University of Memphis Athletics
Tigers Women's Basketball Rounds Out Staff With Two Hires
Jul 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball
McFerrin tabs Perry assistant coach, Gainey strength coach.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Nitra Perry and Bethany Gainey both have joined the University of Memphis women's basketball staff, Tigers head coach Melissa McFerrin announced Wednesday. The two hires complete McFerrin's staff.
Perry moves into an assistant coach role, and Gainey is the program's new strength and conditioning coach. Earlier this spring, McFerrin brought back Danielle O'Banion and Lee Yerty to the Tigers family. O'Banion is the associate head coach, and Yerty is the director of operations.
Perry comes to Memphis after four seasons as head coach at Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Ga. This past year, the Owls went 11-19 overall and 6-8 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
"Nitra has a passion for teaching and developing young people," said McFerrin, who enters her ninth season at Memphis in 2016-17. "Having been a high-level assistant and a head coach, Nitra has a proven ability to develop players and teams.
"She has many ties to the Memphis area that will allow her to acclimate quickly. Her interpersonal skills will serve our program well with our players and their families during the recruiting process."
Perry guided the Owls women's basketball program to its most-successful season since the Kennesaw athletics department moved to the NCAA Division I level in 2005-06 and became a full Division I member in 2009-10. Kennesaw State plays in the Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun).
In 2014-15, Perry's Owls posted a 17-13 overall record and a 6-8 A-Sun mark. The 17 victories were the program's most wins since joining the NCAA Division I ranks and the most since it won 18 games in the Owls' final season at the NCAA Division II level (2004-05). In that 17-13 overall record was a 10-2 start to the 2014-15 campaign, the program's best NCAA Division I mark in its first 12 contests.
The 17-13 ledger was the program's first winning campaign since 2008-09 (15-14 record). The Owls tied for fourth place in the A-Sun regular-season standings, marking the program's best league finish. The 2007-08 Owls team also had a fourth-place conference finish.
That season, Perry coached her first postseason award recipient with Jasmine McAllister earning the A-Sun Newcomer of the Year honor.
Perry came to Kennesaw State after a highly-successful four-year run on Tricia Cullop's staff at Toledo from 2008-12. Perry served as an assistant her first three seasons and was elevated to associate head coach in 2011-12.
While on staff at Toledo, Perry helped lead the Rockets to a combined four-year 96-40 overall record and a 50-14 Mid-American Conference (MAC) mark. Toledo posted three 20-win seasons, won three MAC West Division titles and earned three-straight Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) berths during Perry's tenure.
The culmination of Perry's time at Toledo came in her third season (2010-11) when she helped lead the Rockets to a school-record 29 wins (29-8 record) and the WNIT championship. With its WNIT crown, Toledo became the first MAC women's basketball program to capture a postseason national title. That same season, Perry was instrumental in signing the MAC's top women's basketball recruiting class.
In her final campaign in 2011-12, Perry nearly helped the Rockets to consecutive WNIT championships. The 2011-12 Toledo squad went 24-10 overall and advanced to the WNIT quarterfinal round (Elite Eight), where they dropped a narrow 74-73 overtime decision to Syracuse.
Prior to her time in Toledo, Perry served on staffs at Mississippi State, her alma mater, from 2006-08 and Georgia Tech from 2004-06.
Perry was a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs from 1996-2000 and was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honorable mention pick in 1999 and 2000. She also earned SEC All-Tournament Team and SEC Academic Honor Roll accolades in 2000. She still ranks on the Bulldogs career charts in scoring (16th; 1,124 points) and rebounding (6th; 746 boards).
She helped lead Mississippi State to three-straight postseason appearances, including two NCAA Tournaments. The 1999-2000 squad won 24 games (24-8 record) and advanced to the SEC Tournament championship game.
Perry graduated with a degree in education from Mississippi State in 2000. Before joining the coaching ranks, she played professional basketball overseas (2001 in Portugal; 2002 in Italy) and in the United States (2003-04 with NWBL's Birmingham Power).
Gainey comes to the Bluff City after spending the past four years on Middle Tennessee's strength and conditioning staff. While in Murfreesboro, Gainey served as an assistant sports performance coach and worked with the Blue Raiders soccer, volleyball and softball programs. She also was an adjunct faculty member in the school's Sports Medicine and Exercise Science Department.
"Bethany has a proven background and commitment to developing young bodies and minds at the Division I level," said McFerrin. "As a former competitor, she brings a high level of energy and expertise that will translate to the development of our team."
Prior to Middle Tennessee, Gainey's career was in both collegiate athletics and private business. Her previous collegiate stop was at Troy University as an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2005-07. Gainey worked with the Trojans men's and women's basketball programs.
In 2002-03, she was head of strength and conditioning at Georgia State in Atlanta, Ga. While there, Gainey developed training programs for the Panthers men's and women's basketball and track and field squads. She also had collegiate stops at Charlotte in 2001-02 (volunteer strength and conditioning coach) and Wake Forest in 2000 (intern strength and conditioning coach).
In between her collegiate stints, Gainey served as a strength and conditioning consultant at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Ga., in 2004-05 and worked in private business as a performance coach and fitness consultant in Charlotte, N.C., from 2007-12.
