This Stud Is Going To Be Our Coach?

[JavaMan]

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WASHINGTON -- When women's basketball players at George Washington learned this past offseason that the school had named a new coach for their program, they quickly turned to their cell phones and a team group chat to disseminate any information they could dig up on the hire.

It didn't take long before a string of impressive YouTube highlights of a quick and crafty 5-foot-6 guard from UConn began to circulate. The team sentiment quickly swung from curiosity to shock and excitement.

"In the team group message we talked like, 'Are you kidding me, this stud is going to be our coach?' " senior guard Hannah Schaible said.

The stud was 1996 Wade Trophy winner Jennifer Rizzotti, who in April signed on as coach at George Washington after 17 seasons at Hartford, where she won 316 games en route to becoming the winningest coach in America East Conference history. Rizzotti is George Washington's 10th coach and first female coach since Jennifer Bednarek in the 1988-89 season.

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[EricLA]

I hope she finds much success there. She had some good success during the middle years of her career at Hartford, but towards the end, it was pretty bad. Perhaps she will be able to recruit better at GW and make them a potential NCAA threat every year. I'm rooting for her!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

She inherited a pretty good team by any standard. Going to be interesting to keep an eye on this over the next few years.

 

[Blueconn]

The short kid with the knee pads has landed at a school that has pretty much everything in place to offer her and her program real success at a major league level. To say that GW exceeds UHart in resources, profile, location, and recent wcb achievement is an understatement. Just as importantly is the sense that administrators, alumni, and fans at Foggy Bottom already possess established and growing enthusiasm for their program.

Recounting the reasons why our own non-pareil Nutmegger is a superb hire by George Washington University isn't necessary for BYers. Those reasons involve a very long list of athletic, academic, personal, and professional achievements which are well-known to UConn folks.

Great good luck to Jen in her first season with the Colonials. Putting her stamp on the program, plus a year or two of good recruiting, and who knows ? We shouldn't wager against a future, very big-time meeting between Coach Rizzotti and Coach Auriemma. Final score wouldn't matter too much because #21 is one of ours...forever.

 

[Sonny44]

View attachment 16915 ​

WASHINGTON -- When women's basketball players at George Washington learned this past offseason that the school had named a new coach for their program, they quickly turned to their cell phones and a team group chat to disseminate any information they could dig up on the hire.

It didn't take long before a string of impressive YouTube highlights of a quick and crafty 5-foot-6 guard from UConn began to circulate. The team sentiment quickly swung from curiosity to shock and excitement.

"In the team group message we talked like, 'Are you kidding me, this stud is going to be our coach?' " senior guard Hannah Schaible said.

The stud was 1996 Wade Trophy winner Jennifer Rizzotti, who in April signed on as coach at George Washington after 17 seasons at Hartford, where she won 316 games en route to becoming the winningest coach in America East Conference history. Rizzotti is George Washington's 10th coach and first female coach since Jennifer Bednarek in the 1988-89 season.

[MORE]

Well I suppose if Bruce could do it , Jen could.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Jen is one of the original badasses. Very tough!

 

[UcMiami]

Blueconn - definitely a huge step up in profile and a move into a good local girls basketball region for talent. But it is still mid-major level - the A10 teams get occasional high quality recruits, but their rosters are still thin on elite recruits and their prospects are more 'second weekend' NCAA success and not FF level.

They are the teams that most suffer from the women's profile of athletes staying four years in college - they don't get an experience edge over the power teams like the men's teams do with the one/two and done stars at the KYs and Louisvilles of men's basketball.

 

[Blueconn]

Blueconn - definitely a huge step up in profile and a move into a good local girls basketball region for talent. But it is still mid-major level - the A10 teams get occasional high quality recruits, but their rosters are still thin on elite recruits and their prospects are more 'second weekend' NCAA success and not FF level.

They are the teams that most suffer from the women's profile of athletes staying four years in college - they don't get an experience edge over the power teams like the men's teams do with the one/two and done stars at the KYs and Louisvilles of men's basketball.

You're right of course. But I think it's far from impossible to imagine this coach at this school getting them onto the top-25 map. Will be very interesting to see how well she recruits. Hiring a talented, high-profile assistant might be key.