Head Coach John Margaritis has taken the Highlanders women’s basketball team to new heights in his 13 seasons in Riverside. Margaritis continues to rewrite the UCR record books averaging 15.4 wins per season and making the postseason on six ocassions (three NCAA Tournament appearances and three WNIT appearances). The Highlanders have won three Big West Tournament titles and two Big West Conference regular season titles during Margaritis’ UC Riverside tenure, and he was named Big West Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2016.
During his time in the Inland Empire, Margaritis helped develop Kemie Nkele into a four-time First-Team All-Big West Conference award winner, two-time Big West Player of the Year and one-time Defensive Player of the Year. Nkele and former Highlanders Seyram Gbewonyo and Katerina Glyniadaki continued their basketball careers at the professional level playing in Greece. He also developed shooting guard Brittany Crain, who became the schools all-time leading scorer and three-point shooter. Crain, also a two-time Big West Player of the Year winner, is the only player in Big West history to lead the league in scoring for three seasons and was a WBCA All-Region nominee for the NCAA Division I Coaches All-American Team.
In 2004-05 Margaritis was hired as just the seventh women’s basketball head coach in UCR history and just the second at the Division I level. He inherited a team that was 7-21 the year prior to his hiring and led them to a 16-13 record, the program’s first winning season since 2001-02.
One year later, Margaritis and the Highlanders stunned 10-time defending champion UC Santa Barbara 59-58 in the Big West Conference Tournament Championship game punching their first-ever ticket to the Big Dance since transitioning to NCAA Division I.
| Margaritis' Year-by-Year As Head Coach |
| Year |
School |
Div. |
Record |
Notes |
| 1981-82x |
Northeastern Illinois |
NAIA |
10-22 |
|
| 1982-83 |
Northeastern Illinois |
NAIA |
19-15 |
|
| 1983-84 |
Northeastern Illinois |
NAIA |
29-4 |
#6 ranked |
| 1984-85 |
Northeastern Illinois |
NAIA |
25-12 |
Elite 8 |
| 1988-89 |
National-Louis (IL) |
NAIA |
15-12 |
|
| 1995-96 |
CSU San Bernardino |
II |
12-15 |
|
| 2004-05 |
UC Riverside |
I |
16-13 |
BWC Quarters |
| 2005-06 |
UC Riverside |
I |
16-15 |
BWC Tournament |
|
|
|
|
Champions/NCAA |
| 2006-07 |
UC Riverside |
I |
21-11 |
BWC Regular |
|
|
|
|
Season & Tournament |
|
|
|
|
Champions/NCAA |
| 2007-08 |
UC Riverside |
I |
14-16 |
BWC Semis |
| 2008-09 |
UC Riverside |
I |
19-12 |
WNIT |
| 2009-10 |
UC Riverside |
I |
17-16 |
BWC Tournament |
|
|
|
|
Champions/NCAA |
| 2010-11 |
UC Riverside |
I |
19-13 |
WNIT |
| 2011-12 |
UC Riverside |
I |
5-24 |
|
| 2012-13 |
UC Riverside |
I |
11-18 |
|
| 2013-14 |
UC Riverside |
I |
6-23 |
|
| 2014-15 |
UC Riverside |
I |
17-14 |
|
| 2015-16 |
UC Riverside |
I |
23-9 |
BWC Regular Season Champions |
|
|
|
|
WNIT |
| 2016-17 |
UC Riverside |
I |
16-15 |
|
| 2017-18 |
UC Riverside |
I |
11-22 |
Big West Tournament |
| Margaritis' Career Coaching Record |
|
Northeastern Illinois |
83-53 (.597) |
|
National-Louis (IL) |
15-12 (.556) |
|
CSU San Bernardino |
12-15 (.444) |
|
UC Riverside |
213-225 (.486) |
|
x |
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Overall |
323-304 (.515) |
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The 2006-07 season saw the Highlanders run off a 12-2 mark in conference play to claim the programs first regular season title. Margaritis was named Big West Coach of the Year as UCR again defeated UCSB in the championship game to earn their second consecutive trip to the NCAAs.
The Highlanders made it five trips to the postseason in six years as Margaritis led the 2008-09 squad to the first round of the WNIT—another program first for the blue and gold—the 2009-10 squad to an upset of top-seeded UC Davis in the conference championship game, and a 2010-11 WNIT at-large selection.
In the 2015-16 season, Margaritis led the Highlanders to a perfect 16-0 conference record, earning UCR's second Big West regular season Championship. They also established a school record with 23 wins on the year, as well as a record 17 game winning streak. The Highlanders earned a WNIT automatic bid.
Prior to joining UC Riverside, Margaritis spent eight years at Northern Arizona, where he served as the Lumberjacks’ associate head coach from 2001-04. He also was an assistant coach at the University of Nevada in the mid-1980s. From 1989-93 Margaritis spent time as an assistant under legendary head coach Bob Spencer at Fresno State.
Margaritis is no stranger to the Inland Empire, however, having spent 1993-97 at Cal State San Bernardino. After two years as the Coyotes’ assistant, Margaritis was named interim head coach for the 1995-96 season.
He started his coaching career at Northeastern Illinois University, where he led the NAIA program to a record of 83-53 in his four years there. Margaritis moved on to coach one season at National-Louis University in Illinois.
He holds a degree in secondary physical education from Northeastern Illinois.
