After four seasons in Orlando, Sytia Messer is out as the head coach of the University of Central Florida’s women’s basketball team.
The university announced the change March 30 after four people familiar with the situation at UCF told USA TODAY Sports on that the Knights were terminating Messer’s contract. She had one year remaining on her five-year deal, but the buyout provision in her contract — a copy of which was obtained and reviewed by USA TODAY Sports — was 50% of the remaining guaranteed compensation, putting in the ballpark of about $370,000, a manageable cost compared to some other buyout figures in today’s landscape of college athletics.
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Messer, 48, was hired as UCF’s head coach in 2022 after Katie Abrahamson-Henderson left to fill the opening at Georgia. Previously, Messer had worked as an assistant and then associate head coach on Kim Mulkey’s staffs at Baylor and LSU, helping the Lady Bears win a national championship in 2019. Messer was also the head coach at Tennessee Tech for three seasons from 2009 to 2012, where she won a regular season title in the Ohio Valley Conference.
But Messer was unable to sustain the success that Abrahamson-Henderson had with the Knights as they transitioned from the American Conference to the Big 12. Abrahamson-Henderson won 72% of her games at UCF and took the program to three NCAA Tournaments in six seasons, including her last which featured a first-round win over Florida.
Messer went 14-15 overall and 4-11 in American play her first season leading UCF, and things didn’t improve when the Knights jumped up to the Big 12. The Knights are 34-52 in the past three seasons and have never had more than four wins in Big 12 play in Messer’s tenure. After six consecutive winning seasons under Abrahamson-Henderson, the Knights have now had four straight losing ones.
In addition to suffering losses to mid-major teams like Charlotte, Stetson, UNLV, Montana State, High Point and FAU, Messer was also unable to retain her best players. Five of UCF’s top seven scorers from last season transferred to other programs. Among them, Kaitlin Peterson became a key contributor at Ole Miss, Adeang Ring is getting minutes off the bench at Virginia, and Achol Akot is a starter posting career-highs at Oklahoma State this season.
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Because of its proximity to a recruiting hotbed in Florida and it being in a winnable Power 4 league in the Big 12, UCF will be a desirable job to some strong candidates. Here’s who the Knights might call.
Gabe Lazo, Tennessee assistant coach
The Tennessee assistant is well known as one of the sport’s top recruiters, but it should also be mentioned that Lazo has a strong reputation for his acumen in scouting and x’s and o’s. In the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell gave Lazo — then an assistant for the Bulldogs — much of the credit for preparing the team in their upset of No. 6 Creighton. Purcell added that Lazo’s “work ethic is unmatched” and he’s an “elite” player developer. Lazo left Mississippi State in 2024 to join Kim Caldwell’s staff at Tennessee where he has helped the Lady Vols sign multiple McDonald’s All-Americans and talented transfers. For this opening, it’s worth mentioning that Lazo grew up in Miami and has deep ties in Florida dating back to his time as a head coach in the high school and AAU ranks, where he was a three-time high school coach of the year and led his AAU team to the Nike Nationals. Lazo is also Cuban, and UCF’s student enrollment is 31% Hispanic.
The 36-year-old has quickly turned Arkansas State into a winner, taking the Red Wolves to their first-ever NCAA Tournament last season. Arkansas State went 26-9 this season, marking its second-most wins in a season in program history. Rogers has a winning pedigree, as she helped Central Arkansas appear in March Madness as a player and then as an assistant coach. Rogers has displayed the ability to assemble talented rosters with the transfer portal — she has seven this season — and create a scheme and style that is entertaining and plays to her players’ strengths. The Red Wolves this season also rank in the top 10 nationally in 3-point rate, total 3-pointers made, offensive rebounds per game and turnovers forced per game. It’s also worth noting that UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir worked at Arkansas State until 2021. Chances are he knows Rogers and what she’s accomplished at a place where winning championships is hard.
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Blair-Lewis really has won everywhere she’s been. She captured conference titles at Mount St. Mary’s, guided Bethune-Cookman to four seasons of 20 wins or more and took the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament, and then last season coached George Mason to its first March Madness appearance. The Patriots went 23-10 this season and won the Atlantic-10 regular season title for the first time in program history. Blair-Lewis has made a career out of winning big at places where it’s difficult to do so and captured her 400th victory earlier this season. She was in the mix for some Power 4 openings last year, but ultimately decided to stay at George Mason. She also interviewed for the head coach opening at Florida before the Gators ultimately hired Tammi Reiss. She spent 12 seasons coaching at Bethune-Cookman in the previous decade and her connections in Florida could pay off if she were to undertake a rebuilding job at UCF.
Other potential names to watch: Rice head coach Lindsay Edmonds, Jacksonville head coach Special Jennings, Lamar head coach Aqua Franklin, Miami assistant Fitzroy Anthony, Troy head coach Chanda Rigby, McNeese State head coach Ayla Guzzardo, Louisville assistant Amanda Butler, FIU head coach Jesyka Burks-Wiley
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Candidates for UCF women’s basketball coach opening
