For media inquiries, please contact Lillie-Anne Mulligan at jordan.mulligan@wku.edu.
Following six seasons on the WKU coaching staff, Greg Collins was named the 11th head coach in Lady Topper Basketball history on March 27, 2018, and is entering his eighth season as the head coach in 2025-26. In seven seasons on The Hill, Collins has amassed 124 wins and has a 72.6 percent winning percentage in Diddle Arena. Collins has also coached players to 10 All-Conference USA honors, six being first teamers, and 23 overall conference postseason awards, including two Freshmen of the Year, five All-Freshmen Team and six All-Defensive Team honors. Players have also earned weekly award 27 times under Collins as head coach.
In his 13 seasons on The Hill, as assistant coach, associate head coach and now head coach, 3-point shooting has been a focus for Collins. In WKU’s record book, the top seven seasons in total 3-point field goals made have come during Collins’ time (2022-23, 2024-25, 2016-17, 2021-22, 2023-24, 2018-19 and 2014-15). Collins also developed one of WKU’s all-time greats in 3-point shooting, Dee Givens. Givens finished her Lady Topper career with the third most threes made (224) by a WKU player. Collins also developed Alexis Mead who finished her career with the ninth most made 3-point field goals at WKU.
The Lady Toppers got off to one of the best starts in program history, going 7-0 to begin 2024-25. It is tied as the second best start in WKU history and WKU was one of 15 programs left still undefeated at the time. That hot start set the way for the Lady Toppers, who finished the season 23-9 and 13-5 in Conference USA for a third place finish in the league. Three Lady Toppers were named to the All-CUSA Team with Alexis Mead earning First Team honors and Destiny Salary and Josie Gilvin earning Second Team.
The 2023-24 team may have been the best defensive team Collins has coached at WKU. The Lady Toppers held teams to 63.5 points per game on the season which is the lowest average of his head coaching career. WKU won five of the their first six games to start the season, with the only loss coming at Vanderbilt (77-74). The Lady Toppers went through a bought of injuries and illnesses starting in January and struggled to have all players available for the rest of the season.
Alexis Mead finished the season with All-CUSA Second Team and CUSA All-Defensive Team honors.
The 2022-23 squad finished the season with 19 wins, earned second place in the CUSA regular season, played in the CUSA tournament championship game, and earned a WNIT berth. WKU broke multiple school records in 2022-23, topping the program high with 389 steals on the season and making 289 3-point shots for the year. The Lady Toppers also broke the single-game record for made 3-pointers, connecting on 16 threes at Middle Tennessee on Feb. 9. WKU finished the season ranked in the top 25 in the nation in six different statistical categories: third in 3-point attempts per game (28.8), sixth in bench points per game (29.0), seventh in steals per game (11.8), 13th in turnovers forced per game (20.3), 14th in 3-pointers made per game (8.8) and 18th in turnover margin (5.30 differential).
Acacia Hayes had an impressive debut season for the Lady Toppers, leading the team in scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game. She’s the first WKU freshman to lead the team in scoring since Crystal Kelly in 2004-05. Hayes was named to the CUSA All-Freshmen team and to the CUSA All-Tournament Team.
The young Lady Topper 2021-22 squad featured just one upperclassman in Meral Abdelgawad to go along with five sophomores and six freshmen. Despite the youth, WKU reached 18 wins and finished fourth in the CUSA East division. WKU’s five true freshmen scored 52.3 percent of the team’s points, averaging 36.9 points per game. After starting the season 1-3, the Lady Toppers regrouped to rattle off 13 wins in the next 14 games that included a 7-0 start to CUSA play.
Mya Meredith made her mark on the league in limited time due to a season-ending injury sustained in February. The rookie became the second consecutive Lady Topper to earn CUSA Freshman of the Year and the third since joining the league after winning Freshman of the Week for the entire month of January. Meredith and point guard Alexis Mead were both named to the five-woman CUSA All-Freshmen Team. Meral Abdelgawad’s progression as a player cumulated in a stellar senior season that included All-CUSA First Team and All-Defensive Team honors. Abdelgawad was also a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award. She was the conference’s second leading scorer on the season, averaging 19.5 points per game and finished the season in the top 50 of five different national statistical categories.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lady Toppers played a reduced and altered schedule in 2020-21. WKU played only 22 regular season games, the fewest games for the Lady Toppers since the 1974-75 season. WKU came into the 2020-21 season as one of the youngest teams in the country and that youth showed with 14 games decided by less than 10 points, including six one-possession games. Overall, WKU featured six true freshmen and one redshirt freshman.
Hope Sivori had an impressive collegiate debut, locking up CUSA Co-Freshmen of the Year honors along with All-Freshmen Team accolades. Raneem Elgedawy joined Sivori in earning postseason awards. Elgedawy was named to the All-CUSA First Team after missing the first half of the season, her second straight first team selection and third overall All-CUSA honor. Meral Abdelgawad also brought home hardware after being tabbed to the CUSA All-Defensive Team.
