Zenarae Antoine

Zenarae Antoine is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the women's basketball team at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Zenarae Antoine also known as Coach Z is entering her sixth season as the head coach at Texas State. In her first season, she led one of the best turnarounds in school history, taking a 9-20 team the year before, to 17-14 including the school's first conference tournament win since 2003. Since, she has led the team to back-to-back appearances in the WBI Tournament in 2014 and 2015.

Early life and education

Antoine graduated from James E. Taylor High School in Katy, Texas and earned her bachelor's degree in physical science with minors in geology and statistics at Colorado State in 1998. In 2000, she received her master's in athletic administration at Ohio University.

Coaching Career

Texas State University

In the 2013-20114 season, Antoine led the Bobcats to their first postseason appearance since the 2008 WNIT with an invitation to the WBI Tournament. Texas State earned the invitation after posting a 12-6 Sun Belt Conference record and winning the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinal game against Georgia State by a score of 78-44. Texas State duplicated its post season run in 2015 with its second-straight WBI Tournament appearance after finishing 11-9 in SBC play and a victory against UT Arlington in the SBC Tournament quarterfinal game.

In the 2014 and 2015 SBC Tournament, Texas State was one of just three teams to make it to the semifinal game each season. While competing in the 2015 semifinal contest, junior guard Erin Peoples became the 15th player in school history and third under Coach Z to reach the 1,000 point mark.

In its first season in the Sun Belt in 2013-2014, Texas State went above and beyond preseason expectations. The Bobcats finished tied for third place after being chosen ninth in the SBC preseason poll. The Bobcats finished the season with a 16-16 record, the second most wins for Antoine since arriving in San Marcos in 2011.

Antoine's fifth season in 2015-16 saw the Bobcats finish with a 12-19 overall record, including a 7-13 mark against Sun Belt Conference competition. Texas State finished seventh in the Sun Belt, and lost a highly contested decision in the first round of the conference tournament. Guard Taeler Deer was named both the Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Week and College Sports Madness National Mid-Major Player of the Week in late November after turning in a 32-point performance to lead the Bobcats to a 64-62 win over a North Texas team that had previously upset then-No. 17 Oklahoma. As a team the Bobcats set the all-time Texas State record for made 3-point field goals in a season with 232, eclipsing the previous record of 207 set in 2014-15.

The 2014-15 was a success as Antoine led the Bobcats to a 17-15 (11-9 SBC) record and a second consecutive berth into the postseason with an invitation to the Women’s Basketball Invitational. The WBI berth set the program standard as being the first Texas State team in program history to appear in back-to-back postseasons.

Prior to the WBI, the Bobcats made their run in the Sun Belt Conference tournament as the No. 4 seed before ultimately falling in the semifinal game to eventual champion Little Rock. Texas State was just one of three teams to make the league semifinal in consecutive years, despite playing in only its second season as a Sun Belt member.

During the 2013-14 season, Ashley Ezeh became the 14th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Ezeh finished the season in four different top-10 charts including ninth in points with 1,310, seventh in rebounds with 711, third in blocked shots with 62, and seventh in free throws made with 276. Ezeh was named Second-Team All-SBC, her second all-conference recognition after earning Southland Conference Third-Team honors in 2011-12.

As a member of the WAC in 2012-13, Texas State won its first game against a Big 12 opponent since 2005, beating TCU, 91-80, at Strahan Coliseum. Earlier in the year, the Bobcats won their first game against a Sun Belt opponent since 2005, defeating North Texas, 86-84, in Denton.

Antoine’s high scoring style is evident as the Bobcats led the WAC for the majority of the year in scoring offense, finishing the year 40th in the country with an average of 69.7 points per game. That total was in part due to the team’s 100-67 win against San Jose State in the regular season finale, marking the first time since 1988 the Bobcats scored 100 points against a Division I opponent.

