Michelle Clark-Heard has quickly shaped the Western Kentucky University Lady Topper Basketball program back into a national name, putting the Lady Toppers back on the national map. In just five seasons at WKU as head coach, Clark-Heard has reached three NCAA Tournaments, won three conference tournament championships and two regular season conference titles while posting 130 wins, becoming the second-fastest Lady Topper coach to reach 100 victories with the program.
During the 2016-17 season, Clark-Heard claimed her second sweep of the C-USA regular season and tournament championships in just three seasons as a member of the league. The Lady Toppers put together a 27-7 record and a 16-2 mark in C-USA play; the team also pieced together a 12-game winning streak entering the NCAA Tournament, culminating in a 67-56 win over Southern Miss in the C-USA championship game on March 11.
Following the season, Clark-Heard was invited to serve as an assistant coach for the United States U-23 National Team in the inaugural Four Nations Tournament in Tokyo, Japan. During her second stint with the red, white and blue, Clark-Heard helped to push the Americans to an undefeated record and the championship in the event, defeating their opponents by an average of 32 points along the way.
Over the last three seasons, WKU has won 84 games, the most by any team in C-USA history in a three-season span.
Following the 2014-15 season, Clark-Heard was recognized for her outstanding accomplishments, earning Conference USA Coach of the Year and 2015 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I Regional Coach of the Year. honors. Her selection as a WBCA Regional Coach of the Year also made her a finalist for the Pat Summitt Trophy, awarded annually to the 2015 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year.
Her success at WKU has also helped her land new opportunities in the USA Basketball ranks. Clark-Heard was named an assistant coach for the 2015 U.S. Pan American Women's Basketball Team, joining head coach Lisa Bluder of the University of Iowa and fellow assistant coach Scott Rueck of Oregon State University on the 2015 staff.
In Toronto, Clark-Heard helped lead the United States to a silver medal in her international assistant coaching debut, falling just short in the gold medal game against the host Canadians.
In 2013-14, Clark-Heard helped WKU win its final seven regular season games before reeling off three straight in New Orleans, La. in March 2014 to win the Sun Belt Conference Championships with a 61-60 win over Arkansas State after WKU faced a 14-point deficit in the second half. The season also saw WKU defeat Georgetown in the Puerto Rico Classic after facing a 16-point deficit in the second half.
The season was capped by a 87-74 loss to fifth-ranked Baylor in Waco, Texas in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, ending the longest NCAA Tournament appearance drought in program history.
The run to the tournament helped WKU secure a 24-9 record and finish with 20-wins for the second straight season. Her consecutive 20-win seasons to begin her time at WKU marked the first time in Sun Belt Conference history that a team had won 20 games in back-to-back years following a season in which it had won less than 10 games.
Her success in 2013-14 followed a massive improvement on the floor in 2012-13.
In her first year as a Division One coach in 2012-13, Clark-Heard helped WKU to a 13-win improvement over the 2011-12 season output. It was the largest in Sun Belt Conference history as WKU turned a 9-21 mark into a 22-11 record. WKU's eight win improvement in conference play from five wins to 13 wins was tied for the largest in league history. The Lady Toppers also became the first team in Sun Belt Conference history to win 20 games in the season following a year in which the team won less than 10 games earlier this season.
Her first season at WKU also showcased her ability to develop players. The duo of Chastity Gooch and Alexis Govan averaged a combined 12.7 ppg in 2011-12 but posted 36.5 per outing in 2012-13. The duo combined for 1,203 points after posting 381 last season. The team also saw major improvement in nearly all statistical categories, including improving free throw shooting by over 11 percent to .739, the third highest mark in school history.
