Matthew Mitchell (basketball)

Matthew LaMont Mitchell (born December 16, 1970) is an American former college basketball coach, who was most recently head coach for University of Kentucky women's basketball. On November 12, 2020, Mitchell announced his retirement from coaching.

Coaching
Mitchell became the head coach of UK on April 23, 2007, succeeding former UK coach Mickie DeMoss. Prior to becoming the coach at Kentucky, Mitchell spent two years as the head coach at Morehead State. Mitchell started his coaching career as graduate assistant under Pat Summitt at Tennessee, and he also spent time as an assistant coach at Florida and Kentucky before becoming a head coach.

Following the 2009–10 season, Mitchell was named the SEC Coach of the Year. In addition to Mitchell's recognition, Victoria Dunlap was named the SEC Player of the Year and A'dia Mathies was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. The Wildcats joined the unbeaten national champion 1998 Tennessee squad as the only teams in SEC women's basketball history to sweep the major post-season awards.

Mitchell's success on the court has already moved him up to No. 4 in all-time wins at Kentucky with 86. His winning percentage of 63.7 percent (86–49) ranks third.

Year Three proved to be the best year yet as Mitchell was named SEC Coach of the Year for his remarkable job in turning around a team that went 16–16 overall, 5–9 in conference play the year prior to a 28–8 overall record in 2009–10. The Cats' 28 overall wins, including 11 SEC wins were school records and UK finished second in the league despite being picked to finish 11th in the preseason polls.

In his fourth season Mitchell once again led the Wildcats to an outstanding season with a 25–9 overall record and a school-record-tying 11 wins (11–5) in the SEC. UK took a second-place finish in the league standings for the second-consecutive year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

Mitchell led Kentucky to one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2011–12 with a 28–7 overall record, including an 18–0 mark at home, and an appearance in the Elite Eight for the second time in three years. The Wildcats won their first SEC regular season championship since 1982 with a school-record 13–3 mark in league play. The Cats finished No. 12 in the final AP poll & No. 8 in final USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, marking the highest final AP ranking since finishing 11th in 1983 and the highest final ranking in the coaches' poll in school history. He was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons by the AP.

In January 2018, Mitchell earned his 300th career victory, with his 270th coming in his twelfth year as Kentucky's head coach.

Personal
Mitchell attended Mississippi State University from 1993 to 1995, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing.

He is married to the former Jenna Ramsey, from Amelia Island, and he has three daughters, Lacy, Saylor and Presley Blue.

Matthew and his wife Jenna are very active in community service. In June 2014, Matthew and Jenna pledged $1 million over the next 10 years to the University of Kentucky Athletics Department. Just a few months later, they launched The Mitchell Family Foundation, a non-profit organization set to benefit charities in the Lexington community. The first fund-raising event of the Foundation in September 2014 brought in renowned author and leadership expert, John C. Maxwell. In October 2016, Matthew and Jenna were presented the 2016 Community Service Award by the National Urban League of Lexington.

Retirement and Injury
On November 12, 2020, Mitchell announced his retirement following months of recovery after suffering a concussion from an accident. The accident happened in March 2020 during a family vacation in Mexico. Associate head coach Kyra Elzy, who had been leading the program on an interim basis, was eventually named Mitchell's successor.