Lynn Plett is in his seventh season as head coach of the Mountain Lions in 2022-23. He guided the Mountain Lions to their first RMAC championship title in program history in his first season in 2016-17, and their third NCAA Tournament appearance. The 2022-23 season is Plett's 25th season as a head coach (294-337).
The Mountain Lions finished the 2021-22 season with a 13-16 overall record and an 11-11 mark in RMAC games. UCCS earned a spot in the RMAC championship tournament for the first time since 2016-17. The 13 wins matches the most wins in a season since 2018-19, and the most league wins since 2018-19 when the Mountain Lions went 13-15 overall and 12-10 in RMAC games. UCCS fared well when playing on the road, collecting seven of their 13 wins away from Gallolgy Events Center and winning both neutral site contests. Coach Plett recorded his 300th career win in a 68-65 win over Colorado Christian on Jan. 22. Five Mountain Lions were named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll: Emily Doolittle, Ellie Moore, Jessica Nation, Bo Shaffer and McClain Walker. Graduate student Jasmine Jeffcoat represented the black and gold after being named to the All-RMAC Second Team.
During the 2020-21 COVID-shortened season, Plett and the Mountain Lions played 17 games, all of which were conference contests. UCCS finished the season with a 5-12 record (overall and RMAC), highlighted by a sweep over Chadron State College and a victory in their final game of the season (57-50 at South Dakota Mines). Eight Mountain Lions were named to the RMAC All-Academic Team as UCCS garnered their fourth straight WBCA Top 25 Academic Team Honor Roll. The Mountain Lions were 13th in Division II, posting a team GPA of 3.684. Senior Abby Feickert garnered post-season awards as she was named RMAC Honorable Mention and RMAC All-Academic First Team.
In his fourth season at UCCS, Plett and the Mountain Lions finished the 2019-20 season with an 11-17 overall record and a 10-12 mark in league games, tying them for the 10th best record in the RMAC. The Mountain Lions finished the season winning their final four games, three of which came against RMAC Tournament qualifying teams. Abby Feickert and Madi Gaibler received RMAC Honorable Mention accolades while nine Mountain Lions were named to the RMAC All-Academic Team, led by Feickert's First Team nod. Plett also coached the Mountain Lions to their third straight WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll award.
The 2018-19 season finished with a four-way sixth place finish in the RMAC regular season standings with a 12-10 conference record and a 13-15 overall mark. Nine Mountain Lions were tabbed to the Academic All-RMAC Team: Abby Feickert, Caley Barnard, Madi Gaibler, Maddie Golla, Kelly O'Flannigan, Chelsea Pearson, Joey Sale, Bo Shaffer, and Tatum Tellin. Earned RMAC Honorable Mention accolades were Gaibler and O'Flannigan. Off the court, the Mountain Lions received their first RMAC Brechler Award, besting all 16 teams in the conference with a 3.660 grade point average.
In the 2017-18 season, Plett coached All-RMAC honorable mention Shanah Leaf as well as five Mountain Lions who received honors on the RMAC All-Academic team. Last season proved to be a rebuilding year for the Mountain Lions as they lost three starting seniors in Jen Vigil, Brittany Hernandez, and Tori Fisher, while adding six new players to the roster. UCCS finished the season with an overall 10-17 record with a 10-12 conference record, which placed the Mountain Lions 10th in the RMAC conference.
Plett coached two All-RMAC First Team student-athletes for the 2016-17 season in Brittany Hernandez and Tori Fisher. The Mountain Lions tied for second in the RMAC standings and won the tournament with the best defensive performance in championship game history in a 53-37 victory against Regis. Hernandez would be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. UCCS advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in its furthest postseason run since 2015.
Plett spent four seasons at Northern Kentucky, where the Norse qualified for the Women’s Basketball Invitational postseason tournament each season during the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. The Norse finished as the runner-up in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament in 2015 and reached the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament in 2016.
Plett spent five seasons as the head coach at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Griffons reached the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament three times while on NCAA probation from major violations made before he was the Head Coach. His team ranked in the top 20 of NCAA Division II for grade point average in the 2008-09 season and he coached three All-MIAA student-athletes. He served on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Rules Committee from 2007 through 2011.
Plett was the head coach at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, from 2002 through 2007, and his teams qualified for three NCAA Division II Tournaments in his career. The Flyers hosted the regional championship in the 2006-07 season and were ranked as high as No. 7 in the national polls. He coached two All-Americans, two Great Lakes Valley Conference Players of the Year, two All-GLVC Academic Players of the Year and the program’s all-time leading scorer. He was the Region 4 and GLVC Coach of the Year in 2007 and was the conference representative for the Women’s Basketball Officials Consortium, the supervising body for officials in seven conferences including the Big Ten Conference.
Plett entered Division II coaching at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, in 1994, where he also doubled as athletic director. He won the GLVC championship and was named GLVC Coach of the Year in his first season and coached an All-American, two-time conference player of the year and a two-time NCAA Division II scoring leader. He served as the director for the Chicago Bull’s Basketball Camp in 2000 and 2001. As athletic director, he led programs that hosted NCAA championships in basketball, baseball, soccer and cross country.
Plett has also coached men’s basketball at Huntington College in Indiana from 1989 through 1994, at Marymount College in Kansas from 1986 through 1989, and at Tabor College in Kansas from 1983 through 1986.
Plett earned bachelor’s degrees from Tabor in 1975 and 1981, where he also played basketball and soccer. He and his wife Brenda have a son, Matt, and a daughter, Stacy.
