PERSONAL
YEAR AT UNLV: Fifth
BIRTHDAY: Dec. 15
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in science, technology and society (Stanford University, 2012); Master’s in adult and higher education (University of Oklahoma, 2015).
HOMETOWN: Las Vegas, Nevada
FAMILY: Husband — Dan Cunningham; Children – Ellie and Buddy
COACHING HIGHLIGHTS
- 2021 and 2023 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year
COLLEGIATE COACHING CAREER
- 2021-present: UNLV, head coach
- 2019-20: Stanford, assistant coach
- 2016-17: Belmont, assistant coach
- 2014-15: Oklahoma, graduate assistant
ATHLETIC CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Started 43 of 138 games and appeared in NCAA Women’s Final Four all four years at Stanford
- Starting point guard when Stanford ended UConn’s then-NCAA record 90-game winning streak on Dec. 30, 2010
- Four-time Nevada All-State (first team twice, second team twice)
- Four-time Sunset Southwest Conference MVP
- National Hoops Classic Tournament MVP
- Finished prep career as Nevada girls’ high school and Durango High Schools (boys and girls) all-time leading scorer with 2,678 points
- Nevada prep record holder for career assists (794) and career 3-pointers made (425)
Lindy La Rocque has quickly proven to be one of the most impactful head coaches in college sports as she crafted a championship-winning team in just her second season at UNLV. The Lady Rebels’ meteoric rise is staggering.
In 2023-24, La Rocque became the first head coach in Lady Rebels history to reach the 100 win mark in just four seasons. UNLV had its second consecutive season with 30 wins for the first time in program history and was one of two teams (national champion South Carolina) this season to go back-to-back with 30 wins. The Lady Rebels became the first team in Mountain West history to win both the regular season and tournament championship in three straight seasons. UNLV marked a .909 winning percentage which ranked third among all Division I teams for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Rebels earned their highest ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll coming in at No. 20 and No. 19. UNLV appeared in the Top-25 eight times and came into the season receiving votes for the first time in 19 years. UNLV tied a school record as the Lady Rebels earned three Mountain West best of the year awards. Young picked up the first WBCA All-America honorable mention nod for the first time in over two decades.
Young was voted the Mountain West Player of the Year and earned all-defensive team honors. Freshman Amarachi Kimpson earned the league’s Freshman and Sixth Player of the Year and was named to the all-freshman team. UNLV picked up Mountain West Sixth Player for the third straight season. Jackson joined Young and Kimpson on the MW all-conference team. Junior forward Alyssa Brown took MVP honors for the Mountain West Championship tournament.
In 2022-23, UNLV set a program record with 31 wins and swept the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships for a second straight season. UNLV’s .912 winning percentage ranked third among all Division I teams behind only top-ranked South Carolina and national champion LSU. The Lady Rebels finished undefeated at home for the first time since 1979. UNLV also matched its program record with a 22-game winning streak.
La Rocque lead conference honors after being named Mountain West Coach of the Year for a second time in three seasons. Junior center Desi-Rae Young set championship-game records for points and rebounds en route to taking Mountain West Championship MVP honors. Young joined senior guard Essence Booker and Young on the All-Mountain West Team. Young and senior guard Justice Ethridge were also named to the Mountain West’s All-Defensive Team. Sophomore guard Kiara Jackson won the vote for Sixth Player of the Year.
In 2021-22, UNLV reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 seasons after sweeping the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, a first for the program. Its 26 wins were its most in more than three decades.
Young was voted the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. Sophomore transfer Nneka Obiazor earned the league’s sixth player of the year award. Booker set program records at point guard and took MVP honors for the Mountain West Championship tournament.
In the classroom, the Lady Rebels set a team record in the fall of 2021, earning a cumulative 3.44 GPA. They repeated their standard during their championship spring with a 3.40 team GPA. Half of the team placed on the Dean’s List by earning by maintaining a 3.50 or greater GPA.
The excellence can be traced back to the mantra instilled by La Rocque’s mentors: “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”
La Rocque delivered an instant impact in her first season as a collegiate head coach. La Rocque became UNLV’s first Mountain West Coach of the Year after leading Division I women’s basketball sixth-youngest squad to a second-place finish in the conference, despite being picked ninth in the preseason poll.
UNLV’s 13 conference victories in the COVID-19 restructured 2020-21 season were the most of any school in the Mountain West. La Rocque became the first UNLV coach to lead a team to an undefeated conference road record (9-0), leading to the nation’s fifth-longest road winning streak. The Lady Rebels were the only Mountain West team to beat every conference opponent at least once.
All that with a roster that lost more offensive production from its previous year than any other team in the nation save one.
The second-youngest coach in Division I women's basketball, La Rocque's 15 wins in 2020-21 (15-9 overall record) ranked second for wins among first-year Division I head coaches.
A key part of NCAA Tournament appearances in 10 out of 11 years, La Rocque returned to her native Las Vegas, where she prepped at Durango High School before playing in four straight Final Fours as a student-athlete at Stanford University, in March 2020. She was an assistant coach with the Cardinal for the previous three years under legendary head coach and Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer.
On the coaching staff at Stanford since 2017, the program consistently ranked among the top 10 in the country. The Cardinal made NCAA Tournament appearances in each season, including two Sweet 16s, an Elite Eight and won the Pac-12 Conference Tournament Championship in 2019. From 2017-20, Stanford had an overall record of 82-22 and was 43-10 in conference play.
"I am so thrilled to be able to come back to my hometown of Las Vegas to lead the UNLV women's basketball program," La Rocque said. "It is truly special to return to a place and in a community that has essentially raised and has supported me throughout all of my life. I have been a Rebel fan since I was a young girl and to now be the head coach at UNLV is truly a dream come true. Thank you to Desiree Reed-Francois and President Meana for this incredible opportunity and for their belief and trust in me to lead these young women. I cannot wait to get started!"
Prior to coaching at Stanford, La Rocque spent two seasons (2015-17) as an assistant coach at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, helping the Bruins to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths, including the program's first in nine seasons. Belmont went 51-15 overall and 29-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play during La Rocque's time there, winning the league's regular-season championship during the 2016-17 season and the conference's tournament title both seasons.
La Rocque began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Oklahoma, working for Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Sherri Coale, while pursuing her master's degree in education. The team played in both the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments.
La Rocque played at Stanford from 2008-12, appearing in 138 career games which ranks eighth in program history. She was instrumental in helping the Cardinal compile a 137-12 overall record during her four years, including an amazing 71-1 mark in Pac-12 play. Her team won four regular season conference championships and four league tournament titles, appearing in the NCAA Tournament each season and advancing to the national title game in 2010.
The eighth full-time head coach in UNLV women's basketball history, La Rocque is the first originally from Las Vegas to be hired to lead the Lady Rebel program.
La Rocque earned a bachelor's degree in science, technology and society, with an emphasis in earth systems, civil and environmental engineering, and calculus from Stanford in 2012. She holds a master's degree in adult and higher education from Oklahoma, which she earned in 2015.
La Rocque was a decorated student-athlete at Durango High School in Las Vegas, where she became the school's (boys and girls) all-time leading scorer with 2,678 points and holds many other program records.
La Rocque married Dan Cunningham, a Concordia College (New York) alum, in August 2021. The pair have two children, Ellie and Buddy.
