Idaho moves on from Jon Newlee, all-time leader in women’s hoops wins

The Idaho women’s basketball team set the pace when it came to acclimating to neutral site tournaments in the Big Sky Conference. And Jon Newlee had a huge part in that.

Newlee, who won 257 games at Idaho all told, helped the Vandals win the Big Sky’s first neutral site tournament in Reno, Nevada nine years ago. That victory helped UI earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons after the Vandals had won the WAC twice in three years before rejoining the BSC.

Idaho hasn’t been back to the Big Dance since, but the Vandals have been competitive within the league, winning the regular-season title in 2019 with an iconic group led by the “Splash Sisters”. Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce shot and made 3-pointers more prolifically than anyone in the history of the league. The duo was as lethal as any duo in women’s basketball history.

UI has had losing records each of the last season seasons but returns Beyonce Bea, a 1,900+ point scorer who has a chance to break Ferenz’s all-time Big Sky scoring record in her fifht season with the Vandals.

On Thursday, that all was put on pause . At 5:40 p.m. MST, Travis Green of KREM2 Television in Spokane reported that Newlee was out as the head coach of Idaho women’s basketball. At 6:13 p.m., Newlee put out a letter on Twitter and social media that included the line: “It has always been understood that coaches serve at the pleasure of their administration and I’ve known that since the beginning,” preceding a body of text that read like a resume for a man all of a sudden looking for a new job for the first time since 2008.

And at 6:15 p.m., Idaho put out a press release saying, “The University of Idaho and women’s basketball coach Jon Newlee have mutually agreed to part ways, Athletic Director Terry Gawlik announced Thursday.”
 

“I want to thank Jon for his service to our women’s basketball program over the last 15 years,” Gawlik said in the release. “Jon led Vandal women’s basketball to new heights, and we all appreciate the time and effort he gave to our student-athletes and our university.”

“I would like to thank the University of Idaho and its leadership for the amazing opportunity to coach the women’s basketball team for these past 15 years,” Newlee said in the release. “I would also like to thank the student-athletes who have played for me at Idaho. They are the reason why I love this profession. I leave the University of Idaho with fond memories and wish the women’s basketball program the very best and continued success.”

Reports from regional media confirmed that Newlee had two years left on his contract and that Idaho will have to pay him more than $300,000 to terminate that deal.

Newlee had been Idaho’s head coach since 2008 and finishes as the program’s all-time leader in wins with a 257-213 (.547) overall record, including a 167-96 (.635) record in conference games. He was named Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2019, as well as WAC Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2014. During his tenure, the Vandals won two regular season championships, one in the WAC and one in the Big Sky as well as three tournament championships with two in the WAC and one in the Big Sky. In all, the Vandals earned three trips to the NCAA tournament, back-to-back WNIT appearances, and two WBI appearances. 

Off the court, Newlee’s teams excelled in the classroom, most recently posting a 3.66 team-wide GPA in the Fall of 2022. He coached over 76 All-Academic honorees, three CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, and two CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. His 2017-18 squad was sixth in the WBCA Academic Top-25.

“Our history of success in women’s basketball, the beautiful new ICCU Arena, and the investments we’ve made to position Idaho as a consistent championship contender make this a very attractive job,” Gawlik said in the release. “We look forward to finding the next leader to not only contend for Big Sky Championships but also develop and grow the young women in our program.”

A national search for the next Idaho women’s basketball coach will begin immediately. Bowlsby Sports Advisors has been retained to assist with the search.