Former college teammate of Dawn Staley lands SEC basketball coaching job
Starting next season, South Carolina women’s basketball Dawn Staley will go head-to-head with one of her college teammates and good friends within the SEC.
Florida has hired Rhode Island’s Tammi Reiss as its next women’s basketball coach, the university announced Monday afternoon. Reiss’ expected hire had previously been reported by outlets including USA Today Sports and On3 Sports.
Staley and Reiss are longtime friends dating back to their time as teammates and roommates with Virginia women’s basketball in the 1990s.
This season, Reiss lead URI to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996. The Rams were a No. 11 seed and lost to No. 6 Alabama in the first round. This year’s Rhode Island team set program records with 28 wins and 16 conference wins.
Reiss, 55, has been Rhode Island’s coach since 2019. She had a career record of 138-73 (.654) and was 80-33 (.708) in conference play. Florida was seeking a new coach after firing former coach Kelly Rae Finley after five seasons earlier this month.
Staley and Reiss were both star guards for UVA coach Debbie Ryan in the 1990s, when the Cavaliers reached three straight Final Fours. They remain good friends, and Reiss surprised Staley during the latter’s appearance on the ESPN Selection Show last Sunday after the NCAA field was announced.
“Y’all got a great one,” Staley said in a post on X after Florida’s announcement.
In a statement included in UF’s news release, Staley raved about Reiss’ program-building at Rhode Island, which only had one winning season in 15 years before it hired Reiss. She’d previously been a top assistant at Syracuse.
“Tammi and I go back to our days at Virginia, and even then, you could see the passion, the toughness, and the basketball IQ that set her apart,” Staley said, adding that Reiss “built a culture that reflects who she is disciplined, competitive, and committed. Taking Rhode Island to the NCAA Tournament this season is a testament to that work.”
South Carolina WBB played Florida once this season. Under SEC scheduling rules, SEC teams play 14 teams once (either home or away) and one “rotating opponent” twice (home and away). Each team’s rotating opponent changes annually.
The Gamecocks and Gators will play at least once and possibly twice next season. There could also be potential SEC and NCAA Tournament rematches.
Why Dawn Staley, Tammi Reiss go way back
Staley and Reiss (both listed as 5-6 guards) arrived at Virginia as highly regarded recruits and freshmen in 1988 and helped UVA to its best stretch in program history. The Cavaliers made three straight Final Fours from 1990-92.
Staley and Reiss were starters and double-digit scorers for all three teams, including Virginia’s 1991 team that lost to Tennessee in the title game. Both went on to play in the WNBA before pivoting into successful coaching careers.
Reiss takes over a Florida program that was 18-15 and 5-11 in the SEC this year. The Gators have been an inconsistent women’s basketball program this century. They haven’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2014 and haven’t made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments since 2001-02.
“This is a full-circle moment for both of us,” Staley said in UF’s release. “From sharing the court as roommates and teammates to now coaching in the same league, it’s special. And I know she’s going to make a strong impact at Florida.”
Reiss added: “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.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 2:39 PM.
