Zenarae Antoine
Career Record (entering 2017-18 season): 88-99 (seven seasons)
Record at Texas State (entering 2017-18 season): 88-99 (seven seasons)
Zenarae Antoine is in her seventh season as the head coach at Texas State. In her first season, she led one of the best turnarounds in school history, taking a 9-20 team the year before, to 17-14 including the school’s first conference tournament win since 2003. She has also led the team appearances in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) in 2014, 2015 and 2017 .
In the 2013-14 season, Antoine led the Bobcats to their first postseason appearance since the 2008 WNIT with an invitation to the WBI. Texas State earned the invitation after posting a 12-6 Sun Belt Conference record and winning the Sun Belt Championship quarterfinal game against Georgia State by a score of 78-44. Texas State then duplicated its postseason run in 2015 with its second-straight WBI appearance after finishing 11-9 in SBC play and a victory against UTA in the SBC Championship quarterfinal game. In 2017, Antoine guided the Bobcats to the No. 4 seed in the Sun Belt Championship and a berth into the WBI.
In the 2014 and 2015 SBC Championship, Texas State was one of just three teams to make it to the semifinal game each season. While competing in the 2015 semifinal contest, junior guard Erin Peoples became the 15th player in school history and third under Antoine to reach the 1,000-point mark.
The 2016-17 season, Antoine's sixth, saw the Bobcats finish 16-15 overall, including an 11-7 record in Sun Belt play, which garnered the No. 4 seed in the Sun Belt Championship, and earn an at-large berth to the WBI. . The Bobcats, which won 10 of 12 games during the heart of the Sun Belt schedule, were the only team in the league to defeat each of the top three teams in the final conference standings. In addition to conference success, Antoine led the Bobcats to key nonconference wins over Houston, North Texas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Guard Taeler Deer earned Third Team All-Sun Belt honors after averaging a career-high 10.8 points per game. Moreover, guard Toshua Leavitt sank 77 3-pointers to rank second on the TXST single season list, including a program-record tying seven in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Championship.
Antoine’s fifth season in 2015-16, the Bobcats finished with a 12-19 overall record, including a 7-13 mark against Sun Belt Conference competition. Texas State finished seventh in the Sun Belt, and lost a highly contested decision in the first round of the conference tournament. Guard Taeler Deer was named both the Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week and
CollegeSportsMadness.com National Mid-Major Player of the Week in late November after turning in a 32-point performance to lead the Bobcats to a 64-62 win over a North Texas team that had previously upset then-No. 17 Oklahoma. As a team the Bobcats set the all-time Texas State record for made 3-point field goals in a season with 232, eclipsing the previous record of 207 set in 2014-15.
The 2014-15 season was a success as Antoine led the Bobcats to a 17-15 (11-9 SBC) record and a second consecutive berth into the postseason with an invitation to the WBI. The WBI berth set the program standard as being the first Texas State team in program history to appear in back-to-back postseasons.
Prior to the WBI, the Bobcats made their run in the Sun Belt Conference Championship as the No. 4 seed before ultimately falling in the semifinal game to eventual champion Little Rock. Texas State was just one of three teams to make the league semifinal in consecutive years, despite playing in only its second season as a Sun Belt member.
In its first season in the Sun Belt in 2013-14, Texas State went above and beyond preseason expectations. The Bobcats finished tied for third place after being chosen ninth in the SBC preseason poll. Texas State finished the season with a 16-16 record, the second most wins for Antoine since arriving in San Marcos in 2011. The Bobcats earned a Women’s Basketball Invitational berth, marking the program’s first postseason appearance since 2007-08 season.
During the 2013-14 season, Ashley Ezeh became the 14th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Ezeh finished the season ranked on four different top-10 charts including ninth in points with 1,310, seventh in rebounds with 711, third in blocked shots with 62 and seventh in free throws made with 276. Ezeh was named Second Team All-SBC, her second all-conference recognition after earning All-Southland Conference Third Team honors in 2011-12.
As a member of the WAC in 2012-13, Texas State won its first game against a Big 12 opponent since 2005, beating TCU, 91-80, at Strahan Coliseum. Earlier in the year, the Bobcats won their first game against a Sun Belt opponent since 2005, defeating North Texas, 86-84, in Denton.
Antoine’s high scoring style became evident when the Bobcats led the WAC for the majority of the year in scoring offense, finishing the year ranked 40th in the country with an average of 69.7 points per game. That total was in part due to the team’s 100-67 win against San Jose State in the final regular season game, to mark the first time since 1988 the Bobcats scored 100 points against a Division I opponent.
