University of Memphis Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- msavage9@memphis.edu
- Phone:
- 901-678-4120
Michele Savage enters her second season as an associate head coach for the women’s basketball team. She comes to Memphis after spending seven seasons at the helm of Davidson College in Davidson, N.C. from 2010-17.
“Michele was an All-American during her playing days and has great teaching skills,” said McFerrin. “She is familiar with our conference during her days at Tulane and has nation-wide recruiting contacts. She enjoys mentoring and connecting with players. Our players will benefit greatly from her many talents.”
Her first season in Memphis saw solid work on the block for the Tigers. Alana Davis expanded on her productive freshman season, producing in a big way for Memphis as a sophomore. The Augusta, Ga., native added nine double-doubles to her ledger, boosting her career total to 13, which is tied for the 11th most in program history. Additionally, Davis reached new career-highs in points (26), rebounds (18; the second-most by a sophomore in school history), steals (3) and blocks (3).
Under Savage’s tutelage, Davis finished the season ranked fourth in the conference in field goal percentage, fifth in rebounding and 16th in scoring. She was also the first Memphis player to hit 100 or more free throws in a season since 2013-14.
While at Davidson, Savage led the Wildcats to back-to-back to trips to the Southern Conference Championship title game, and in the 2012-13 season, she guided Davidson to its second-straight 20-win campaign. That season, Davidson finished with a 22-13 overall record and finished second in the SoCon with a 16-4 conference record.
The 22 victories that year by Davidson ranked second all-time in program history for wins in a season. It was also that season that Davidson reached the conference tournament championship game for just the second time in program history. The 2012-13 season for Davidson culminated in a berth into the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The Wildcats went on to win the program’s first-ever postseason game with a first-round victory at Old Dominion.
The year prior for Savage also saw great success as she was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year after leading Davidson to a 22-10 overall record and program-best 17-3 mark in SoCon play. The 17 wins in conference play resulted in the program’s first regular season SoCon title.
In 2014-15, Savage successfully directed the women’s basketball program in its transition from the Southern Conference to the Atlantic 10 Conference. In just its first year as a member of the new conference, Davidson landed a rookie on the All-Rookie Team and by year three, the Wildcats had the A10’s Most Improved Player of the Year.
Prior to her stint at Davidson, Savage had a successful nine-year run as an assistant coach at Tulane. During her nine years with the Green Wave, Tulane, twice, hit the 26-win plateau and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2002, 2003, and 2010. The 2009-10 season saw Tulane go 26-7, earn the Conference USA regular season title, and earn an automatic bid to the postseason after winning the C-USA Tournament. The Green Wave won two C-USA regular season titles while Savage was on the coaching staff.
In addition to experience at Davidson and Tulane, Savage has served as an assistant coach at Cornell, Toledo, and Chicago State. At Cornell, Savage helped the Big Red achieve their best season in program history while signing three players who earned honorable mention All-America honors in high school.
A native of Illinois, Savage was one of the top 15 players in the nation as a high school senior. She led Northwestern in scoring three times and was the team’s top rebounder in 1990 and 1991. Her career field goal percentage of .606 is still a school record as is her .652 single-season mark from 1990.
Savage graduated from Northwestern University in 1993 as a three-time All-Big Ten selection, a three-time Kodak All-District selection, and an All-America selection from Street and Smith’s in 1991. She helped lead the Wildcats to the 1990 Big Ten Championship and two berths in the NCAA Tournament in 1990 and 1991. She was inducted in the Northwestern Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Illinois Hall of Fame in 2008.
