Kelly Rae Finley - Women's Basketball Coach

Kelly Rae Finley

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
KellyFi@gators.ufl.edu
Phone:
5594

Phone: 352-375-4683, ext. 5594
Email: kellyfi@gators.ufl.edu
Twitter: @kraefin

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Was elevated to Head Coach in Feb. 2022 and served in that capacity until March of 2026
Finished her career as the Gators' head coach with an overall record of 93-75 and 30-50 in SEC play
Led UF to a postseason appearance in each of her first four seasons (NCAA in 2022, WNIT in 2023, WBIT in 2024 and 2025)
Took the Gators to their first WBIT semifinals in program history in 2025
Named the Spalding Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year by the WBCA in 2022
Honored as USA Today Sports Network 2022 SEC Coach of the Year
Semifinalist for the 2022 Naismith Coach of the Year award
Added WNBA All-Star and two-time SEC Player of the Year, Rhyne Howard to the coaching staff in 2023
Liv McGill was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award mid-season watch list, and to the All-SEC First Team in 2026 under her tutelage.
Developed both Kiki Smith and Leilani Correa to be drafted into the WNBA
Under her guidance, Leilani Correa was named the SEC Sixth Woman of the Year in 2024
ESPN ranked Florida's 2026 recruiting class as the 22nd best in the nation.
Signed the 10th-ranked recruiting class in the nation for 2024
Landed the nation's 7th-ranked recruit for the class of 2024, marking the highest-ranked recruit in program history
Signed three McDonald's All-American players in two years

Coach Finley served as Florida's head coach from 2021-26, first on an interim basis, before being named to the position full time in February of 2022. She led the Gators to four consecutive postseason appearances from 2022-25 including the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and to a No. 15 national ranking that very same year.

In 2025, Finley guided Florida to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament with wins in rounds one and two over Auburn and No. 19 Alabama. The Gators were rewarded with their fourth straight postseason tournament invitation, and advanced all the way to the WBIT semifinals besting Northern Iowa, UNLV and Texas Tech before falling to Minnesota.

Two years prior, Florida had another long postseason run, going 3-1 in the WNIT with wins over Wofford, Wake Forest and Clemson before Bowling Green topped the Gators in the Great Eight.

During the team's 2021-22 NCAA Tournament campaign, Florida knocked off nationally-ranked Texas A&M, Kentucky, LSU and Georgia during the regular season.

Finley oversaw a number of highly-touted recruiting classes during her time in Gainesville. During the 2023-24 seaso she added a pair of McDonald's All-Americans in Me’Arah O’Neal, and Liv McGill to the 2024-25 roster. Finley's 2024 recruiting class was ranked in the top 10 according to ESPN and included No. 7 Liv McGill — the highest-ranked recruit in program history. McGill would go on to set the program single-season scoring record in 2025-26, and was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press and the United State Basketball Writers Association.

Finley’ was named the Spalding Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year by the WBCA in her first year at the Gators' helm. She was also honored as USA Today Sports Network SEC Coach of the Year and was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award.

These recognitions came after she led the Gators to a historic 2021-22 campaign where the team went 21-11 — the first 20-win campaign since 2015-16 — while also earning an at-large bid for the first time since that same season. Finley helped develop All-SEC guard and Connecticut Sun draftee, Kiara Smith '22, and 2024 SEC Sixth Women of the Year Leilani Correa who was drafted to the Indiana Fever.

Finley originally joined the Gators' staff in 2017 as an assistant coach for two seasons before being promoted to associate head coach in May of 2019, and interim head coach in July of 2021. During this time Finley helped the Gators secure their first postseason victory since 2014 as Florida defeated Charlotte in the opening round of the WNIT.

Prior to coming to Gainesville, Coach Finley served as the assistant coach at Arizona, specializing in recruitment where she signed the 34th-ranked recruiting class in the country that included the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year (2017), the Washington 4A State Player of the Year (2017) and the Illinois Courier News Player of the year (2017). Finley also spent four years at the University of Colorado, signing the top 25 recruiting class helping her rank as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and No. 14 in the USA Today Sports Coaches poll (2013-2014).

Finley’s first stop in collegiate basketball was at Harvard where she spent three years as an assistant coach. At Harvard, Finley heavily impacted the recruiting scene and played a major role in signing the Ivy League's first-ever Women's McDonald’s All-American. Finley also aided in the recruitment of the Ivy League's second Olympian. At Harvard, Coach Kelly was entrusted with the role of director of post-player development. In that role, she led 12 All-Ivy selections, five of whom continued their careers in professional basketball. Her guidance at Harvard resulted in three postseason appearances (WNIT, 2010, 2011, 2012) and hyperactive fundraising efforts for locker room and equipment upgrades.

Finley graduated from Colorado State University in 2008 with her bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies. She was a two-year letter winner for the Rams and was a Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete Award winner in 2008. Finley began her collegiate career at Northwestern University where she lettered in 2004-05.