Matthew Mitchell ends his five-year hiatus as a new addition to the Houston women’s basketball program. Coach Mitchell holds a record of 10 20+ winning seasons with the Kentucky Wildcats, along with seven 25+ winning seasons. Along with his strenuous winning records, coach Mitchell brings 303 career wins in experience. Players recognized their new head coach as excited and thankful for his new opportunity to make Houston a winning team. Dominique Dillingham was added as the fifth assistant coach. Dillingham and Mitchell have past competition noted by Mitchell, “When I coached against her, she always showed competitiveness and excellence on the court, which has translated into her coaching.” During Dillingham’s two seasons at the University of Texas, the 2025 season ended 29-7 overall, beating their past record from the 2015-16 season. DeNesha Stallworth, a Kentucky University alum, reunites with her head coach, Coach Mitchell. Once again, coach Mitchell expresses his excitement for his reunion, “I am thrilled to reconnect with her on our professional journey. She truly embodies the core values of The Winning Tools—honesty, hard work, and discipline—and is equipped to pass those on to our current and future Coogs.” During her senior year, she established a (.524%) field goal, (44) steals, and (151) field goals made with her team. She also ranked second in scoring (12.5), rebounding (6.9), and blocking shots (35). Stallworth’s impressive record led her to be the 25th overall pick in the 2014 WNBA draft.
New additions to the court include three freshmen: Jemma Hunter, Jade Jones, and Kayla King. Handpicked by coach Mitchell from the transfer portal, three forwards were welcomed: Amirah Abdur-Rahim, Amani Bartlett, and Jorynn Ross, along with Guards TK Pitts, Briana Peguero, Kyndall Hunter, and Shun’teria Anumle.
Honorable mention basketball recruits:
Senior TK Pitts #0 from Tulsa Oklahoma brings her talents from SMU averaging 5,0 points, 3.9 rebounds per game as she appeared in all 30 games totaling 84 career games. She reunites with assistant coach Anthony Anderson and teammate Amirah Abdur-Rahin
Grad student and Houston native Briana Peguro #1 joins the UH basketball program for the 2025-26 season. Peguero is an established vet on the court as a recent WNIT All-Tournament Team selection (2025), averaging 16.2 points during the tournament, and NJCAA D-I All-America Honorable Mention (2023). During the WNIT title game, she set a personal record of 28 points (a career high), including six 3-pointers. Coach Mitchell looks forward to Peguero’s hometown and fan base. “She’s a hometown kid and the fans are going to enjoy cheering for one of their own”. Before leaving Houston to start her collegiate career, Peguro was named 6A All-District First Team, including McDonald’s All-America honorable mention, and Defensive Player of the Year.
Grad Student Amirah Abdur-Rahim #23, forward from Marietta, Georgia, was an All-state selection and Atlanta Journal Constitution Class A Private All-State Honorable Mention as she was attending St. Francis High School. Rahim comes from a skilled basketball family; her brother, Shareef, was drafted in the 1996 NBA draft, and her brother, Amir, played for Southeastern Louisiana before becoming the head coach at Kennesaw State & South Florida. Amirah averaged 9.6 points at SMU, where she spent two seasons with assistant coach Anthony Anderson. Rahim looks forward to being on the court with TK. In her media day interview, she states, “Amazing, if you guys don’t know, me and TK played at SMU together, for two years. She’s like a sister to me. So, it’s great just having somebody else on the team that you can trust on and off the court.”
In a media day interview, Pitts and Rahim express their excitement towards coach Mitchell. Pitts stated, “he is a very structured man. He’s a man with a plan and I think his plan will take us a long way this season.” Rahim continued, “I agree. My first conversation with coach Mitchell was over the phone and I could just feel his energy through the phone…It’s just the energy that he had and the excitement he had about Houston, but also about the impact he wanted to make at Houston.”
Our women’s team is currently on a winning streak 52-48 against UTSA and 76-59 against UT Arlington. As of now they hold a record of scoring (76), FG (.429%), and rebounds (32). Let’s continue to cheer on our lady Coogs this Monday against Stephen F. Austin