Also during the 2012-13 season, Diamond Ford set the school’s single season scoring record under the direction of Antoine with 644 points, including 27 in the final game of her collegiate career. Erin Peoples was named to the WAC’s All-Freshman team and Ayriel Anderson was the best three-point shooter in the WAC at 43 percent in conference play.
In 2011-12, she coached two players to earn all-conference honors; the first time since 2008 the school had two players on the postseason team. Known for offense, Antoine led the team to the highest scoring average in the league and had one of her players, Diamond Ford, become the 13th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000 career point mark as well as finishing fourth in single season history in points. She also led the Bobcats to their first conference tournament appearance in four years during her inaugural season. The team reached the Southland Conference Tournament, and recorded its first win at the event since 2003 after beating Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals.
Antoine came to San Marcos after serving four seasons as an assistant coach at Arkansas. In 2010-11, Arkansas went 22-12 to earn a berth to the WNIT, where it advanced to the quarterfinals. In the first game of the WNIT, the Razorbacks beat Southland Conference opponent Lamar 91-65.
During her time with the Razorbacks, she served as the recruiting coordinator. She helped the Razorbacks’ sign back-to-back nationally-ranked recruiting classes that included two players who earned All-Southeastern Conference recognition as freshmen (Lyndsay Harris and C’eira Ricketts).
In addition to managing the Razorbacks’ extensive recruiting data base as the staff’s recruiting coordinator, Antoine also worked with the wing guards and small forwards and served as the coaching staff’s liaison with the Razorback academic staff.
| THE ZENARAE ANTOINE FILE |
|
| Coaching History |
| Ohio University - Graduate Assistant |
1999-2000 |
| College of Charleston - Assistant Coach |
2000-01 |
| Ohio University - Assistant Coach |
2001-03 |
| University of Louisville - Assistant Coach |
2003-07 |
| University of Arkansas - Assistant Coach |
2007-11 |
| Texas State University - Head Coach |
2011-present |
|
| Playing History |
| Colorado State |
1994-98 |
Prior to Arkansas, Antoine was the recruiting coordinator at Louisville, and guided the Cardinals to nationally-ranked recruiting classes in her four seasons at Louisville. Her last two recruiting classes were No. 26 for 2006 and No. 25 for 2007. Among the most notable signees for the Cardinals were Kodak All-American and 2007 Big East Player of the Year Angel McCoughtry and Kodak Junior College All-American Helen Johnson.
Antoine went to Louisville after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio University, her second stint at the school. While at Ohio she coached both the guards and the posts, and was in charge of scouting opponents.
Between stints at Ohio, Antoine spent one season as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston, where she served as the lead recruiter in the southern region and coached the posts. Her administrative duties included coordinating travel, academics and community service.
Antoine received her master’s degree from Ohio in 2000 where her coaching career began as a graduate assistant. She coached post players and helped with academics.
Antoine played at Colorado State where she was a three-year starter for the Rams. She played her senior season for head coach Tom Collen, with whom she would work later at Louisville and Arkansas. CSU went 24-6 and reached the NCAA second round during his first season as head coach.
Before working with posts and guards during her coaching career, Antoine was an anchor in the middle for CSU as a player. She finished her career ranked third in career blocked shots and seventh in rebounding. She also ranks high for single season rebounds and blocked shots. During her career, CSU won two league titles and made two NCAA appearances.
As a coach, Antoine has reached the postseason a total of seven times, going twice to the NCAA Tournament (2005, 2006) along with three WNIT appearances (2004, 2009, 2011) and two WBI Tournament appearances (2014, 2015). Including her playing career, her total is nine, after advancing to the second-round of the NCAA Tournament twice during her days at Colorado State.
Overall, she has had five recruiting classes receive national recognition. One of her most notable signings was Angel McCoughtry, a three-time WBCA/State Farm All-American and 2009 WNBA Draft Number One pick and Rookie of the Year. She has developed 10 All-Conference players.
Antoine graduated from James E. Taylor High School in Katy, Texas and earned her bachelor’s degree in physical science with minors in geology and statistics at Colorado State in 1998. In 2000, she received her master’s in athletic administration at Ohio University. Antoine is a member of the WBCA, the AFCWA, and a 2002 graduate, the inaugural class, of the former Women’s Coaches Academy and now Alliance of Women’s Coaches. She is also the Sun Belt Conference Captain for the WBCA, the Women’s Basketball representative for the Sun Belt Conference Sport Committee, and a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Regional Advisory Committee for the 2016-17season.
Antoine is married to Ronald Antoine, who is the wide receivers coach at Texas State. They have three sons, Zavier, Zachary and Zayden.