Clark-Heard spent five years as an assistant coach to Jeff Walz at Louisville. During her time with the program, the Cardinals made three Sweet 16 appearances and made their first Final Four appearance, finishing as the National Runner-Up in 2009. A roster she helped build also reached the Final Four in 2013 after beating No. 1 Baylor and national power Tennessee in the regional semifinals and finals. Clark-Heard was instrumental in bringing in the No. 12 recruiting class in 2008, then followed with three consecutive Top 10 classes in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The 2010 recruiting class was the highest ranked class in school history, ranked fifth in the nation.
Among the most notable players Clark-Heard coached at Louisville was overall number one pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft, Angel McCoughtry and overall number eight pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, Shoni Shimmel. Overall, she coached five players at Louisville that went on to be drafted in the WNBA Draft.
Prior to her time at Louisville, Clark-Heard spent two seasons as the head coach at Kentucky State, taking the reigns of the program in June 2005. She took over a program that had won just one game during the 2004-05 season. In her first season she led the Thorobrettes to a 5-23 record, four of the wins were against Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents. Her team was picked to finish 11th in the SIAC but ended the season in ninth place. In her second season at KSU, she guided the Thorobrettes to an impressive 19-9 record, finishing tied for fourth place in the SIAC. Clark-Heard earned SIAC Coach-of-the-Year honors after the impressive turnaround. Her 2006-07 Thorobrettes were the second most improved team in NCAA Division II women's basketball during the 2006-07 season.
Before being named head coach at Kentucky State, Clark-Heard spent three seasons at Cincinnati as an assistant and four years at Nebraska in the same role. The Bearcats advanced to postseason play in two of her three seasons there while she helped Nebraska reach the NCAA Tournament twice during her time with the team. She was also responsible for helping sign McDonald's All-American Janice Bright for the Cornhuskers in 2001 while coaching alongside current Louisville coach Jeff Walz and under former WKU coach Paul Sanderford.
A four-year letterwinner on the Hill (1987-90), Clark-Heard was part of four NCAA Tournament teams during her Lady Topper career. She also helped guide the Lady Toppers to a pair of Sun Belt Conference Tournament championships (1988 and 1989) and two conference regular-season titles (1989 and 1990). She played in 118 games during her four years in the Hill, scoring 790 points and pulling down 615 rebounds. WKU amassed 89 victories during her four years in uniform, winning 70 percent of the games over that span and putting together three 20-win seasons.
Upon graduation from WKU, she spent eight years working within a recreational setting, five in Bowling Green and three with the Louisville Metro Parks Department. While in Louisville, she also served as head junior varsity coach and assistant varsity coach at DuPont Manual High School for the 1994-95 seasons and played professionally with the Kentucky Marauders of the Women's Basketball Association in 1994-95.
The Louisville native earned Kentucky High School State Player of the Year honors in 1986 while playing at Atherton High School and was inducted into the Atherton Hall of Fame in 2003.
She was married on August 16, 2003 to Luther Heard.
Playing Career
1986-87 to 1989-90: Western Kentucky University (Head Coach Paul Sanderford)
Personal
Birthday: July 27, 1968
Hometown: Louisville, Ky.
High School: Atherton (Ky.), 1986
College: WKU (BA), 1990, Nebraska (MA), 2001
Family: Husband, Luther
Former Michelle Clark-Heard Players in the WNBA Draft
| Nicole Kubik (Nebraska, 1995-96-97-98) |
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2000, 15th Overall Pick, First Round, Los Angeles Sparks |
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| Candyce Bingham (Louisville, 2008-09) |
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2009, 39th Overall Pick, Third Round, San Antonio Silver Stars |
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| Angel McCoughtry (Louisville, 2005-09) |
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2009, 1st Overall Pick, First Round, Atlanta Dream |
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| Shoni Shimmel (Louisville, 2011-14) |
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2014, 8th Overall Pick, First Round, Atlanta Dream |
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| Antonita Slaughter (Louisville, 2011-14) |
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2014, 35th Overall Pick, Third Round, Los Angeles Sparks |
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| Asia Taylor (Louisville, 2011-14) |
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2014,36th Overall Pick, Third Round, Minnesota Lynx |
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