Utah State women’s basketball coach Kayla Ard has officially coached her last game for the Aggies. Utah State took the decision to fire their head coach shortly after the team’s first-round loss on Sunday in the Mountain West tournament. The disappointing 85-49 defeat to the Boise State Broncos seemed to be the final straw for Ard.
In a bizarre sequence of events leading up to the news, Ard appeared at the team’s postgame press conference to answer questions despite apparently being fired moments earlier. Asked by a reporter about “rebuilding” next year, she then revealed that this would be her final game with the university.
“I’m not going to be rebuilding. I just coached my last game at Utah State,” said Ard. “I spoke with Diana, and they’re going in a different direction, and I respect her decision and I hope they get a really good coach in.”
“I’m not gonna be rebuilding, I just coached my last game” 😳
Utah State HC Kayla Ard was informed moments before her postgame press conference that the university was heading in a different direction
(via @MountainWest) pic.twitter.com/bNANj4SJ9H
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 11, 2024
The unexpected response for the fourth-year coach seemed to stun the reporters in attendance. After a moment of awkward silence, the coach looked over to her right side before promptly ending the postgame interview with a question of her own:
“I’m assuming that’s going to be the last question?”
Under Ard’s guidance, Utah State dropped to a 5-26 this year. Their 2-16 conference record sees them firmly cemented at the bottom of the Mountain West standings.
Over four seasons with the program, Ard has struggled to turn things around. She leaves her position with an overall 24-90 record.