Also during the 2012-13 season, Diamond Ford set the school single season scoring record under the direction of Antoine with 644 points, including 27 in the final game of her collegiate career. Erin Peoples was named to the WAC All-Freshman team and Ayriel Anderson was the best three-point shooter in the WAC at 43 percent in conference play.

In 2011-12, she coached two players to earn all-conference honors; the first time since 2008 the school had two players on the postseason team. Known for offense, Antoine led the team to the highest scoring average in the league and had one of her players, Diamond Ford, become the 13th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000 career point mark as well as finishing fourth in single season history in points. She also led the Bobcats to their first conference tournament appearance in four years during her inaugural season. The team reached the Southland Conference Tournament, and recorded its first win at the event since 2003 after beating Sam Houston State in the quarterfinals.

Antoine came to San Marcos after serving four seasons as an assistant coach at Arkansas. Including Arkansas, Coach Antoine has been at numerous Division I programs, including Louisville, Ohio and College of Charleston. In 2010-11 Arkansas went 22-12, including a berth to the WNIT, where it advanced to the quarterfinals. In the first game of the WNIT, the Razorbacks beat Southland Conference opponent Lamar, 91-65.

University of Arkansas

During her time with the Razorbacks, she served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2007-2011. She helped the Razorback’s sign back-to-back nationally-ranked recruiting classes that included two players who earned All-Southeastern Conference recognition as freshmen (Lyndsay Harris and C’eira Ricketts).

In addition to managing the Razorbacks’ extensive recruiting data base as the staff’s recruiting coordinator, Antoine also worked with the wing guards and small forwards and served as the coaching staff’s liaison with the Razorback academic staff.

University of Louisville

Prior to Arkansas, Antoine was the recruiting coordinator at Louisville from 2003-2007, and guided the Cardinals to nationally-ranked recruiting classes her four seasons at Louisville. Her last two recruiting classes were No. 26 for 2006 and No. 25 for 2007. Among the most notable signees for the Cardinals were Kodak All-American and 2007 Big East Player of the Year Angel McCoughtry and Kodak Junior College All-American Helen Johnson.

Ohio University

Antoine spent two seasons with Ohio University serving as the assistant coach from 2001-2003. While at Ohio, whose mascot is also the Bobcats, she coached both the guards and the posts, and was in charge of scouting opponents.

College of Charleston

Between stints at Ohio, Antoine spent a season as an assistant coach for the College of Charleston from 2000-2001, where she served as the lead recruiter for the southern region and also coached posts. Her administrative duties included coordinating travel, academics and community service.

Ohio University

Antoine received her master’s degree from Ohio in 2000 where her coaching career began as a graduate assistant. She coached post players and helped out with academics.

Playing Career

Antoine played at Colorado State from 1994-1998 where she was a three-year starter for the Rams. She played her senior season for head coach Tom Collen, with whom she would work later at Louisville and Arkansas, as CSU went 24-6 and reached the NCAA second round during his first season as head coach.

Before working with posts and guards during her coaching career, Antoine was an anchor in the middle for CSU as a player. She finished her career ranked third in career blocked shots and seventh in rebounding. She also ranks high for single season rebounds and blocked shots. During her career, CSU won two league titles and made two NCAA appearances. As a coach, Antoine has reached the postseason a total of seven times, going twice to the NCAA Tournament (2005, 2006) along with three WNIT appearances (2004, 2009, 2011) and two WBI Tournament appearances (2014, 2015). Including her playing career, her total is nine, after making the second-round of the NCAA Tournament twice during her days at Colorado State.

Notable Signees

Overall, she has had five recruiting classes receive national recognition. One of her most notable signings was Angel McCoughtry, a three-time WBCA/State Farm All-American and 2009 WNBA Draft Number One pick and Rookie of the Year. She has developed 10 All-Conference players.

Marriage & Family

Antoine is married to Ronald Antoine who is the running backs and tight ends coach at Texas State. The Antoine's have three sons, Zavier, Zachary, and Zayden.