Joe McKeown extends contract through 2024-25 season
By Ally Navarrete
Northwestern women’s basketball head coach Joe McKeown signed a contract extension through the 2024-25 season, NU Athletics announced Thursday.
McKeown, who is now entering his 14th season as head coach of NUWBB, has been a Division I head coach for 35 seasons. He previously worked with the New Mexico State and George Washington University programs. He has 733 wins as a head coach and a 224-186 record with Northwestern.
During his time with the ‘Cats, McKeown has led the team to seven postseason appearances. Most recently, he took Northwestern to a No. 7 seed in the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament, complete with a first-round win over UCF. It marked the Wildcats’ first NCAA Tournament win in 28 years.
In 2019-20, McKeown led the Wildcats to the program’s second-ever Big Ten regular-season title, Northwestern’s first in 30 years. That season, he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and was one of four finalists for the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year.
Northwestern women’s basketball players have amassed several Big Ten honors under McKewon, and have succeeded beyond college basketball. This summer, Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah made her Olympic debut with Nigeria in Tokyo, and senior Veronica Burton won gold with Team USA at the 2021 AmeriCup. Additionally, three of his players have been drafted to the WNBA: Amy Jaeschke in 2011, Nia Coffey in 2017 and Lindsey Pulliam in 2021.
This season, McKeown looks to bring the program a Big Ten top-five finish for the third year in a row and a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.