Fran Recchia

Biography

The Fran Recchia era began on April 1, 2026, as the long-time assistant coach officially took over as the seventh head coach in Kent State women’s basketball history. Recchia transitions to the head coaching seat after being the Golden Flashes’ lead assistant for the previous 10 seasons, including eight in the associate head coach position. Kent State totaled five postseason appearances and 179 victories, the second most among Mid-American Conference schools in the state of Ohio, during her decade in Kent. A MAC Tournament championship and return to the NCAA Tournament in 2024 highlight the program's success, which also includes two MAC East Division titles and four 20-win seasons. 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 reco