Winthrop Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Ken Halpin announced Semeka Randall Lay as interim head women’s basketball coach for the 2020-21 season.
Randall Lay spent this past season as the associate head coach for the Winthrop program and brings a wealth of coaching and playing experience at the NCAA Division I level. She is equipped with eight years of head coaching experience at the NCAA D1 level with five seasons at Ohio University and three seasons at Alabama A&M.
“I’m extremely grateful and honored to lead this Winthrop women’s basketball program,” said Randall Lay. “I am thankful for our President Dr. George W. Hynd, Dr. Ken Halpin and the rest of the athletic leadership team for entrusting in me to provide our student-athletes with an impactful experience both on and off the court.”
“Coach Randall Lay has significant experience as a head coach women’s basketball coach in addition to her tremendous experiences as a player,” said Halpin. “We are excited for her to lead the program moving forward.”
In her time as head coach of the Bobcats, Randall Lay recruited and signed two of the top classes in program history. During her tenure the Bobcats had seven all-conference performers in the Mid-American Conference as well as seven All-MAC Academic Team selections.
Prior to her arrival at Winthrop Randall Lay was an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati in 2018-19. That season the Bearcats post a 24-11 overall record and third place finish in the American Athletic Conference with a 12-4 mark. As part of the historic season the Bearcats won consecutive games in the postseason for the first time as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. It was also the program’s first 20-win season in 17 seasons and its highest finish in the AAC standings.
Before her career led her to Cincinnati, Randall Lay had been an assistant coach at Wright State for two seasons where the program recorded back-to-back seasons with 23 or more wins and two trips to the WNIT. In her coaching career she has experience at many levels of D1 women’s basketball with stops at Cleveland State, Michigan State, and West Virginia. In her time with the Spartans they played in the NCAA Championship game, made a Sweet 16 appearance and played in the NCAA Tournament all three years. In her season with the Mountaineers they posted a 25-8 record overall and 11-5 in the Big East.
The Cleveland, Ohio native was a standout at the University of Tennessee under legendary coach Pat Summit. She became one of the “Three Meeks” as she teamed up with Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings to win the 1998 NCAA Championship behind an impressive 39-0 mark. During her playing career with the Lady Vols she was three-time All-America selection and finished her career with 1,915 points, 286 steals and 236 assists.
Following her collegiate career at Tennessee, Randall Lay was the 17th overall pick of the 2001 WNBA Draft by the Seattle Storm. She played in the WNBA for four seasons with Seattle, Utah and San Antonio before pursuing a career in coaching.
