When now former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Nell Fortner announced her retirement last week, it sent shockwaves through the fan base, as Fortner had just signed a three year extension in February. The fan base was wondering who would be the replacement for the coach that had led the Yellow Jackets for six seasons. Those questions were answered less than a week later, as the Yellow Jackets have hired Karen Blair as their next head coach.
Blair comes to the Yellow Jackets most recently being on the Maryland coaching staff, where she had served as the associate head coach for the last five seasons and before that, assistant for two seasons. Blair led the Terrapins to three Big Ten titles during her seven year tenure, and made the NCAA Women's National Tournament in every season that the event was held.
Blair is most known for her recruiting, where she has orchestrated for top-20 classes four times for the Terrapins, including three top-11 classes in 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Blair comes to the Yellow Jackets with a lot of tools at her disposal from young talent still left on the roster, with freshman Dani Carnegie, junior Tonie Morgan, and Chazadi Wright all returning to the team next season.
Fortner has built a sense of promise around the program recently with the Yellow Jackets polling as high as No. 13 last season in the AP Top 25, and Blair could be the right person to lead the Yellow Jackets moving forward.