracing this team and showing us so much support.
“It’s an exciting time for East Carolina Women’s Basketball and I look forward to many more successful seasons…Go Pirates!”
In four years with East Carolina, McNeill has compiled a 51-63 record while overseeing a renaissance of women’s basketball in 2022-23 with a 23-10 record and the program’s third NCAA Tournament appearance. The Pirates finished third in the American Athletic Conference regular season after being picked 11th in the preseason and went on to win the conference tournament with a 46-44 victory over the Houston Cougars.
“We are thrilled to have Coach McNeill as our head women’s basketball coach at East Carolina for the foreseeable future,” Gilbert said. “Kim and her staff are building a basketball program with a championship mindset that will continue to be successful on the court as well as in the classroom and in our community. Since stepping on campus, Coach McNeill has been able to recruit at a high level and that has translated to on the court success in capturing the 2023 AAC Conference Tournament Title.”
After the success of the 2022-23 season, McNeill was named AAC Coach of the Year as voted on by her peers and guided Danae McNeal to Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player honors while helping Farmville native Amiya Joyner to Freshman of the Year recognition. McNeill’s Pirate squad also broke a bevy of team records with its signature defense, including most steals and most turnovers forced in a single season in program history.
In her four years, McNeill has had five All-AAC honorees in addition to Lashonda Monk’s consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2019-20 and 2020-21 as well as Taniya Thompson’s Most Improved Player recognition in 2021-22.
Off the court, McNeill has done work in the community – particularly focusing on diabetes awareness. She has spoken for the last two years at the Delta Tau Delta JDRF Walk in Greenville. For four years, the team has hosted an annual Diabetes Awareness game with the team decorating commemorative basketballs this past season which were sold to raise money for donation to the Pitt County Health Department.
In concert with McNeill and the program’s work with diabetes, in Sept. 2022, the team ‘drafted’ Anna Grace Pickett, a seven-year-old living with Type 1 Diabetes onto the team.
