These 29 LGBTQ college basketball players and 64 coaches have been out while competing

As March Madness heats up, we celebrate various LGBTQ players and coaches who have inspired others by competing while out. The post These 29 LGBTQ college basketball players and 64 coaches have been out while competing appeared first on Outsports.

Mar 26, 2026 - 20:00

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College basketball seems to be always on the mind, whether the season starts heating up in the waning days of the college football season, March Madness, recruiting season.

Over the years — particularly the last decade — college basketball has offered an opportunity for LGBTQ athletes and coaches to come out publicly, assert their presence and inspire others.

We have seen transgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual players and coaches across genders and NCAA divisions.

While hundreds of other players and coaches have been out to family, friends and members of their team, these are some of some of the people we know of who have been publicly out in the media or clearly out on social media. If you know of more, please email us at team@outsports.com.

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Out players

Izzy Allen, Palm Beach State

Allen came out while playing high school basketball in Colorado.

Kye Allums, George Washington

Allums was the first publicly out trans athlete in NCAA D1 basketball, playing for the women’s team at George Washington.

Nicholle Aston, Cornell

Aston came out to her Big Red teammates freshman year before deciding to do a more public story years later in 2016.

Tylar Bennett, Clemson

Tylar Bennett came out publicly as part of an LGBTQ inclusion project at the Clemson Tigers athletic department.

Maria Berrum, Oakton Community

Berrum came out publicly in a Chicago Tribune article in 2016, saying her teammates and coaches in both high school and college were supportive.

Emily Easom, Sacramento State

Easom came out publicly in a newspaper article after transferring from Portland State. She now coaches high school basketball.

Taylor Emery, Gulf Coast State College and Virginia Tech

Emery was publicly out while winning a national junior college title with Gulf Coast State College before moving on to Virginia Tech.

Jess Farmer, Elon

Farmer came out while dating a fellow Elon athlete on the school’s softball team.

Hunter Fromang, Randolph-Macon

The center was part of a very successful men’s basketball team at Randolph-Macon.

Azzi Fudd, UConn

One of the best players in the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season, Azzi Fudd is the girlfriend of Paige Bueckers.

MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU

MiLaysia Fulwiley was a major factor in the success of Dawn Staley and the South Carolina women’s basketball team. She then transferred to LSU to play for coach Kim Mulkey.

Derrick Gordon, Massachusetts and Seton Hall

Gordon was the first NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to come out publicly in 2014 while at UMass. He then also played for Seton Hall. No player in D1 men’s basketball has come out publicly since.

Rori Harmon, Texas

Rori Harmon has been on back-to-back SEC All-Defensive teams. She has been the girlfriend of WNBA player Shaylee Gonzales.

Rikki Harris, Ohio State

Harris has posted images of her and her girlfriend on Instagram. She was All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2023.

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Jaide Hinds-Clarke, Richmond

Hinds-Clarke started an on-campus organization for Black LGBTQ students like her.

Bree Horrocks, Purdue

Horrocks played for the Boilermakers in the NCAA Tournament while a center on the Purdue women’s basketball team.

Navi Huskey, Long Beach City

Huskey was a successful and award-winning player for Long Beach City College in Southern California and a trailblazer for trans women in women’s sports.

Gabrielle Ludwig, Mission

Ludwig came out publicly as a trans community college basketball player in 2012, in addition to being one of the tallest and oldest women’s basketball players in the country at 6-foot-8 and age 50.

Shania Meertens, Clemson

Meertens was part of a Clemson Tigers athletics department project featuring out LGBTQ people across sports.

Jallen Messersmith, Benedictine

Messersmith played in the NAIA for this religious school in Kansas, which tried to bar him from hanging a rainbow flag in his window after coming out.

Olivia Miles, TCU

Olivia Miles transferred from Notre Dame to TCU for the 2025-26 season. She’s the girlfriend of WNBA player Maddy Westbeld.

Joe Morrell, St. John Fisher

Morrell came out publicly in 2022 while a junior at St. John Fisher College in New York. His team went to the NCAA tournament that year.

Max Nagle, Hollins

The transgender basketball player came out as trans to his Hollins University women’s basketball team and played with the Virginia-based college team after coming out.

Sedona Prince, Oregon and TCU

The TCU star, and former star of the Oregon Ducks, inspired others to come out in their own lives.

One last ride. (for real this time) pic.twitter.com/jnETGtuTJ1— SEDONA (@sedonaprince_) April 10, 2024

Estel Puiggros, Ball State

Puiggros was out and with a partner while playing for Ball State. She came out with a couple other Ball State athletes in an article early in 2024.

Derek Schell, Hillsdale

When Schell came out as an NCAA Division II gay athlete in 2013, he did so at a Michigan school that’s still on the Campus Pride Worst List for LGBTQ students.

Shyanne Sellers, Maryland

Shyanne Sellers and her girlfriend, Faith Masonius, have been very open about their relationship as Sellers has played for Maryland in the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament.

Jesse Taylor, Dakota Wesleyan

Taylor came out in 2015 on the NAIA Dakota Wesleyan basketball team after being a multi-sport athlete in high school.

