Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- frecchia@kent.edu
- Phone:
- 330-672-8438
Fran Recchia was promoted to associate head coach in July 2018. She mentors the team’s point guards after previously working with wing players.
Recchia has aided the Golden Flashes in capturing a pair of Mid-American Conference East Division titles and three Postseason WNIT appearances during her first five years on staff, which includes the program’s first-ever victory in the event at Green Bay on March 21, 2019.
She has been instrumental in rejuvenating Kent State’s recruiting efforts and helped land two of the highest-touted signing class in school history in 2018 and 2019. Both classes had two student-athletes earn spots on the MAC All-Freshman Team, while only one other school had multiple honorees over the two seasons. Nila Blackford led all conference freshmen in rebounding during the 2019-20 season. Led by Asiah Dingle and Lindsey Thall, the 2018 class ranked second nationally with 964 points. Overall, these two classes have combined for four All-MAC honors and a pair of MAC All-Defensive Team nods.
In 2021-22, the Flashes beat two Power 5 teams (Penn State and #19 UCLA) and picked up a win over Youngstown State in the WNIT for just the second postseason WNIT win in school history. Their overall record was 19-12 (10-10 MAC). Once again, guard Katie Shumate led the team in scoring.
The 2020-21 season was an odd one, as the schedule included just three non-conference games and a full conference slate. Some games were canceled throughout the season, which left the final record for the team at 11-9 (10-6 MAC). Guard Katie Shumate earned All-MAC Third Team honors.
The Flashes won their second MAC East Division title in a four-year period during the 2019-20 season and was the highest-remaining seed in the MAC Tournament when it was canceled. Katie Shumate became the Flashes’ first freshman to garner All-MAC accolades since 2008 with an honorable mention selection. The versatile guard logged a team-high 34.4 minutes per game while ranking among the top-three in scoring, rebounding, three-point shooting, assists, steals and blocked shots. Megan Carter also received an honorable mention nod to give Kent State multiple All-MAC selections on the perimeter for the first time since 2005.
The 2018-19 season saw the Flashes post the program’s first 20-win campaign since 2010-11 while breaking a 25-year-old school record with 241 three-point field goals made. Guard Alexa Golden earned a spot on the MAC All-Defensive Team after ranking 19th in the country with 91 steals. Golden averaged a career-high 7.6 points per game while ranking second on the team in rebounding (5.6 rpg) and assists (2.5 apg).
In her first season on staff, Recchia helped guide Kent State to one of biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division I women’s basketball, which concluded with the first Mid-American Conference East Division title since 2004-05 and a WNIT postseason berth. The Golden Flashes, who compiled a 19-13 overall record, had the nation’s largest RPI improvement, jumping 222 spots from the previous season, and fifth most-improved record in the country.
MAC Player of the Year Larissa Lurken enjoyed a breakout senior season in 2016-17 under Recchia’s tutelage, setting program records for points (752) and scoring average (23.5 ppg) while making a NCAA Division I record 280 free throws. She was the only Division I player in the nation that averaged 20 points, six rebounds, two assists, two three-pointers, one steal and one blocked shot per game.
Before arriving in Kent, Recchia had spent five of the previous six seasons as an assistant coach at Radford. Upon returning in 2013, she served as the program’s recruiting coordinator and was responsible for wing player development, scouting, academics and compliance. Overall, she helped guide the Highlanders to one WNIT appearance and two Big South runner-up finishes while mentoring five All-Big South selections.
Recchia served as an assistant coach at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee during the 2012-13 season and was head coach at William Byrd High School in Vinton, Virginia from 2007-10.
Prior to that, she spent five years at Virginia Tech, playing guard from 2001-05 and then serving as a graduate assistant during the 2005-06 season. She helped the Hokies to four 20-win seasons and five postseason appearances, including four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.
A 2004 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Virginia Tech, Recchia earned a master’s degree in education in 2006.
