MN Lynx sign coach Cheryl Reeve to multi-year contract extension

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Lynx today announced the team has signed head coach Cheryl Reeve to a multi-year contract extension. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.

“We are very happy to announce a multi-year contract extension with one of the league’s best coaches, Cheryl Reeve,” said Lynx Executive Vice President Roger Griffith. “Three years ago, we gave Cheryl the opportunity as head coach of the Lynx based on her extensive experience as assistant coach in the WNBA and glowing recommendations from her colleagues. The decision has paid off with Cheryl leading our team to back-to-back WNBA Finals appearances, including its first championship in 2011, and the best record in the league since being hired. We are extremely happy to continue the relationship and look forward to even better things in the future.”

“I’m just as excited today as I was the day that Roger and Mr. Taylor hired me to be the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx,” said Reeve. “We have a great thing going here in Minnesota – great players, great staff and great fans – and I’m very grateful to be in this situation.”

Under Reeve’s tutelage, the Lynx won a WNBA-best 67 games dating back to the start of the 2010 season, including reaching the WNBA Finals in each of the last two seasons. Minnesota’s 54 regular season wins over the past two seasons are the second highest two-season win total in WNBA history (56 - Los Angeles, 2000-01). Her .657 winning percentage ranks second in WNBA history (Michael Cooper, 167-85, .663), one of just four coaches to win at least 60% of their games in league history (Chancellor, Thibault).

This past season was Reeve’s third year as Lynx head coach, leading the team to a league-best 27-7 record for the second consecutive season. Minnesota started the year 10-0, becoming the first team in WNBA history to open a season with 10 consecutive victories. The Lynx set WNBA records in both assists (20.8 apg) and rebounding margin (+6.8 rpg), while finishing the season leading the league in a number of categories, including points (86.0 ppg), rebounds (37.8 rpg), field goal percentage (43.3%) and three-point percentage (40.0%). Minnesota compiled a league-best 20 double-figure victories – the second highest single-season total in league history – en route to finishing the season with a +9.8 point differential, the third highest scoring margin in league history.

Leading the Lynx to their first WNBA title in 2011, Reeve was selected as the WNBA’s Coach of the Year, becoming the second coach to earn the honor in franchise history (Suzie McConnell Serio, 2004). Minnesota’s 14-game improvement between 2010 and 2011 was the second-largest single-season win increase in WNBA history.