Ketara Chapel enters her fourth season as an assistant coach for Auburn women's basketball. She joined the staff on April 13, 2021. Chapel was named the Tigers' recruiting coordinator prior to the 2023-24 season.
Year three for Chapel at Auburn saw the Tigers return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. She helped lead the Tigers to a 20-win season and a .500 SEC record, both of those also coming for the first time since 2019.
Her first two seasons at Auburn have seen the Tigers make continual improvements, doubling their win total from 2021 to 2022 and earning their first postseason bid in four years in 2023. The 2022-23 season saw Auburn finish with a winning record for the first time in four years, going 16-15 on the season and advancing to the second round of the WNIT.
In year one on the Auburn bench, she helped lead the Tigers to 10 victories, which included three wins over top-25 opponents. The Tigers' 71-61 win over No. 4 Tennessee on Jan. 27 shocked the women's basketball world as it was Auburn's first win over a top-25 opponent since 1997. Auburn also earned victories over No. 18 Georgia Tech and No. 21 Georgia and showed improvement across the board in the first year under Johnnie Harris and her staff.
Chapel joined the Auburn Family after spending the 2020-21 season as Coordinator of Player Development at Texas, joining Harris on the Longhorn staff. The Longhorns had a strong first season under Harris and head coach Vic Schaefer’s staff, compiling a 21-10 overall record and advancing to the Elite Eight.
After helping build Mississippi State into a national contender as a player, Chapel spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at her alma mater.
Chapel joined Dominique Dillingham as part of the first recruiting class signed by Schaefer at MSU. As freshmen in 2013-14, they helped guide Mississippi State to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. The following year, they led the Bulldogs to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.
After helping take Mississippi State to the Sweet 16 as a junior, Chapel led the Bulldogs to a thrilling win against Baylor that clinched the Oklahoma City Regional championship and the program’s first trip to the Final Four.
Chapel was a key part of MSU’s historic upset of top-ranked UConn that gave the Bulldogs a berth in the first of back-to-back national championship games.
The Temple, Texas, native and four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection was part of 111 victories in her four seasons in Starkville. During that time, she appeared in 142 games and started 61 contests, averaging 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest.
A 2017 graduate of Mississippi State with a bachelor's degree in coaching & teaching, Chapel later earned her master's degree from her alma mater in teaching - community college education in 2020.
She is the daughter of Ankara McNeil, a former women's basketball student-athlete, who still ranks in the Top 10 in career rebounds at UTSA (1992-95). Her family also includes brother, Kiron Griffin Jr.
In her spare time, Chapel enjoys reading, coloring and listening to 90s and R&B music.