Kayla Laine Ard (born February 10, 1984) is an American college basketball coach who is currently women's basketball head coach at

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

Early life and education

Born in

Hammond, Louisiana Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States, located east of Baton Rouge and northwest of New Orleans. Its population was 20,019 in the 2010 U.S. census, and 21,359 at the 2020 population estimates program. Ham ...

, Ard grew up in nearby Loranger and graduated from Loranger High School in 2002.Troy University Athletics Roster - Kayla Ard
/ref> She played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

for one season at

Chipola College Chipola College is a public college in Marianna, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. History The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed several bachelor's ...

, then transferred to

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

, where she played three games in the 2004–05 season, averaging 3.0 points per game. She graduated from Southeastern Louisiana in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in general studies, and later earned a master's degree in psychology from the

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree lev ...

in 2013.

Coaching career

Ard started her coaching career as assistant coach of the AAU Domino's Basketball program in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

from 2003 to 2005, followed by one season as a coach at Hammond High School (2005-06 season), and head coach of the Hammond Tornadoes AAU organization in 2007. After coaching at Hammond, Ard was cast in the lead role of a

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

commercial, which aired from 2008 to 2009.Troy Women's Basketball adds coaches
WSFA13 News, June 5, 2012. Ard was then a recruiter and assistant coach at

Pensacola State College Pensacola State College (PSC), formerly Pensacola Junior College, is a public college in Pensacola, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The main campus, located in Pensacola, was opened in 1948 and was the first institute of hig ...

in Florida during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, then spent a year at

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

, working under

Chanda Rigby Chanda Rigby (born April 16, 1968) is an American basketball coach. Since 2012, she has been the head coach of the Troy Trojans women's basketball The Troy Trojans women's basketball program is the intercollegiate women's basketball of Troy ...

and athletic director John Hartwell. Kayla Ard Named Utah State Head Women's Basketball Coach
Utah State University, March 23, 2020 From 2013 to 2015, Ard was an assistant coach at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

, then served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

from 2015 to 2017. From 2017 to 2020, she was the associate head coach, recruiting coordinator, and offensive coordinator at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

, including 11 games in the 2019 season as the interim head coach.University of Denver Athletics Roster
/ref> On March 23, 2020, it was announced that she had been hired as the head coach for the

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

's basketball program. After a 4 win season and last place conference finish in Ard's debut season, the team improved to 11-19, and finished 9th of 11 teams in the conference. However, in an interesting turn of events, 10 players from her team entered the transfer portal following the 2021–22 season, leaving the team with only 2 returners (both reserves). In 2022-23, Ard's team amassed 26 losses, tied for the most by a Utah State women's basketball team in school history. This resulted in another last place finish in the conference.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ard, Kayla 1984 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Chipola Indians women's basketball players Denver Pioneers women's basketball coaches Southeastern Louisiana Lions basketball players Sportspeople from Hammond, Louisiana University of Phoenix alumni Junior college women's basketball coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Louisiana Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball players from Louisiana Dayton Flyers women's basketball coaches Clemson Tigers women's basketball coaches Utah State Aggies women's basketball coaches