Kayla Ard

Kayla Laine Ard (born February 10, 1984) is an American college basketball coach who was formerly the women's basketball head coach at Utah State.

Early life and education Born in Hammond, Louisiana, Ard grew up in nearby Loranger and graduated from Loranger High School in 2002. She played basketball for one season at Chipola College, then transferred to Southeastern Louisiana University, where she played three games in the 2004–05 season, averaging 3.0 points per game. She graduated from Southeastern Louisiana in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in general studies, and later earned a master's degree in psychology from the University of Phoenix in 2013.

Ard was then a recruiter and assistant coach at Pensacola State College in Florida during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, then spent a year at Troy University, working under Chanda Rigby and athletic director John Hartwell.

On March 23, 2020, it was announced that she had been hired as the head coach for the Utah State University's basketball program. After a 4-win season and last place conference finish in Ard's debut season, the team improved to 11–19, and finished 9th of 11 teams in the conference.

Ard was dismissed from her position as head coach of the team following the 2023–24 season, where Utah State finished 5–25 and 2–16 (last place) in conference play. During her tenure, her teams finished last in the conference in three out of four seasons.

Head coaching record