Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Home of MSU Athletics
Brad Laux
Brad Laux
Brad Laux
Brad Laux
Brad Laux
2021CaylaPetreeLOW

Cayla Petree

FOLLOW @CoachPetree on Twitter

Sporting 250-plus career victories, four National Tournament appearances and one Women's Basketball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year honor, Cayla Petree completed her second year leading the Morehead State women's basketball program.

Morehead State ranked in the top 5 nationally in win improvement in Petree's second season. The Eagles finished with 11 victories (a 10-win markup from 2021-22) and defeated perennial title game participant UT Martin in the OVC Tournament opening round. She also coached Veronica Charles to the OVC Defensive Player of the Year honor, leading the conference in steals. 

Petree joined the Morehead State program after a single season at Gulf Coast State College (Panama City, Fla.) that culminated in a trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association Women's Basketball National Tournament in Lubbock, Texas. The Commodores earned the No. 15 national seed at the NJCAA National Tournament.
 
En route to the NJCAA National Tournament, Gulf Coast State finished runner-up in the Florida College System Activities Association/NJCAA Region VIII Championship, knocking off No. 1 seed and eventual National Champion Northwest Florida State in the process with the loss being one of only two suffered by Northwest Florida State on the season.
 
Under Petree's guidance, the Commodores led NJCAA Region VIII in scoring, averaging 75.0 points per game, exceeding the average in 13 of the team's 22 games on the season. Guard Nia Daniel led Gulf Coast State in scoring in 2020-21, averaging 22.7 points per game to lead NJCAA Region VIII and rank fourth in the NJCAA in scoring, earning Daniel First Team All-American honors.
 
Prior to her time at Gulf Coast State, Petree led South Plains College (Levelland, Texas) for five seasons, amassing a 127-36 overall record and three NJCAA National Tournament appearances.

Petree's best season at the helm of the Texans program came in her final campaign in 2019-20 as South Plains College wrapped the season with a 32-1 record, including a 26-game win streak to open the year, to earn the No. 2 national seed in the NJCAA National Tournament, prior to the Covid-19 global pandemic. Despite the abrupt end to the campaign, the season culminated in National Coach of the Year honors from the WBCA, NJCAA, and WhoopDirt.com.
 
The 2018-19 season proved a historic season for South Plains College as the program finished 30-5 and earning an at-large bid and No. 10 overall seed for the NJCAA National Tournament. The season saw Petree garner Western Junior College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors, being named a WBCA National Coach of the Year finalist after leading the Texans to the programs first-ever No. 1 national ranking—joined by the 2019-20 club for the program's only two No. 1 national rankings.
 
Leading the 2018-19 Texans, guard Gabbie Green achieved NJCAA and WBCA All-American status under Petree's tutelage. Green also added NJCAA Region V Player of the Year honors during the season while guiding South Plains College to an NJCAA Elite Eight appearance, averaging 14.4 points per game, including scoring in double figures in 23 games on the season.
 
Petree's 2016-17 squad made a trip to the NJCAA Sweet Sixteen after earning the No. 9 national seed following a 28-6 season. The season also featured the first of three WBCA National Coach of the Year finalist selections in Petree's South Plains College tenure.
 
Her first season (2015-16) at the helm of the Texans program saw Petree engineer an 11-win turnaround for the program, claiming the program's first 20-win campaign in two seasons as South Plains College finished 20-11 on the year. In addition to the team's 11-win turnaround, the Texans improved their scoring average by nearly 13 points in Petree's first season.

During the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, Petree helmed the Angelo State University (NCAA Division II; San Angelo, Texas) program, leading the program to a pair of Lone Star Conference Tournament appearances.
 
Petree spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant at North Texas, helping the Mean Green earn the No. 6 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament—North Texas's final Sun Belt Tournament prior to joining Conference USA. In her lone season with the Mean Green program, Petree tutored 2013 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and future Women's National Basketball Association draft pick Loryn Goodwin who set the North Texas single-season record for three-pointers made while averaging 13.1 points per game and leading the conference in steals (83).
 
Petree's head coaching career began at her alma mater, Cisco College (Cisco, Texas), during the 2006-07 season, debuting as one of the youngest head coaches in the NJCAA. Taking over a program that hadn't won a game in two seasons, she engineered a massive turnaround, leading the Wrangler program to three 20-win seasons and three NJCAA Region V Tournament appearances in her six seasons at the helm, guiding the program to 93 wins during her tenure.
 
Starting her coaching career, Petree was an assistant at New Mexico Junior College (Hobbs, N.M.) during the 2005-06 season.
 
Prior to her coaching career, Petree played two seasons at Cisco College before playing a single season at Texas Tech with the Red Raiders advancing to the 2003 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Elite Eight in her lone season in Lubbock, Texas.
 
Petree earned a Bachelor's of Science Degree in exercise and sport sciences and a Master's of Science Degree in sport management from Texas Tech in 2004 and 2006, respectively.