Since the start of the University of North Florida women’s basketball team in 1991, only one person has been at the helm of the Ospreys’ program, Mary Tappmeyer.
Entering her 23rd year at UNF and her 30th as a head coach, Tappmeyer has 397 career wins, including 302 with the Ospreys. She is among a select group of coaches to navigate a program through three different levels of intercollegiate competition. Her 200th UNF win and 300th career victory came during the 2004-05 season -- the Ospreys’ final Division II season -- and left the Division II ranks among the top 40 in total wins.
The 2013-14 campaign was a tough season, but the Ospreys attempted to overcome the hurdles that laid in their path. In three of its games against high-major programs, UNF set several notable benchmarks. The Ospreys tallied 77 points at Florida for their most points against a high-major. While at Clemson, UNF limited the Tigers to 48 points, the fewest a high-major has scored against the Ospreys. Additionally, UNF held then-No. 25 Florida State to 61 points, which at the time, was the fewest number of points the Seminoles had scored against a non-ranked opponent. It was also Florida State’s first game with less than 70 points against a non-major team.
In 2012-13, the Ospreys faced another challenging schedule that included opening the year at then-No. 23 Miami. UNF was one of the top defensive teams in the Atlantic Sun. The Ospreys limited opponents to just 58.5 points per game, which ranked second in the conference and 92nd in the NCAA. UNF kept the opponents’ rebounding capabilities in check, holding the opposition to an A-Sun best 36.1 rebounds per game. For the fourth-straight year, UNF reached the postseason. The Ospreys were the No. 5 seed in the 2013 General Shale Atlantic Sun Women’s Basketball Championships and pulled off a thrilling 50-48 win over No. 4 seeded USC Upstate in the first round.
Throughout the season, multiple milestones were met. Against Coastal Carolina in the Carolinas Challenge on Dec. 19, UNF hit a Division I era-best 13 three-pointers. Destinee Smith led the Ospreys’ long-range efforts with a blazing 6-for-7 performance from beyond the arc against the Chanticleers. As a result, Smith was selected as the Atlantic Sun’s Player of the Week on Dec. 26. Another team accomplishment came on Feb. 25 against USC Upstate. The Ospreys shot 93.5 percent (15-for-16) from the foul line, which is their highest single-game shooting percentage in the Division I years. Meanwhile, in the final game of the regular season, Jadhken Kerr became the seventh player in UNF history to reach 1,000 career points. Known for her three-point shot, Kerr’s 1,000th point occurred on at the 15:25 mark in the second half at Lipscomb on Mar. 2 when she hit drilled a trey.
Tappmeyer guided the 2011-12 Ospreys to their highest finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings, securing fourth place with a thrilling buzzer-beater at cross-town rival Jacksonville. UNF also swept the regular-season series with ETSU for the first-time in program history. Larkira Jones and Jadhken Kerr each set individual benchmarks during the season. Jones became the program’s all-time leading blocker, while Kerr hit a single-game, program-high seven three-pointers. Brittany Kirkland finished out her stellar career as UNF’s all-time Division I scoring leader and a First-Team All-Conference nod -- her fourth-straight post-season honor. Kirkland totaled 1,571 points in her four years, finishing second behind Skye Barber among UNF’s all-time leaders and 15th among the Atlantic Sun’s all-time leaders.
The 2010-11 season saw several benchmarks set as the Ospreys continued their impact in the Atlantic Sun and Division I. As a team, the Ospreys posted their best conference record (11-9) since joining the Atlantic Sun. Individually, Larkira Jones and Brittany Kirkland reached new heights for the program. Jones became the program’s first player in UNF’s Division I era to receive Player of the Year honors as she was tabbed the Atlantic Sun’s top defensive player. Kirkland reached the 1,000-point plateau, becoming the sixth player in overall program history to hit that mark and the first in the program’s Division I years.
In the 2009-10 season, Tappmeyer’s Ospreys became fully eligible for Division I postseason action after going through the four year reclassification process. UNF, who ranked second nationally in field goal defense percentage nationally, earned a spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Ospreys knocked off No. 3 Mercer in the opening round before defeating No. 6 Jacksonville in the semifinal round to advance to the conference’s title game against No. 1 seeded East Tennessee State. The Bucs edged UNF, 63-62 on a last second jumper.
In 2005-06 the Ospreys began their transition into NCAA Division I status. Tappmeyer’s inaugural Division I squad surpassed all expectations, finishing seventh in the Atlantic Sun Conference race after being picked to finish 11th in both the coaches and media preseason polls. UNF came into the last week of the season with a shot at fourth place in the conference standings and would have made the league’s postseason tournament, if it were eligible. UNF followed up its inaugural run through the A-Sun with a sixth-place finish in the conference — which once again would have qualified the Ospreys for the conference tournament.
Prior to making the transition to Division I, Tappmeyer led the 2003-04 squad to its highest win total in program history (24), a second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, a 14-0 home record and a share of the Peach Belt Conference South Division title. Tappmeyer’s team also maintained a season-long national ranking, reaching a high of No. 2 during January. That record-setting season came on the heels of the 2002-03 team’s drive to an NCAA South Atlantic Regional Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight. Tappmeyer’s teams posted three consecutive 20-win seasons from 2001-2004. During that stretch, the Ospreys tallied a 37-17 Peach Belt Conference record.
In addition to the excitement of beginning her own program, Tappmeyer also valued the academic priorities of UNF and cites the academic mission of the school as one of the main factors that drew her to the institution. Aside from her tremendous competitive drive to win, she is committed to recruiting high-quality student-athletes. While at UNF, Tappmeyer’s players have graduated at a 98 percent rate.
Tappmeyer’s players have been successful both on the court and in the classroom, where she has coached two All-America performers (Jennifer Cordes and Skye Barber), one Rhodes Scholar State Finalist (Nancy Miller), an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient (Miller), 113 academic all-conference performers and 17 all-conference honorees. Barber became the program’s first conference player of the year (Peach Belt) and all-region selection in 2002. Meanwhile, in 2011, Larkira Jones became the program’s first Division I player to be selected a conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Tappmeyer took her first head coaching job at the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1984. After beginning her coaching career at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas as an assistant, Tappmeyer moved to UMR to take over the reins of a struggling program. She engineered a turnaround in only her third year at UMR and stayed seven seasons while becoming the winningest coach in school history.
Tappmeyer played both college basketball and golf at SUNY-Cortland from 1977-81. During her career, Cortland advanced to the state tournament multiple times in basketball. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health & physical education from Cortland in 1981. She later earned her master’s degree, also in physical education, from Lamar University in 1983.
She was inducted as a member of the Pittsford, N.Y., Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Missouri-Rolla Hall of Fame in 2004. Her Elite Eight team at UNF was inducted into the UNF Hall of Fame in 2013.
Tappmeyer’s home away from home is on the golf course, where she won the Missouri state golf amateur championship in 1989. She was also part of the Florida State Women’s Golf Championship four-ball title squad three times. When the PGA Players Championship comes to Ponte Vedra in May, Tappmeyer is oftentimes found volunteering the event and was the official marker for the Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia pairing in 2013.
When not on the basketball court, on the road recruiting or on the links, Tappmeyer can be found spending time with her husband, Bruce. The two are sports fanatics and enjoy golfing, scuba diving, beach vacations, skiing and renovating their home.
