Cowgirl Tennis: Oklahoma State Hires Program Alum Katarina Adamovic as Head Coach

One of Cowgirl Tennis’ all-time players is returning to Stillwater to coach her former team.

Oklahoma State announced the hiring of Katarina Adamovic on Tuesday. Pending board approval, she’ll be the program’s seventh head coach.

“Coming back to Oklahoma State means everything to me,” Adamovic said in OSU’s release. “This program and this university helped shape who I am, and it’s an honor to return and lead the team that gave me so much. I want to thank Chad Weiberg, Jason Lewis, Karen Hancock and Dustin Taylor for their belief and trust in me.”

Adamovic has been a head coach for the past four seasons — two at Grand Canyon and the most recent two at Houston.

After GCU went 8-10 the previous year, Adamovic’s first GCU team in 2023 finished 15-10, which was good for third in the WAC. Then the next season, the Lopes went 22-3 and unbeaten in WAC competition. They also won the WAC tournament and made the NCAA field for a second straight season. She was the WAC’s Coach of the Year in 2024.

Houston went 2-19 in the year before Adamovic’s arrival. The Cougars went 4-16 in her first year before she took the program on a complete 180 this season, with the Houston finishing 17-6 and sixth in the Big 12.

Adamovic was an All-American at OSU in 2016, the same year she was named the NCAA Championship’s Most Outstanding Player. She was an All-Big 12 selection in 2015, 2017 and 2017. She compiled a 75-42 record in singles as a Cowgirl while going 91-23 in doubles.

Adamovic is such an athlete that she actually spent a year on the Cowgirl basketball team under Jim Littell, playing three games in the 2017-18 season.

After graduating from OSU, Adamovic started coaching, spending time as an assistant as Cincinnati and Missouri.

It was a rough year for an otherwise nationally prominent Cowgirl Tennis program. OSU fired Chris Young last July following an NCAA investigation that had to do with concerns of pre-portal tampering. Then OSU was forced to forfeit their final four meets of the season because of a lack of players.

But aside from this year, the program had turned into a proven winner. Since 2016, the Cowgirls have won five Big 12 titles (three regular seasons and two conference tournaments), including the regular season crown in 2025. OSU finished second at the 2016 NCAA Tournament. The Cowgirls won an ITA indoor national title in 2024.

Since that appearance in the national final, OSU made the NCAA Elite Eight in 2025,and 2017 and the Sweet 16 in 2024, 2022 and 2019.

“Oklahoma State has a powerful legacy, and I have great respect for the standard that’s been built here,” Adamovic said. “It’s an honor to carry that forward and build on what so many have created before me. I’m excited to come back, raise the standard even further and build a program that competes for championships at the highest level.

“I can’t wait to get to Stillwater and get to work.”