The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Sports Performance Coach
Zack Zillner enters his seventh season as women's basketball sports performance coach at the University of Texas.
Zillner develops, implements and supervises the training regimen for the Texas women’s basketball team in the areas of speed, strength, agility, conditioning and flexibility. Zillner also works collaboratively with the areas of sports medicine and performance nutrition.
In the 2023-24 season Texas won 33 games, their most in a season since the 1985-86 season. The Longhorns won the Big 12 Tournament Championship, marking their third straight conference championship. Texas advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in the last four seasons. Madison Booker earned WBCA All-America honors and was named the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year. Booker was also selected Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
In 2021-22, the Longhorns put together a historic 2021-22 campaign, culminating in the program claiming its first Big 12 Championship Title since 2003 and making a second-consecutive run to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.
UT finished the season 29-7 overall, which marked its highest win total since the 2015-16 season, and finished as the No. 6-ranked team in the county in the final Associated Press Top-25 poll, its highest finish since the 2003-04 season.
In 2020-21, Texas made a magical run through the NCAA Tournament, that included victories over No. 2-seed Maryland, No. 3-seed UCLA and No. 11-seed Bradley.
Zillner came to the Forty Acres with a vast amount of experience at three NCAA Division I institutions, most recently serving as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Kansas. At KU, Zillner was the sports performance coach for the women’s basketball, softball, women’s golf and women’s tennis teams. He worked directly with 2017 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Newcomer of the Year Jessica Washington. He also assisted with men’s basketball, including 2017 consensus National Player of the Year Frank Mason, and was responsible for the development of incoming athletes.
Prior to returning to his alma mater, Zillner spent more than a year [2015-16] as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Illinois, where he worked with the women’s basketball, volleyball and men’s and women’s golf teams. During his tenure, the Illini men’s golf team won the Big Ten Championship and the NCAA Regional, and the squad boasted three All-Americans.
Zillner served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Southern Mississippi during the 2014-15 school year. He was the head strength and conditioning coach for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball. There, he oversaw intern and graduate assistant personnel and coordinated the yearly nutrition and strength and conditioning budgets. The women’s basketball team advanced to the WNIT Quarterfinals – the best postseason run in program history – and had two players named All-Conference USA.
Before joining the staff at Southern Miss, Zillner spent three years [2011-14] as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Kansas. During his first stint in Lawrence, he worked with the soccer, softball, men’s and women’s golf, and track and field teams. He also assisted with men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and baseball. In Zillner’s work with the track and field teams, the women’s track and field team finished as the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Champion and was the national runner-up at both the 2012 and 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships. He coached 21 first-team All-America honorees, 11 Big 12 Champions, and also worked with 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Diamond Dixon.
Zillner earned his bachelor’s degree in sport science, with an emphasis in exercise science, from the University of Kansas in 2011. During his undergraduate days, Zillner served as a student intern in strength and conditioning at KU. He is currently working on his MBA at the University of Kansas.
Zillner is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He has his CPR-AED Certification from the American Red Cross and has Levels 1 and 2 certification from the Titleist Performance Institute.
