ORLANDO — UCF parted ways with women’s basketball coach Sytia Messer on March 30, bringing an end to a largely unsuccessful four-year run.
The Knights went 49-69 with Messer at the helm, including an 11-19 mark during the 2025-26 campaign. In its finale, the team set a Big 12 tournament record for the fewest points (35) in a single game, a first-round loss to Kansas.
UCF’s transition to the Big 12 posed a massive challenge for its athletic programs, perhaps none more so than women’s basketball. The Knights are 10-44 across their first three seasons in the league.
It wasn’t long ago, however, that the Knights established themselves as NCAA Women’s Tournament regulars, making three trips in a four-year span under Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. That includes the program’s first March Madness win, a 69-52 triumph over Florida in 2022.
Here are five sensible candidates that UCF could explore to fill its women’s basketball coaching vacancy.
Tahnee Balerio, Georgia associate head coach/recruiting coordinator
The only candidate on the list who is not a sitting Division I head coach, Balerio followed Abrahamson-Henderson to Georgia after helping UCF to its most successful women’s basketball era in program history.
In total, Balerio, a former All-Missouri Valley Conference guard at Missouri State, has spent 14 seasons on Coach Abe’s staff. She helped develop Diamond Battles into the American Conference’s Player of the Year and Orlando native Trinity Turner into one of the SEC’s premier point guards.
UCF looked to the past when it hired Scott Frost as football coach in December 2024. Perhaps this search could follow a similar line of thinking.
Vanessa Blair-Lewis, George Mason head coach
Blair-Lewis is a proven mid-major commodity, leading both Bethune-Cookman and George Mason to the NCAA Tournament in the last six seasons. She has won seven regular-season conference titles since entering the coaching ranks in 1998-99 with her alma mater, Mount St. Mary’s.
Last year, George Mason posted its best conference record (16-2) since joining the Atlantic 10, split the league’s regular-season crown and finished with a NET ranking of 60 — 85 spots ahead of UCF, for those wondering.
Blair-Lewis coached Bethune-Cookman for 12 seasons, and her husband — former NBA referee Eric Lewis — is a Daytona Beach native. Her current contract runs through the 2029-30 season.
Special Jennings, Jacksonville head coach
Jennings’ third season at Jacksonville was, far and away, her best. The Dolphins captured the ASUN Tournament championship for just the second time and returned to the Big Dance for the first time in a decade.
The starting point guard for Xavier’s Elite Eight team in 2010, Cleveland native Jennings has established deep Florida roots. She joined Flagler College’s staff as an assistant in 2017-18, and guided Montverde Academy to a 68-6 record and back-to-back GEICO High School National Championships in 2022 and ’23.
Overall, Jennings has a 49-46 record at Jacksonville.
Destinee Rogers, Arkansas State head coach
Rogers made the jump from Central Arkansas, her alma mater, to Arkansas State as an assistant in 2019 — when UCF Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir served as the university’s vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics — and was later promoted to become the Red Wolves’ head coach.
In the five years since, Rogers has an 81-66 record in charge, including one Sun Belt Conference title and the school’s first NCAA Women’s Tournament trip. A-State is currently participating in the WNIT, set to host Cleveland State on March 30.
Rogers’ style could reinvigorate a dormant fan base, too. Arkansas State ranked in the top 10 nationally in 3-point rate, total 3-pointers made, offensive rebounds per game and turnovers forced per game.
Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield head coach
Thibault-DuDonis comes from a successful basketball coaching family; father Mike is the winningest coach in WNBA history, and brother Eric works as the Minnesota Lynx’s associate head coach.
Carly has carved out a strong reputation in the college game, taking Fairfield to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments with a 102-27 overall record. The Stags have lost two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference games combined in the past three campaigns.
Fairfield locked up Thibault-DuDonis with a contract extension through the 2030-31 season. While financial terms were not disclosed, UCF should be able to offer a better deal and the allure of power-conference ball.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: 5 candidates to replace Sytia Messer as UCF women’s basketball coach
Reporting by Chris Boyle, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
