Heather Karner

Title

Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development
Email

jkrochelle2@utep.edu
Phone

915-747-5096

Heather Karner was appointed Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at UTEP on July 2, 2019. She was promoted to Director of Player Development in May of 2022.

She helped lead UTEP to a 7-1 start to the 2021-22 season that featured a pair of wins over rival NM State. Throughout the season the Miners faced a bevy of schedule changes due to COVID-19, having four total games rescheduled or canceled, including the first two Conference USA games at LA Tech and Southern Miss. Despite the adversity, the Miners would upend a duo of conference favorites in Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion towards the beginning of league action. UTEP finished the campaign 14-15 overall and had Katia Gallegos named to the All-Conference USA second team. Destiny Thurman was an honorable mention selection.

Karner helped guide the Miners through the Covid-affected 2020-21 season. They finished 17-8 and earned a berth into the semifinals of the 2021 Conference USA Championships. It marked UTEP's first appearance in the semifinals of the tournament in five years. Additionally, Karner has now been a part of consecutive winning campaigns for the first time at the school since a four-year stretch from 2010-11 through 2013-14.

UTEP was a stout 9-2 at at home, with the winning percentage of .818 ranking as the seventh highest at home in school annals. Even more impressive was a record of 7-5 on the road, ensuring the first winning road record in five years. That effort also tied for the fourth-most road wins in a year in program history. The Miners enjoyed a nine-game winning streak in the middle of C-USA action, tying for the sixth longest at the school. Individually Katia Gallegos was named to the All-Conference USA first team.

In her first season in the Sun City she helped the Miners finish 16-14, culminating with a 95-67 victory against Florida Atlantic in the opening round of the 2020 C-USA Championships. The Miners established school conference tournament records for margin of victory (28), points (95) and 3-pointers made (11), while tying the mark for field goals made (33), 3-point percentage (50.0 percent) and overall field-goal percentage (55.0 percent).

The Miners broke the school standard for most 90+ point games in a season (four). UTEP also cracked the school’s top-10 season list for assists per game (15.1-tied third), points (2129-fifth), scoring offense (71.0-fifth), turnovers forced (598-sixth), field goals made (771-seventh), field-goal percentage (.419-tied seventh), assists (452-eighth), free throws made (424-eighth), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.299-eighth), home wins (12-tied eighth), 3-pointers made (163-10th), games played (tied 10th). Individually Katarina Zec earned All C-USA second-team honors and Katia Gallegos was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team.

Prior to UTEP, Karner was most recently an assistant coach at Central Arkansas during the 2018-19 season. She previously was an assistant at Northwest Kansas Technical College (2015-16) and a graduate assistant coach at Tulane (2016-18).

A jack of all trades, Karner has been involved with all aspects of a collegiate program during her young career including on-floor workouts, recruiting, scouting, strength and conditioning, summer camps, academics and compliance. She began her career as an assistant women’s varsity coach at Lutheran High School South in St. Louis from 2008-09.

Karner also played professionally in Germany from 2010-13 and was the leading scorer and team captain for SG Weiterstadt during the 2014-15 season. While abroad, she also coached numerous boys and girls youth basketball teams.

Karner played at Western Nebraska Community College and Youngstown State. She achieved her associate of science degree in May of 2006 at Western Nebraska, and her bachelor of general studies in May of 2008 at Youngstown State. She completed work on her master of liberal arts at Tulane in May of 2018.