Courtney Thrun, Brandeis

Thrun found a culture where she could thrive as an LGBTQ athlete, under coach Carol Simon

Out LGBTQ coaches

Kate Achter, Detroit—Mercy

Achter has had coaching stings at Loyola Chicago and Xavier. She is married to her wife, Tina, and the duo has two kids.

Monica Armstrong, UC-Santa Cruz

Monica Armstrong is the head coach of the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. She lives in Santa Cruz with her wife and their daughter.

Karen Aston, Texas — San Antonio

Aston was hired as the UTSA women’s basketball head coach in 2021. She and her wife, Claire, have a daughter together.

Seimone Augustus, LSU

Seimone Augustus has returned to her alma mater and is now coaching the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team she once played for, as part of the coaching staff of head coach Kim Mulkey.

Jennifer Azzi, San Francisco

While still the head coach at the University of San Francisco, Azzi came out publicly before stepping down from her coaching position months later.

Melanie Balcomb, Purdue and Ohio Dominican

Balcomb came out publicly while working for Dawn Staley at South Carolina, before going on to coach at Purdue and becoming the head coach at Division II Ohio Dominican University.

Courtney Banghart, North Carolina

Banghart is married to lacrosse coach Michele DeJuliis. She brought success to UNC, and previously to Princeton.

Chelsea Barker Walsh, UMBC

Barker Walsh played for the Retrievers from 2007-2011, joining the coaching staff in 2015. She and her wife, Kiera, live in Baltimore.

Carla Berube, Princeton

Berube is married to her wife and they have three kids together. The Tigers are a No. 10 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Jessie Biggs, Indiana Tech

Biggs is the head coach of this NAIA school and married to her assistant coach, Kylene, with whom she has two daughters.

Kylene Biggs, Indiana Tech

Biggs is an assistant coach of this NAIA school and married to her head coach, Jessie, with whom she has two daughters.

Courtney Boyd, Valparaiso

Courtney Boyd became the ninth head women’s basketball coach at Valparaiso earlier this year. Boyd led Clarke University to the NAIA National Championship in 2023, earning her NAIA National Coach of the Year honors. She’s off to a rough start in 2025, losing the first nine games. Boyd and her wife, Ali, have two daughters — Sophie and Zoey

Tempie Brown, Stanford

While on the coaching staff for Stanford legend Tara VanDerveer, Brown shared her love for her wife, Melissa. She is now a high school athletic director in Ohio.

Becky Burke, Buffalo

Burke, the head coach of the University of Buffalo women’s basketball team, was not shy about sharing her proposal to her girlfriend in 2022.

Chris Burns, Bryant

In 2015, Bryant College assistant coach Chris Burns became the first publicly out Division I men’s basketball coach.

Amanda Butler, Clemson

Butler is married to her wife, Janna, and the couple has two sons. She has taken three schools to the WNIT and two have advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Bridgett Casey, Bridgewater State

Casey has lead the Bridgewater State women’s basketball team for decades. She and her wife, Meghan, have four sons.

Billi Chambers, Iona

Chambers led the Gaels to their only NCAA D1 Tournament appearance, in 2016. She is married to her wife, Melba, according to the Iona website.

Kevin DeMille, George Washington and Vanderbilt

DeMille has been out as an assistant coach for both the Colonial and Commodore women’s basketball teams.

Dalila Eshe, Yale

When Eshe was announced as the Bulldogs’ new women’s head basketball coach in 2022, her wife, Way, was there with their two daughters.

Heather Ezell, Wyoming

In her first season as the Cowgirl head coach, the team earned a WNIT berth and a first-round win.

Kaitlynn Fratz, Maryland

Assistant coach Fratz shared her pride in being supported as Maryland celebrated the LGBTQ community.

Lexie Gerson, Arcadia and Harcum

Gerson was an assistant coach at the D3 Arcadia University, and then head coach at the JC Harcum College. She is still coaching basketball today.

Kristen Gillespie, Illinois State

As head coach, Gillespie lead the Redbirds to the 2023 NIT, where they lost to Missouri. She and her wife, Brittany, were married in 2017.

Shimmy Gray-Miller, Clemson

Shimmy Gray-Miller coached women’s college basketball for over two decades, being part of an LGBTQ visibility effort at Clemson. She is now a broadcaster.

Allison Guth, Loyola

Guth and her wife, Jessie, have two kids. She previously coached women’s basketball at Yale.

Lauren Hall-Gregory, New York

The NYU head women’s basketball coach first took her position in 2012. She and her wife, Colleen, have three children.

Blair Hardiek, San Francisco

She was assistant to her wife, Jennifer Azzi. She is now an executive for the Las Vegas Aces.

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Raina Harmon, Florida Gulf Coast

Raina Harmon is the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast after being an Iowa assistant coach. Harmon has shared messages about her marriage to her wife and their honeymoon in California.

Kristin Haynie, Central Michigan

Kristin Haynie took over the Central Michigan women’s basketball program ahead of the 2023-24 season after coaching at Michigan State, as well as a position with the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA.

