Antoine signs extension with Texas State through 2025-2026 season

The 2022-23 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year and conference championship-winning head coach Zenarae Antoine has signed a contract extension with Texas State women’s basketball through the 2025-26 season, Texas State Athletics announced on Thursday.

Antoine, who is the program’s all-time winningest coach, led the Bobcats to their first regular season conference championship in 15 years this past season as well as an appearance in the WNIT. She has guided the program for the last 12 seasons.

“Coach Antoine is a genuine and authentic leader who represents Texas State the way it should be,” Director of Athletics Don Coryell said. “Under her leadership, we have continued to graduate players, prepare our amazing student-athletes for the next stages of their lives, win games, and achieve a championship-level of basketball. I am proud of what she and the team have accomplished in her 12 years so far, and we are excited to see her achieve even more in the years to come as she remains the leader of this great program.”

This past season, the Bobcats won 23 games, which matched the program’s Division I record, and won a conference championship–regular season or tournament–for the fourth time in program history. Da’Nasia Hood and Kennedy Taylor were named All-Sun Belt while Taylor became the program’s and Sun Belt’s all-time leader in career assists. The season ended with Texas State’s third all-time appearance in the WNIT. In January, Antoine became the program’s all-time leader in career wins.

“I absolutely love Texas State University and our Bobcat Family,” said Antoine. “I am blessed to be able to continue to push our program forward in a positive direction. It is always a great day to be a Bobcat!”

Antoine and the Bobcats have added key freshmen and transfers so far this offseason as they aim to continue the momentum from this past season. HBCU All-American and two-time all-conference guard Ja’Niah Henson (Morgan State), NJCAA First Team All-American forward Tiffany Tullis (Blinn College), and key contributor to a national- title contender Crystal Smith (Blinn College) make up the transfer class. The incoming freshmen include McDonald’s High School All-America nominee and all-state selection Julia Coleman (St. Louis, Mo.) and multi-all-district honoree Emi Steele (Euless, Texas).

This season’s WNIT appearance was the second under Antoine. Texas State has also reached the WBI three times in her tenure (2014, 2015, 2017).

From a player development standpoint, Antoine has helped nine Bobcats reach 1,000-career points and three move on to play professionally.

After winning a pair of conference championships at Colorado State as a student-athlete, Antoine has been coaching at the collegiate level since 19992000.