Jim Littell is out as Oklahoma State women's basketball coach after season

Scott Wright, Oklahoman

March 7, 2022 at 7:52 PM·4 min read

STILLWATER — The tenure of the second-winningest head coach in Oklahoma State women’s basketball history is coming to an end.

Jim Littell and the university mutually agreed to part ways at the conclusion of the season, the school announced on Monday.

Littell, who will coach the Cowgirls through the upcoming Big 12 Tournament, has spent the past 17 seasons at OSU, with 11 as head coach. He has an overall record of 203-139, trailing only Dick Halterman’s 333 victories as the most in program history.

OSU (8-19, 3-15 Big 12) faces Texas Tech at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament opener in Kansas City, Missouri.

“We just had conversations as the regular season ended, and not knowing, really, for sure where those would go,” OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg said in a press conference Monday.

“That’s kind of standard procedure to have those kinds of conversations with coaches after a season starts to wind down. The direction of those conversations led to this point today. We felt it was best for the program to make this change.”

'It meant everything to me': Why Kassidy De Lapp had a Senior Night to remember for OSU women's basketball

Coach Jim Littell had six 20-win seasons and made six NCAA Tournament appearances in 11 seasons at OSU.

Littell joined the program as associate head coach in 2005, then took over as head coach following the plane crash that killed four members of the OSU program, including head coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda Serna on Nov. 17, 2011.

“Obviously, I think what is most appreciated about (Littell) is how he shepherded the Cowgirl basketball program, and really, the whole OSU family, through the tragedy of the plane crash,” Weiberg said. “It affected him very personally in the loss of his friends, Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna. We just really appreciate him and all that he has done for Cowgirl basketball.”

In Littell’s 11 years, the Cowgirls had six 20-win seasons and made six NCAA Tournament appearances, the last coming a year ago. Prior to this year, Littell’s teams had been selected for either the NCAA Tournament or NIT every season, with the exception of 2020, when the postseason was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s team is not expected to be chosen for any postseason tournaments.

But Weiberg wasn’t seeking to make a change strictly based on the team’s lack of success this season. Through the process of talking with Littell over the last two days, Weiberg and Littell decided it was time to take the program in a new direction.

'It meant everything to me': Why Kassidy De Lapp had a Senior Night to remember for OSU women's basketball

Jim Littell has an overall record of 203-139, trailing only Dick Halterman’s 333 victories as the most in OSU women's basketball history.

“When we started the conversations after the last regular season game, it wasn’t sure where those conversations would lead,” Weiberg said. “We weren’t trying to get to any place in particular. This is just where those conversations led us to.

“Once that decision had been reached by Coach Littell and I, obviously we still do have basketball to be played in the Big 12 Tournament, so the timing from that regard may not be the best, but I also believe that once a decision like that has been made, then it’s best not to sit on it. Might as well deal with it and move forward with it.”

Now, Weiberg will begin the process of his first major coaching hire as OSU’s athletic director since being promoted to the role last July.

“We will start the search immediately,” Weiberg said. “My priority is to bring the best possible person, best possible coach that we can get here into Stillwater to take over the reins of the Cowgirl program.”

Oklahoma State does not currently have a female head coach on staff, but Weiberg said he won’t weigh that fact any more heavily than any other coaching qualifications.

“I’m not in the business of trying to limit our pool,” Weiberg said. “I want to go out and try to find the best possible person to be around our players, our student-athletes. It’s such an important position in that regard, so I just want to go find the best person that we can bring in here to Stillwater.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jim Littell is out as OSU women's basketball coach after season

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