Gainey is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.
She graduated with a degree in exercise and sports science from UNC Greensboro in 2000. Gainey earned a master's degree in sports management in 2007.
Perry moves into an assistant coach role, and Gainey is the program's new strength and conditioning coach. Earlier this spring, McFerrin brought back Danielle O'Banion and Lee Yerty to the Tigers family. O'Banion is the associate head coach, and Yerty is the director of operations.
Perry comes to Memphis after four seasons as head coach at Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Ga. This past year, the Owls went 11-19 overall and 6-8 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
"Nitra has a passion for teaching and developing young people," said McFerrin, who enters her ninth season at Memphis in 2016-17. "Having been a high-level assistant and a head coach, Nitra has a proven ability to develop players and teams.
"She has many ties to the Memphis area that will allow her to acclimate quickly. Her interpersonal skills will serve our program well with our players and their families during the recruiting process."
Perry guided the Owls women's basketball program to its most-successful season since the Kennesaw athletics department moved to the NCAA Division I level in 2005-06 and became a full Division I member in 2009-10. Kennesaw State plays in the Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun).
In 2014-15, Perry's Owls posted a 17-13 overall record and a 6-8 A-Sun mark. The 17 victories were the program's most wins since joining the NCAA Division I ranks and the most since it won 18 games in the Owls' final season at the NCAA Division II level (2004-05). In that 17-13 overall record was a 10-2 start to the 2014-15 campaign, the program's best NCAA Division I mark in its first 12 contests.
The 17-13 ledger was the program's first winning campaign since 2008-09 (15-14 record). The Owls tied for fourth place in the A-Sun regular-season standings, marking the program's best league finish. The 2007-08 Owls team also had a fourth-place conference finish.
That season, Perry coached her first postseason award recipient with Jasmine McAllister earning the A-Sun Newcomer of the Year honor.
Perry came to Kennesaw State after a highly-successful four-year run on Tricia Cullop's staff at Toledo from 2008-12. Perry served as an assistant her first three seasons and was elevated to associate head coach in 2011-12.
While on staff at Toledo, Perry helped lead the Rockets to a combined four-year 96-40 overall record and a 50-14 Mid-American Conference (MAC) mark. Toledo posted three 20-win seasons, won three MAC West Division titles and earned three-straight Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) berths during Perry's tenure.
The culmination of Perry's time at Toledo came in her third season (2010-11) when she helped lead the Rockets to a school-record 29 wins (29-8 record) and the WNIT championship. With its WNIT crown, Toledo became the first MAC women's basketball program to capture a postseason national title. That same season, Perry was instrumental in signing the MAC's top women's basketball recruiting class.
In her final campaign in 2011-12, Perry nearly helped the Rockets to consecutive WNIT championships. The 2011-12 Toledo squad went 24-10 overall and advanced to the WNIT quarterfinal round (Elite Eight), where they dropped a narrow 74-73 overtime decision to Syracuse.
Prior to her time in Toledo, Perry served on staffs at Mississippi State, her alma mater, from 2006-08 and Georgia Tech from 2004-06.
Perry was a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs from 1996-2000 and was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honorable mention pick in 1999 and 2000. She also earned SEC All-Tournament Team and SEC Academic Honor Roll accolades in 2000. She still ranks on the Bulldogs career charts in scoring (16th; 1,124 points) and rebounding (6th; 746 boards).
She helped lead Mississippi State to three-straight postseason appearances, including two NCAA Tournaments. The 1999-2000 squad won 24 games (24-8 record) and advanced to the SEC Tournament championship game.
Perry graduated with a degree in education from Mississippi State in 2000. Before joining the coaching ranks, she played professional basketball overseas (2001 in Portugal; 2002 in Italy) and in the United States (2003-04 with NWBL's Birmingham Power).
Gainey comes to the Bluff City after spending the past four years on Middle Tennessee's strength and conditioning staff. While in Murfreesboro, Gainey served as an assistant sports performance coach and worked with the Blue Raiders soccer, volleyball and softball programs. She also was an adjunct faculty member in the school's Sports Medicine and Exercise Science Department.
"Bethany has a proven background and commitment to developing young bodies and minds at the Division I level," said McFerrin. "As a former competitor, she brings a high level of energy and expertise that will translate to the development of our team."
Prior to Middle Tennessee, Gainey's career was in both collegiate athletics and private business. Her previous collegiate stop was at Troy University as an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2005-07. Gainey worked with the Trojans men's and women's basketball programs.
In 2002-03, she was head of strength and conditioning at Georgia State in Atlanta, Ga. While there, Gainey developed training programs for the Panthers men's and women's basketball and track and field squads. She also had collegiate stops at Charlotte in 2001-02 (volunteer strength and conditioning coach) and Wake Forest in 2000 (intern strength and conditioning coach).
In between her collegiate stints, Gainey served as a strength and conditioning consultant at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Ga., in 2004-05 and worked in private business as a performance coach and fitness consultant in Charlotte, N.C., from 2007-12.
Gainey is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.
She graduated with a degree in exercise and sports science from UNC Greensboro in 2000. Gainey earned a master's degree in sports management in 2007.
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