Semeka Randall

Semeka Chantay Randall (born February 7, 1979, in Cleveland, Ohio) is a former collegiate and professional basketball player who is the head coach of the Ohio Bobcats. She is previously served as an assistant coach of the women's basketball teams at West Virginia University and Michigan State University.

High School Years

She attended Trinity High School in Garfield Heights, Ohio - where she starred in basketball until 1996.

College Years

She was a member of the powerhouse University of Tennessee women's basketball team, the "Lady Vols", which won the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship in 1998, with a perfect 39-0 won-loss record.

She was one of the three star players on the team collectively known as "The Meeks": Randall, Chamique Holdsclaw, and Tamika Catchings. Her reputation as a standout defensive player won her the nickname "Hard to Handle Randall". A game at UConn where the Huskies' fans booed her relentlessly earned her the nickname "Boo."

She was named on the Kodak All-American First Team in (1999-2000), and to the "Associated Press" All-American Second Team in (1999, 2000).

She graduated in December 2000, a semester ahead of her class, with a Bachelor's Degree in Speech Communications.

WNBA career

Randall joined the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) after being selected by the Seattle Storm in the second round (17th pick overall) of the 2001 WNBA Draft.

She played for the Storm until she was traded to the Utah Starzz in exchange for Kate Starbird during the middle of the WNBA's 2002 season.

She remained with the Starzz franchise when the team relocated to San Antonio, Texas, and changed its name to the San Antonio Silver Stars for the 2003 season.

In the last game of the 2004 season, Randall set a Silver Stars record by recording eight steals in the Silver Stars' 82-65 win over the Charlotte Sting on September 17. After the game, Randall announced that she would be retiring from the WNBA to take an assistant coaching job at Michigan State University.

Overseas and the NWBL

Like most WNBA players during the off-season, Randall kept playing basketball in international leagues.

In 2001-02, Randall started all 16 games at point guard and averaged 19 points while playing for the Israeli Professional Basketball League.

The following year, she played in the Greek Professional Basketball League, again starting all 16 games for her squad.

In 2003, she was a member of the Tennessee Fury of the National Women's Basketball League, averaging 12.2 points as a shooting guard.

Coaching career

Randall's first coaching job was an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at Cleveland State University, during the 2002-03 season.On September 17, 2004, Michigan State University (MSU) announced that Randall was hired as an assistant coach. During that season, the MSU team made it all the way to the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship game, only to lose to Baylor University. On April 17, 2007, Randall was hired as an assistant coach at West Virginia University.

She was named head coach of the Ohio Bobcats women's basketball team on May 9, 2008. Upon her hiring, she stated: "It is my dream job to coach in the state of Ohio. If you look at my previous coaching experiences, you'll see that I've always positioned myself around this state because it's a great place for women's basketball. Ohio is a great school. I like that it urges student-athletes to excel in the classroom and on the court. It's just a great place and I'm looking forward to becoming part of the Ohio basketball family and the Athens community!" Jim Shouse, Athletics Director of Ohio University, described her hiring as "a winning half-court shot at the buzzer."

On August 1, 2008, the day that ends the NCAA summer veiwing period, Randall revoked the basketball scholarship offers made to high school players who had received scholarship offers from the previous Ohio Bobcats coaching staff. This reneging in August occurred after May 2008 when Randall assured these same high school players, who were verbally committed to Ohio, that their scholarship offers, made by the previous regime, would be honored. These deceitful actions by Randall, timed exactly for maximum negative impact on these would-be Ohio recruits' college plans, has called in to question Randall's professionalism and her ability to be a head coach. Her actions tarnish Ohio's reputation and also damage Randall's ability to ever successfully recruit high school players.

External links

* [http://ohiobobcats.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/050908aac.html Randall Named Head Coach of the Ohio Bobcats]
* [http://www.geocities.com/semekarandall/ Official Website]
* [http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/semeka_randall/ WNBA Player Profile]
* [http://msuspartans.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/randall_semeka00.html Michigan State University Profile]
* [http://msuspartans.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/091704aac.html Michigan State University press release on hiring Randall]