Iowa State women’s basketball legend Bill Fennelly is preparing for his final season in Ames.
Fennelly announced Monday that he will retire following the 2026-27 season, bringing an end to one of the longest and most successful coaching tenures in Big 12 history.
The upcoming season will be Fennelly’s 32nd at Iowa State and his 39th as a college head coach. He enters the year with a 656-335 record with the Cyclones and 822 career victories overall.
Fennelly explained that announcing the decision before the season gives Iowa State’s new athletics director clarity and allows the school to begin planning for the program’s future.
“It has been the greatest honor of my professional life to coach at Iowa State for the past 32 years,” Fennelly said in the school’s announcement.
Fennelly took over at Iowa State in 1995 and transformed a program that had endured six consecutive losing seasons before his arrival. Under Fennelly, the Cyclones have reached 24 NCAA Tournaments and 26 postseason appearances overall. His teams have also reached two Elite Eights and six Sweet 16s while winning three Big 12 Tournament championships.
Iowa State reached the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season in 2026, finishing the regular season 22-9 before earning a No. 8 seed. All 24 NCAA Tournament appearances in program history have come under Fennelly.
Fennelly will now get one final run at Hilton Coliseum with a significantly reworked roster. Iowa State added nine players during the offseason, while former Cyclones star Emily Ryan joined the coaching staff as an assistant and Caroline McCombs was elevated to associate head coach.
The Cyclones open Fennelly’s final regular season on Nov. 2 against Grambling State at Hilton Coliseum.
