Women’s Basketball Head Coach Katie Faulkner holds her newborn baby while coaching through the 2025-26 season. Faulkner gave birth to her third child, Cali Jo, in February and returned to the court just 10 days later. Photos courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics
When tennis legend Serena Williams was balancing motherhood with professional competition, the star was focused on returning back to her sport while continuously striving to perform at an elite level. In a sit-down conversation with Vanity Fair in 2017, she said “I don’t think my story is over yet.”
Katie Faulkner, Pepperdine Women’s Basketball head coach, kept writing her own story while balancing motherhood and basketball. After giving birth to her third child, Cali Jo, in February, Faulkner returned to the sidelines just 10 days later to lead the Waves through their most successful season in eight years, according to previous Graphic reporting.
“When I was at the LMU game just the next week, someone asked how old Cali was and when I told them she was only a week old, they told me my wife was a badass, and that’s just true,” Katie Faulkner’s husband Derek Faulkner said. “She cares so much about her work and she works so hard. I’m her biggest fan.”
Growing Family
Cali makes the Faulkners a family of five as the third child after Baker, 4 years old, and Laney, who is 2 years old. Being close in age allows her kids to really grow together, a rewarding part of being a parent, Katie Faulkner said.
“They’re best friends,” Katie Faulkner said. “They’ve really loved having baby Cali in their life. They just gang up together and do life together.”
With Cali being the third child the Faulkners have raised, the couple said they feel like they’re a little bit more experienced this time around. The lessons they learned with Baker and Laney help make the balance a bit easier with Cali.
“I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to be the perfect coach while also trying to be the perfect mother, and that just wasn’t possible,” Katie Faulkner said. “There’s a give and take. If you take the pressure off having to be perfect and rather just be present, that is what I learned is my best.”
Derek and Katie Faulkner hold newborn Cali Jo in February 2026. Cali makes the Faulkners a family of five.
Even though this wasn’t Katie Faulkner’s first time balancing motherhood and basketball, she said Cali brought some new challenges to the family. With her three kids, Cali was the first one born in the middle of an active season.
“Cali coming right in the middle of conference added a little bit of unknown territory for me,” Katie Faulkner said. “I’ve never missed a game coaching before, so having to sit at home and watch was another layer of growth as a leader and being able to relinquish control and trust to my staff and players.”
Katie Faulkner said she felt confident in her program knowing they had routines and habits in place that allowed them to function well without her presence. This certainly proved to be the case, as the Waves finished 21-13 overall and reached the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) for the first time in seven years, according to previous Graphic reporting.
“It’s all just a reflection of Katie,” Assistant Coach Brian Porth said. “She’s created an incredible culture of people really connecting and serving each other. The mandate was simple: continue on with the culture that she set forward and keep the ship steady while she was away.”
Court Crossover
While Katie Faulkner continued to be inspired by her team’s success on the court, the program was, in turn, inspired by their head coach and the journey she had this season. Junior guard Elli Guiney said being a coach’s daughter herself, she understands firsthand how special that bond can be.
“Being able to be with your mom while she’s working and coaching, especially at this level, is a full-time job,” Guiney said. “The amount of energy and time she pours into us, I’m glad that she still has that balance of getting to play with her kids and her kids getting to see that. Honestly, it’s cool to see someone so focused and driven still making time for the people and things they love.”
Faulkner’s family doesn’t only account for those she shares DNA with. For the head coach, her family spreads to the Women’s Basketball program, as well.
“The kids being around makes it a pretty casual atmosphere where people understand what the job is but they understand that this is a family also,” Porth said.
A true bond Katie Faulkner cherishes is that between her blood and basketball family. Whether it was Baker and Laney or her newborn, Katie Faulkner said she values being able to have her family on the court with her.
“My life is her life,” Faulkner said. “She’s our baby, but she’s also everyone’s baby. It’s been cool to experience everyone taking her in as their own. It can be chaotic, but you learn to find pockets of joy in the chaos. I love having her around the team and being able to see the girls hold her for the first time.”
(From left to right) Katie, Laney, Cali, Baker and Derek Faulkner pose outside of a team bus as a family of five. Cali was the first baby born midseason, bringing new challenges to the athletics-centered family.
The players said they value the Faulkner kids being around as well. When the busy life of Division I athletics and high quality academics bring rising stress levels, Guiney said she was able to find a sense of relief in the kids being around the team.
“It reminds me just of how much joy people can have,” Guiney said. “Seeing the kids brings a really interpersonal, human aspect that sometimes gets lost when it’s always athlete-student. The little kids don’t care about if you played well or you played bad, and it just reminds you that there’s more to life than just basketball.”
The crossover between basketball and her family is a unique experience, but not one Katie Faulkner takes for granted at all. When she finds herself lost in the swirl of being a head coach, she said she is always able to find peace when she looks up in the stands and sees her family there for her.
“I don’t think there’s any greater feeling than that of just seeing your people being a part of what you’re able to do from a work standpoint,” Katie Faulkner said.
Katie Faulkner said her eye in the storm has always been her husband. After meeting as coaches at Oregon State, the two have gone through many phases of life together and athletics has always grounded them as a strong duo.
“It’s a sacrificial love,” Katie Faulkner said. “There’s lots of communication and high fives along the way. I wouldn’t say one is harder than the other, but there’s definitely correlation with what basketball teaches you in life, and how life teaches you basketball.”
For Derek, competitiveness plays a big part in their relationship and family. Whether it’s cards or a pick-up basketball game, the Faulkners are always focused on winning, which adds a layer of joy to the seriousness.
“From our relationship standpoint, the competitive edge is always there,” Derek Faulkner said. “That’s the benefit of having someone who has played at a high level — who coaches at a high level. There’s an understanding when you both value winning but also having fun together.”
One of the most important things Waves fans can take away from Faulkner’s story is the behind-the-scenes work she puts into her blood and basketball family, Derek Faulkner said. Her inspiration may not be something that is always obvious to the naked eye.
“A lot of people get to see the coaching result, but you don’t always get to see her being a good mom, and she’s one of the best,” Derek Faulkner said.
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