Amanda Kay Levens (born January 24, 1979) is an American women's college basketball coach. She was the head coach at the University of Nevada. Previously, she was hired as head coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) in 2008, when the school began a five-year transition to the NCAA's Division I. From 2012 to 2017, she was associate head coach at Arizona State before being hired at Nevada as head coach.
Early life and education
Born in Belvidere, Illinois, Levens graduated from Belvidere High School in 1997. At Belvidere High, she was a three-time All State and Amateur Athletic Union All-American honoree in basketball.
In the fall of 1997, Levens enrolled at Old Dominion University and began playing at point guard for the Old Dominion Monarchs. In her first season in 1997–98, Levens played in 29 games and averaged 3.1 points as Old Dominion made a run to the Sweet 16 round of the 1998 NCAA tournament. Then in 1998–99, Levens started 23 of 32 games, averaging 21.0 minutes and 6.7 points. Old Dominion made a second straight Sweet 16 appearance in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
College playing statistics
Source
SIUE joined the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in 2008 and played its first full conference schedule in the 2011–12 season. Prior to that first season, Leven's Cougars were picked by the league's coaches to finish eighth of the eleven teams. After SIUE finished the season in third place, with a conference record of 12 wins and 4 losses, Levens was named the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Coach of the Year. Although the Cougars would not be eligible for OVC or NCAA post-season competition until the 2012–13 season, they were invited to play in the 2012 Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) tournament.
Arizona State assistant (2012–2017)
On April 20, 2012, Levens returned to Arizona State as associate head coach under Charli Turner Thorne. During her five-year tenure as the top assistant, Arizona State appeared in the Sweet 16 of the 2015 NCAA tournament and won the 2015–16 Pac-12 Conference regular season title.
Nevada (2017–2026)
On March 31, 2017, Levens returned to Nevada to be head coach, following the retirement of Jane Albright.
Inheriting a team that finished 11–19 the previous season, Levens led Nevada to a 19–17 record and appearance in the 2018 Women's Basketball Invitational semifinals.
However, the 2022–23 Nevada team had just half as many wins at 10–21, finishing eighth in the Mountain West standings at 6–12 in conference play.
Personal life
In 2015, Levens adopted two boys, aged four and three at the time.