Damitria Buchanan, a former Texas A&M women’s basketball standout, has been named Associate Head Coach of the University of Houston Women’s Basketball program, Head Coach Matthew Mitchell announced pending approval by the UH System Board of Regents.
Buchanan brings more than a decade of coaching and recruiting experience, most recently spending four seasons at Auburn and previously at Kansas, Texas Tech and Stephen F. Austin.
“Damitria brings tremendous experience in both coaching and recruiting at the highest level,” Mitchell said. “Her energy and love for the game make her incredibly relatable to our players. As a former standout at Texas A&M, she knows what it takes to compete at the top. As a coach, she has played a key role in developing championship cultures and has built a strong reputation as a recruiter. She’s fully committed to helping us build a championship culture and elevating our program here at Houston.”
Buchanan served on Auburn’s staff from 2021 to 2025, where she was promoted to associate head coach in May 2022 and assumed the title of offensive coordinator ahead of the 2023-24 season. During her first two seasons, Buchanan served as the Tigers’ recruiting coordinator and helped land a consensus top-25 class in her first season.
In her third season, she helped lead Auburn to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, guiding the Tigers to a 20-win season and a .500 SEC record – both firsts since 2019.
Year two saw Auburn make its first postseason appearance in four years, advancing to the second round of the WNIT. The Tigers finished 16-15 overall, the first winning season since 2018-19.
During her first season, the Tigers doubled their win total from the previous season and picked up three victories over top-25 opponents, including a 71-61 victory over No. 4 Tennessee.
Buchanan is no stranger to the Big 12 Conference as she spent six seasons at Kansas from 2015 to 2021, where she oversaw the day-to-day recruiting operations as recruiting coordinator for Head Coach Brandon Schneider. She helped assemble the 2019 signing class ranked No. 31 nationally by Dan Olson Collegiate Girls Report – the third-highest ranking among Big 12 programs.
In 2017-18, she helped Kansas sign its second five-star recruit in four seasons with the addition of Brooklyn Mitchell.
Before Kansas, she spent the 2013-15 seasons at Texas Tech, where she mentored the frontcourt and assisted with scouting, recruiting and academics. She played a key role in helping the Lady Raiders land one of their top recruiting classes in 2014.
Buchanan began her collegiate coaching career at Stephen F. Austin under Schneider. She mentored Porsha Roberts to multiple All-Southland Conference honors, including Freshman of the Year and second-team all-conference as a sophomore.
In 2011-12, Buchanan helped guide the Ladyjacks to a 23-win season and a Southland Conference Tournament Championship. The 11 win-improvement from the previous year tied for the sixth-largest turnaround in the nation.
A Houston native, Buchanan played at Texas A&M, where she helped lead the Aggies to three Big 12 Conference titles and four top-25 finishes, including top-10 finishes in each of her final three seasons. She was a two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection and team captain as a senior.
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