Tianna Kirkland is in her eighth season as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois. Kirkland came to Illinois after serving five seasons as an assistant at the University of Michigan. She has been a key factor in helping Illinois sign back-to-back top-25 ranked recruiting classes and also helped guide the Illini to their best record since 2007 in 2012-13.

Kirkland helped land consecutive signing classes ranked in the top 25, including high school All-Americans Chatrice White and Amarah Coleman in November 2013. She also helped the Illini finish eighth in steals in the nation (11.0 per game) and 13th in turnover margin (+5.2 per game) in 2013-14, while breaking the school record for three-pointers made (202) for the second-straight season.

White helped to prove Kirkland’s recruiting talents as she became one of Illinois’ most impactful players from the moment she stepped on campus. White set the Illinois all-time freshman records for scoring and blocked shots in her first season, and went on to play for the U.S. FIBA World Championship team during the summer. Kirkland helped lead the Illini to a 5-0 regular season start, which included a win over No. 9-ranked Kentucky.

In 2016, Kirkland helped to bring in a signing class riddled with talent as the Illini signed Ali Andrews, the No. 14-ranked forward in the country. Andrews went on to earn unanimous AP First Team All-State honors and become the Courier News Player of the Year prior to stepping on Illinois’ campus. The 2016 class also included the No. 2-ranked recruit from the state of Tennessee in Brandi Beasley and the No. 27-ranked point guard in the nation in Courtney Joens. Kirkland also helped guide the 2015-16 Illini squad to another record-breaking season as sophomore Chatrice White became the second-fastest Illini to score 1,000 career points. Combined with Kyley Simmons’ team-leading 77 three-pointers on the year, Illinois broke the school’s three-pointers record for the fourth consecutive season as the team hit 224 triples in 30 games. 

Kirkland’s recruiting talents once again proved to be successful during the 2016-17 campaign as Beasley was among team and Big Ten freshman leaders for her 13.6 points per game, and also became one of just four freshmen in Illinois history to record more than 100 assists in their rookie campaign. With Kirkland’s assistance, the Illini freshman class contributed more than 58-percent of the squad’s scoring on the season. Andrews became an asset to the Illini in the post, appearing in all of Illinois’ games and set an Illinois Big Ten Tournament record for her six three-pointers made in the program’s first round victory over Nebraska. Kirkland helped to guide freshman Petra Holešínska as well, who also sat among the league’s freshman scoring leaders as she netted 54 three-pointers on the year, the third-most for an Illinois freshman in program history.

With Kirkland’s coaching, Beasley continued to lead Illinois during the 2017-18 campaign. She was among Illinois scoring leaders and also led the team with her 111 assists. Kirkland also had a hand in signing yet another talented recruiting class including Indiana All-Star Mackenzie Blazek, Top-50 guard Arieal Scott and Virgin Islands National Team member, J-Naya Ephraim. Kirkland helped to lead Illinois to a 9-5 nonconference record in 2017-18, which marked the best start to the season since Illinois also earned nine non-conference victories in the 2014-15 campaign (9-3). Illinois won four of its last five games leading up to league play, with the streak marking the most consecutive victories for the Orange and Blue since the start of the 2015-16 season.

Kirkland continues to work towards bringing the nation's top talent to Champaign, and the 2019 class was no different. WIth Kirkland's help, the Illini signed top-20 recruit, Jeanae Terry, from Detroit, Michigan, as well as Northern Atlantic Defensive Player of the Year, Jada Peebles, and McDonalds All-America nominee, Kennedi Myles. During the 2018-19 campaign, Kirkland also helped guide the Illini squad to and 8-3 record in nonconference play, a .727 nonconference winning percentage, which marks is the highest for an Illini squad since starting the 2014-15 campaign with a 9-5 nonconference record (.750). 

Kirkland had a big hand in recruiting at Michigan. In her five years under head coach Kevin Borseth, the Wolverines consistently improved culminating in a bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2012. That marked the fourth post-season berth in five years for Michigan, having been invited to the WNIT three of the previous four, reaching the semifinals in 2010.

Kirkland’s Big Ten ties also include serving as an assistant at Eastern Michigan under current Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant for the 2006-07 season. The Eagles were 16-13 overall, 10-6 in the Mid-American Conference that year. Kirkland had an emphasis on coaching post players at EMU as well as overseeing the team’s academics, post-season workouts and strength and conditioning activities.

Kirkland has had two other stops to her coaching career, spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Butler University (2004-06) and two years as a graduate assistant at Central Michigan University (2002-04). 

A native of Flint, Mich., Kirkland graduated from Ferris State University in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in applied biology. Kirkland was a four-year letterwinner in basketball while also lettering in track and field.  She was team’s leading scorer and rebounder in her final two seasons, helping the Bulldogs to a combined 74-37 record and the program’s first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in 2000. Her number, 42, has been retired by the school.

As a senior, Kirkland averaged 15.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, earning Women’s Basketball Bulletin third-team All-American accolades, as well being named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Player of the Year. Kirkland was also selected to the All-Great Lakes Region and GLIAC All-Defense first teams in her final season. She finished her career as the school’s 10th-leading scorer (926 points), third-leading rebounder (705) and fourth in career field-goal percentage (.540, 350-of-648). She also left FSU ranked in the top 10 for blocks (fifth, 40) and free throws made (ninth, 226).

In track & field, Kirkland earned NCAA Division II All-America honors in the indoor and outdoor shot put and the discus in her final season. A two-time co-captain, Kirkland is the school record holder in all three events. 

Kirkland also played for two semi-professional teams, the Flint Flames and Flint Monarchs.

Updated August 2019