Nikki Fargas

Yolanda Nicole "Nikki" Fargas (née Caldwell; born May 21, 1972),[2] is an American women's basketball coach who is currently the head coach for the LSU Lady Tigers basketball team at Louisiana State University.

Nikki Fargas

Fargas in 2013
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	LSU
Conference	SEC
Record	167–115 (.592)
Biographical details
Born	(1972-05-21) May 21, 1972[1] Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Playing career
1990–1994	Tennessee
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998–1999	Tennessee (asst.)
1999–2002	Virginia (asst.)
2002–2008	Tennessee (asst.)
2008–2011	UCLA
2011–present	LSU
Head coaching record
Overall	234–136 (.632)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Pac-10 Coach of the Year (2010)
Medal record Women’s Basketball Assistant Coach for  United States FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship 2012 Gurabo, Puerto Rico Team Competition Assistant Coach for  United States FIBA U19 2013 Lithuania Team Competition

Early life

Born Yolanda Nicole Caldwell in Oak Ridge, Tennessee,[1] Fargas was raised by her mother[3] and attended public schools. She graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1990. She was a member of the school basketball team, coached by Jill Prudden, that won the Tennessee state championship in 1988. As of 2009, she still held the high school's single-season records for total points scored and for successful free throws.[4]

College and career

She attended the University of Tennessee from 1990 to 1994, playing as a guard under coach Pat Summitt on the university's Lady Vols basketball team, which compiled a 118–13 won-loss record during her playing years. Fargas was known for her strong defensive play and her three-point shooting. Her defensive play in the 1991 NCAA tournament final game, in which the Lady Vols defeated the University of Virginia in overtime, was considered a key factor in her team's victory. She was named to Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Freshman team that same year, and in both her junior and years she received the university's Gloria Ray Leadership Award. Although she missed portions of two seasons due to injuries, her four-year statistics as a three-point shooter, with 128 three-point field goals made out of 364 attempts, place her in the all-time top 10 at Tennessee.[3][5]

Broadcasting

After receiving a bachelor's degree in public relations from the University of Tennessee in 1994, she became a color analyst for Fox Sports Net South broadcasts of Lady Vol basketball games. In 1995 she added the position of color analyst for Fox broadcasts of the SEC Game of the Week, which she continued until 1997, when she became host for sports segments on the Shop at Home Network.[5]

Coaching

Tennessee

Fargas returned to basketball in 1998 as a member of Pat Summitt's coaching staff, serving as graduate assistant for administration, in which position she served the coaching staff in all aspects of basketball operations during the 1998–1999 season.[6] The following season she joined the University of Virginia as an assistant coach, assuming responsibilities for recruiting, scouting, film exchange, player development, monitoring academic progress and camps.[5] In 2002, she left Virginia to return to the University of Tennessee as an assistant coach for the 2002–03 season and recruiting director beginning in the spring of 2003.[5]

UCLA

She was appointed head coach for UCLA on April 17, 2008, with a five-year contract valued at nearly $1.5 million,[7] succeeding Kathy Olivier. In her first season as coach, the UCLA team compiled a regular season record of 18 wins and 11 losses.[8] During the 2009–2010 season, her team placed second in the Pac-10 (25–9) and was defeated by second ranked Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament. Her success was unprecedented at UCLA's women's basketball and she sought a large raise in her contract. Despite a reported offer of a generous increase by UCLA, the school could not match the $900,000 annually that LSU offered so she returned to coach in the SEC at LSU.

