Raven Merriweather, a former Bellarmine University women’s basketball star, returned to the Knights as an assistant coach in July of 2021.
Bellarmine earned a berth in the ASUN Tournament in 2023-24 behind a sweep of Lipscomb and Austin Peay in the final week of the regular season. The Knights also had a notable 64-52 road win over eventual two-seed Stetson during the year. Guard Hayley Harrison was a third-team All-ASUN selection.
In 2022-23, Merriweather's second on staff, Gracie Merkle became the first Bellarmine athlete in any sport to be named ASUN Freshman of the Year. The 6-foot-6 center was a unanimous ASUN All-Freshman Team selection and was recognized as second-team ASUN All-Conference.
A Louisville native, Merriweather played for Bellarmine from 2014-18 and left the program as the ninth-leading scorer in program history after amassing 1,420 points. The former guard earned three All-GLVC accolades and was the GLVC co-Freshman of the Year.
Merriweather remained actively involved in basketball following her graduation from Bellarmine. She coached the junior varsity team at Sacred Heart Academy, her alma mater, for a year and followed by becoming a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky University for a year while earning a master’s degree in sports administration.
Merriweather helped make Bellarmine a top contender in the GLVC during her playing days. She was a key figure on Knights teams that earned consecutive NCAA II Tournament berths in 2016 and 2017. In the former season, Bellarmine captured the GLVC Tournament title, and Merriweather was selected to the All-Tournament Team for her exceptional performance during the championship run.
As a senior in 2017-18, Merriweather averaged 17.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists while her 499 total points ranked eighth all-time for a single season in program history. She was the recipient of first-team All-GLVC recognition that campaign, garnered second-team notice as a sophomore and junior and was the GLVC co-Freshman of the Year in her debut season.
Merriweather amassed 1,420 points in her career. She averaged 12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists over her tenure while her 203 steals and 84.4 free-throw percentage both ranked fourth all-time and her 145 3-pointers made ranked ninth in program history upon graduation. She was honored on the program’s All-Decade Team.
Merriweather has a daughter, Rhyan.
