Florida lands former WNBA star Tammi Reiss to ignite their women's basketball program. She brings winning experience and recruiting prowess to the SEC challenge.
On March 9, Florida fired head coach Kelly Finley after going 18-15 for the 2025-26 season.
Finley went 93–75 during her five seasons with the program, and only made the NCAA Tournament once (2022).
The national coaching search took a couple of weeks, but Florida athletic director Scott Striklin found a coach with WNBA experience.
Per UF, Tammi Reiss was named as the new head coach of the Gators on Monday.
"Tammi Reiss is a proven winner and an outstanding leader whose experience as both a player and coach stood out throughout this process," said Stricklin, via the news release.
"She brings tremendous enthusiasm, an unbelievable competitive spirit, and a relentless work ethic that will resonate with our student-athletes and our entire program."
Reiss played college basketball at Virginia from 1989-1992 before spending two years in the WNBA with the Utah Starzz.
She took over as head coach at Rhode Island in 2019. She went 138–73 during her seven years with the Rams, making the NCAA Tournament for the 2025-26 campaign.
Reiss is known for being a strong recruiter, something Florida hopes will help the program return to the NCAA Tournament in the near future.
Reiss called it "bittersweet" to leave Rhode Island for Florida.
"It's a bit bittersweet to say goodbye to a place that you love so much," she said. "Rhode Island gave me a shot when nobody else believed in me.
"They gave me all the necessary resources to be successful, and we accomplished everything that I promised the university and the fan base that we set out to do."
However, Rhode Island will give Reiss a chance to compete in an elite conference. It's a challenge she's ready for.
"But I've been waiting for an opportunity to coach at the highest level, and it doesn't get any better than the SEC in terms of women's basketball," Reiss said.
"Between Florida's academic reputation, which is very important to me, and the resources available to the program, I believe we have all the pieces necessary to build a championship-caliber team that the university and community will be proud of."s
Before Finley took the Gators to the NCAA Tournament in 2022, UF had not made the tournament since 2016.