LSU

On April 2, 2011, Louisiana State University announced that Fargas would become the head coach for the LSU Lady Tigers team.[9] Her contract called for her to be paid $900,000 per season. In seven seasons with the Lady Tigers, she has posted a 131–90 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in her first seven seasons; however, she has lost more games and posted a lower winning percentage with each passing season which culminated to posting her first losing record in 2016 and missing the NCAA tournament. Her team rebounded in 2017 and, once again, advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Head Coaching Record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
UCLA Bruins (Pac-10 Conference) (2008–2011)
2008–09	UCLA	19–12	9–9	T–4th
2009–10	UCLA	25–9	15–3	2nd	NCAA Second Round
2010–11	UCLA	28–5	16–2	2nd	NCAA Second Round
UCLA:		72–26 (.735)	40–14 (.741)
LSU Lady Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2011–Present)
2011–12	LSU	23–11	10–6	4th	NCAA 2nd Round
2012–13	LSU	22–12	10–6	6th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013–14	LSU	21–13	7–9	T–6th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2014–15	LSU	17–14	10–6	T–4th	NCAA First Round
2015–16	LSU	10–21	3–13	13th
2016–17	LSU	20–12	8–8	7th	NCAA First Round
2017–18	LSU	19–10	11–5	4th	NCAA First Round
2018–19	LSU	16–13	7–9	6th
2019–20	LSU	19–9	9–7	7th	Postseason not held due to COVID-19
LSU:		167–116 (.590)	75–69 (.521)
Total:		234–137 (.631)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

NCAA tournament

Year	School	Record	Winning %	Notes	Final RPI
2012	LSU	1–1	.500	Eliminated by (Penn State Lady Lions) in NCAA Second Round	17
2013	LSU	2–1	.667	Eliminated by (California Golden Bears) in NCAA Sweet 16	26
2014	LSU	2–1	.667	Eliminated by (Louisville Cardinals) in NCAA Sweet 16	15
2015	LSU	0–1	.000	Eliminated by (South Florida Bulls) in NCAA First Round	60
2017	LSU	0–1	.000	Eliminated by (California Golden Bears) in NCAA First Round	40
2018	LSU	0–1	.000	Eliminated by (Central Michigan Chippewas) in NCAA First Round	31
Totals			5–6 (.455)	6 NCAA First Round (Won 3) 3 NCAA Second Round (Won 2) 2 NCAA Sweet 16

Public service activities

In the company of Holly Warlick, a former assistant coach for University of Tennessee women's basketball, Fargas has conducted a series of three long-distance motorcycle road trips, called "Cruisin' for a Cause", to promote awareness of breast cancer and to raise money for research on this disease. In their first trip, in 2007, they rode their Harley-Davidson motorcycles from Berkeley, California to Knoxville, Tennessee.[10] As of 2008, the two women's non-profit organization, Champions for a Cause, had raised nearly $100,000.[3] The 2010 road trip took them through Washington, DC and New York City to Niagara Falls and back.

Awards

In May 2009 she received the Woman of Excellence Award from the LadyLike Foundation for her excellence as a coach and for fund-raising activities for breast cancer awareness.[11] Fargas was named 2010 Pac-10 Coach of the Year by the conference coaches and by the media in her second year of coaching at UCLA.[12]

Family

An uncle, Mike Caldwell, played for the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League.[3] In March 2012, Fargas gave birth to a girl named Justice[13][14] with her husband, former Oakland Raiders player Justin Fargas.[14] Her father-in-law is Starsky and Hutch actor Antonio Fargas, who played Huggy Bear.

References

1. "Nikki Fargas Bio". Lsusports.net. January 28, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
2. "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
3. "Nikki Caldwell Profile". UCLA Bruins. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
4. Leean Tupper, Caldwell: Responsibility key to successful life, The Oak Ridger, May 18, 2009
5. Nikki Caldwell Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, University of Tennessee website, accessed June 10, 2009
6. "Basketball Support Staff". University of Tennessee. Archived from the original on October 4, 1999. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
7. http://www.insidesocal.com/ucla/2008/04/nikki-caldwell-story.html
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. Nikki Caldwell is new LSU women's basketball coach, Shreveport Times, April 3, 2011
10. http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2007/jul/27/california-knoxville-warlick-caldwell-lady-vols-as/
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. Pac-10 Announces 2009–10 Individual Women's Basketball Honors, Pac-10.org, March 11, 2010
13. "Coach expects March Madness baby". Theadvocate.com. November 13, 2011. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
14. "Former Lady Vol Nikki Caldwell has her baby". WBIR.com. March 6, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2012.

External links

• LSU Lady Tigers bio
• Champions for a Cause website