In 2019-20, Collins led the Lady Toppers to their eighth straight 20-win season marking a new program record topping the previous seven-season 20-win streak from 1982-83 to 1988-89 set by former head coach Paul Sanderford. WKU finished the season 22-7 overall and 14-4 in CUSA. The Lady Toppers defended Diddle Arena, going a perfect 13-0 on their home court in 2019-20. WKU was one of only 10 NCAA Division I teams to complete an undefeated home slate in 2019-20. After starting the CUSA portion of the schedule 0-2, the Lady Toppers bounced back winning 14 of their last 16 games that included a 10-game winning streak. WKU finished the season with a 31st place RPI ranking, reaching the top 30 several times throughout the season.
After big seasons in 2018-19, Dee Givens and Raneem Elgedawy continued their surge in 2019-20. Both were named to the All-CUSA First Team after stellar seasons. Givens was also tabbed to the CUSA All-Defensive Team.
In his first season at the helm of the program, Collins led the Lady Toppers to a 20-15 overall record and guided the program to its 1,000th all-time win. Sitting at 14-13 after a four-game skid in mid-February, Collins righted the ship as WKU won four of its final six games, including a home win over archrival Middle Tennessee and two games in the Postseason WNIT to reach the 20-win plateau.
Givens enjoyed a breakout season in Collins' first year, emerging as one of the most electric players in CUSA and earning First Team All-CUSA honors following the season. Elgedawy also made a jump from her Freshman of the Year campaign, becoming WKU's most reliable post option inside and picking up Second Team All-CUSA accolades.
Collins has been instrumental in the emergence of the Lady Toppers on the national scene over the last 10 seasons, helping to lead the program to four conference tournament championships and NCAA appearances over that span. In the eight years since WKU’s move to CUSA prior to the 2014-15 campaign, Collins has helped to push WKU to two regular season titles and three tournament championships. In Collins’ six seasons on the Lady Topper staff before being named head coach, WKU won 154 games, the most among all CUSA teams in that timeframe. Under his assistant coaching tutelage, WKU produced three CUSA Players of the Year, including 2018 winner Tashia Brown, and had 11 First Team All-Conference selections.
Prior to coming to WKU, Collins spent five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas. The Razorbacks finished 24-9 in his final year with the team in 2011-12, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Collins also helped guide Arkansas to WNIT appearances in both 2009 and 2011. His impact also extended into recruiting where he was key in signing the highest ranked player in the Razorbacks' top 25 class of 2008 - Louisville native C'eira Ricketts. Rickets was named SEC Freshman of the Year following her first season, and went on to become an Associated Press All-America selection.
Prior to going to Fayetteville under head coach Tom Collen, Collins was on the staff for five seasons at Louisville. The Cardinals made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances during that time, and earned the program's first-ever Top 25 ranking. U of L won 70 percent of its games during Collins' tenure. Collins was responsible for the development of the U of L post players, helping develop a pair of WNBA draft picks in Lori Nero and Jazz Covington.
Collins went to Louisville after serving as an assistant athletic director and assistant coach at DuPont Manual High School in Louisville. Along with his assistant athletic director duties, he was the junior varsity head coach and the assistant varsity coach. While at Manual, the Lady Crimsons advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament in 2000 and recorded a runner-up finish in 2001. From 2000-03 Collins served as the head of the Derek Smith All-Stars AAU team. In his three seasons with the Derek Smith All-Stars, his teams produced 20 Kentucky All-Stars and three Miss Kentucky Basketball winners. The Derek Smith All-Stars were ranked as one of the Top 15 Adidas programs nationally and 16 players earned Dhivision I scholarships. Prior to his stint at Manual High School, Collins was a varsity assistant at North Bullitt High School. He also developed the North Bullitt Swoosh AAU program. Collins also served as an advance scout for the WNBA's New York Liberty, and contributed to the Five Star Basketball play and drill books.
Collins earned his bachelor's degree in marketing from Louisville in 1988, and completed his master's degree in business education in 1994. He also achieved his Rank I in special education in 1998.
Collins is married to the former Rae Tribble. The couple has three children: sons Parker and William Ray and daughter Emma Clare.
Features:
Beyond The Hill podcast (1/24/23)
Beyond The Hill podcast (10/25/21)
Beyond The Hill podcast (10/19/20)
| Collins' Year-by-Year Results |
| Year |
Overall Record |
CUSA Record |
Finish |
| 2018-19 |
20-15 (.571) |
11-5 (.688) |
T-3rd CUSA; WNIT |
| 2019-20 |
22-7 (.759) |
14-4 (.778) |
T-2nd CUSA |
| 2020-21 |
7-16 (.304) |
6-10 (.375) |
7th CUSA East |
| 2021-22 |
18-12 (.600) |
11-7 (.611) |
4th CUSA East |
| 2022-23 |
19-14 (.576) |
14-6 (.700) |
2nd CUSA; WNIT |
| 2023-24 |
15-17 (.469) |
6-10 (.375) |
6th CUSA |
| 2024-25 |
23-9 (.719) |
13-5 (.722) |
3rd CUSA |
Total
(7 seasons) |
124-90 (.579) |
76-47 (.618) |
|
