Itoro Coleman (born Itoro Umoh on February 21, 1977) is an American basketball coach and former player. Currently she is the associate head coach at Virginia Tech, Coleman played collegiately for the Clemson Tigers and later served as head women's coach for her alma mater.WNBA Player Bio In 2002, she was selected for the Atlantic Coast Conference 50-year all-star women's basketball team, as well as the 25th Anniversary Tournament team."Overtime", Augusta Chronicle, 5 May 2005. Retrieved 03-03-2009.

Early life Born in Washington, D.C., Umoh grew up in Hephzibah, Georgia. She attended Hephzibah High School and played for the Lady Rebels under coach Wendell Lofton.Tim Morse, "Discipline key to Hephzibah's success", Augusta Chronicle, January 18, 1999. Retrieved 03-03-2009. She graduated in 1995.

Playing career During her sports playing career at Clemson University from 1995 to 1999, Umoh led the Lady Clemson Tigers to two ACC championships.Clemson's McKinney retains assistant, Augusta Chronicle, May 5, 2005. Retrieved 03-03-2009 While at Clemson, she played both point guard and shooting guard.Andy Johnston, "Umoh teaches lesson in life", Augusta Chronicle, January 29, 1997. Retrieved 03-03-2009. During her 1995-1996 freshman year at Clemson, in which the university won the ACC Championship, Umoh led the team in assists and steals. At Clemson, she was a three-time All-ACC player.Clemson Coaching Bio

She scored her 900th career point in 1998 during a Clemson-Wake Forest game in which coach Jim Davis won his 100th game."Clemson's Umoh goes over 900-point mark in scoring", Augusta Chronicle, February 16, 1998. Retrieved 03-03-2009.

During her 1999 senior ACC tournament, Umoh was awarded the MVP award in a rare unanimous vote. That same year, she was an honorable mention for the All-American team and Defensive All-American.

Coleman represented the United States during the 1999 Pan American Games, with the team winning a bronze medal.

She graduated with a degree in communications from Clemson in 2000.

She appeared in the 2002 romantic comedy film Juwanna Mann.

WNBA career In 1999 Umoh was in the preseason camps of the Minnesota Lynx and Washington Mystics but did not make either team. In 2002, after attending WNBA league camp tryouts, she was assigned to the Indiana Fever training camp, but failed to make the team.

In 2003, Coleman became the first Clemson player to be named to an active WNBA roster after being signed by the Houston Comets early in the season to replace the injured Cynthia Cooper (she had previously been in the Comets training camp that year but was waived before the regular season started). She played in three games for the team before being waived again.

Nigerian national team At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Coleman played for the Nigeria women's national basketball team.Nigeria snaps streak, finishes 11th, ESPN, August 24, 2004. She played on the team with Joanne Aluka, a fellow Hephzibah High School alumna. Coleman also played for the Nigerian national team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women. She had the highest number of assists in the tournament.

Coaching Coleman's first coaching job was as a student assistant for Liberty University in 1999. After graduation from college, she worked at Butler University, where she coached from 2000 to 2002. She accepted an assistant coaching job for the Lady Clemson Tigers in 2002. One of her major functions in the program was as a recruiter. She became the head coach of the team in 2010. After three years as head coach, she was fired by Clemson at the end of the 2013 season.

She was an assistant coach for Courtney Banghart at the University of North Carolina until April 12, 2024, when she was named the associate head coach at Virginia Tech.

Career statistics WNBA Regular season

| align:left" | 2003 | align:left" | Houston |3||0||2.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0.3||0.0||0.0||0.3||0.0 |- |align=left" | Career |align=left" | 1 year, 1 team |3||0||2.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0.3||0.0||0.0||0.3||0.0

College

| style="text-align:left;" | 1995–96 | style="text-align:left;" | Clemson |31||-||-||44.4||28.1||66.7||2.2||2.1||1.9||0.2||-||7.2 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1996–97 | style="text-align:left;" | Clemson |30||-||-||43.4||22.0||72.6||5.1||2.5||2.3||0.3||-||13.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1997–98 | style="text-align:left;" | Clemson |33||-||-||38.5||28.6||76.3||4.6||4.1||2.2||0.1||-||12.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;" | Clemson |32||-||-||38.7||26.8||74.0||5.3||5.7||2.0||0.2||-||12.5 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 | Career |126||-||-||40.8||26.4||73.2||4.3||3.6||2.1||0.2||-||11.2 |- class="sortbottom" |style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.

Personal life In December 1999, Umoh married Harold Coleman. Together, they have four children, three girls and a boy.Kristy Shonka, "Umoh leads in life, Games", Augusta Chronicle, August 17, 2004. Retrieved 03-03-2009. They became the primary caregivers for her two younger siblings after the death of Itoro's mother in 2002. They also care for Harold Coleman's nephew.

References