Katie Hempen, Eastern Michigan

The assistant women’s basketball coach played college ball for Arizona State.

Gabby Holko, Susquehanna

Holko has lead the Susquehanna women’s basketball team since 2019. She is married to her wife, Cailin.

Layne Ingram, Lansing Community

Ingram was the rare out trans person in college basketball, coaching the women’s basketball team at Lansing Community College in Michigan.

Jan Jensen, Iowa

Head coach Jansen and her partner, Julie Fitzpatrick, have been together for multiple decades!

Jason Jaramillo, Sarah Lawrence and Clark

The longtime leader in the National Gay Basketball Association has also been a women’s basketball assistant coach for Sarah Lawrence College in New York. He is currently an assistant for Clark University.

Kara Kelly, Stonehill

Kelly has been part of two NCAA Tournament bids for Stonehill as an assistant coach. Her wife, Liz, played for the Stonehill women’s basketball team.

Belle Koclanes, Dartmouth and Drexel

Koclanes talked about her wife while she was an assistant coach with Dartmouth. Her Drexel profile has no mention of that.

Monique LeBlanc, Brown

LeBlanc was previously head coach at Merrimack and assistant coach at Northern Arizona. In 2022-23 she coached the team to its best record in five seasons.

Matt Lynch, Chowhan and USC-Salkehatchie

Lynch was out while an assistant coach at the D2 Chowhan University in North Carolina. He is now the head men’s basketball coach at the junior college University of South Carolina Salkehatchie, where he has lead the team to great success in his first two seasons.

Kelly McNiff, Wisconsin-Platteville

McNiff has been the head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Wisconsin Platteville since 2019.

Katie Meier, Miami

Meier coached the Hurricanes to at least 10 NCAA tournament appearances. She has posted many times on social media about her wife and their relationship. She has since retired from coaching.

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After 19 years with the Hurricanes, Katie Meier finished with 368 wins and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. A Miami coaching legend.

Ryenn Micaletti, Longwood

Micaletti played college ball for Seton Hall. She has been a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for Longwood since 2020.

Curt Miller, Indiana

When announced as the next head women’s basketball coach at Indiana University in 2012, Miller publicly appreciated his male partner, effectively coming out. He went on to successfully coach the Connecticut Sun and is now an executive with the Dallas Wings.

Ryan Mizner, Central Michigan

Mizner came out while an assistant coach for the Central Michigan men’s basketball team, though he has since left the college coaching profession.

Colleen Mullen, Albany

Mullen lead Albany to a WNIT berth in 2023. She and her wife, Lauren, have three kids. She previously coached at Army.

Sherri Murrell, Portland State

The first publicly out head coach in all of Division I basketball, Murrell coached Portland State women’s basketball from 2007 to 2015.

Deneen Parker, Houston

Parker has been an assistant coach at Houston for several years. She is married to her wife, Danielle.

Kate Paye, Stanford

Kate Paye took over the head coaching duties at the Stanford Cardinal after the retirement of legendary coach Tara VanDerVeer.

Cassie Seth, West Liberty

Seth has been the associate head women’s basketball coach of this Ohio-based DII school for several years.

Julie Shaw, La Verne

Shaw was the head coach of the D3 University of La Verne women’s basketball team before working with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Candice Signor-Brown, Vassar and Swarthmore

Signor-Brown has been publicly out coaching women’s basketball for Vassar and Swarthmore.

Carol Simon, Brandeis

As head coach of the Division III Brandeis women’s basketball team, Simon has inspired at least one out player to feel she belongs.

Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft, Shenandoah

Smeltzer-Kraft has been the head coach of the DIII Shenandoah since 2014. That was the same year she married her wife, Ashley, who is the school’s head field hockey coach.

Jackie Smith, Connecticut College

Smith has been the head coach for the DIII Connecticut College since 2018. She played college basketball for Hartford.

DJ Slifer, Texas A&M, Kingsville and Lynn

Slifer has been out as an assistant coach at Texas A&M University—Kingsville and Lynn University, both Division II.

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Julia Tucker, Lynn

Tucker and her wife, Adrienne, have a son. She has been the head coach of Lynn’s women’s basketball team in Florida since 2015.

Morgan Valley, Connecticut

A former UConn player, Valley was the head coach at Hartford before joining the Huskies coaching staff. She married her wife in 2018.

Marc VandeWettering, Wisconsin

Marc VandeWettering has thrived with the Badgers’ basketball team by being himself. He wants other LGBTQ people in sports to feel comfortable enough to come out.

Way Veney, Central Connecticut

Way Veney is the wife of Yale head coach Dalila Eshe. Veney previously coached at Temple for over a decade.

Lindsay Werntz, Denver

An assistant coach for the Denver Pioneers women’s basketball team, married to head coach Doshia Woods.

Lora Westling, Washburn

Westling, who played college ball for Washburn, was in her first season as the team’s head coach. Westling and her wife, Amy, have a daughter together.

C White, Bentley

White has been on the coaching staff for the Bentley women’s basketball team for over 20 years, and as the team’s head coach since 2020. She and her wife, Lindsay, have twins.