Rutgers Women’s Basketball Adding to Coaching Staff
Women’s basketball Head Coach Coquese Washington is busy formulating her coaching staff for the 2022-23 season.
Rutgers welcomes back Tasha Pointer to the sidelines for her second stint with the program. She was an assistant on C. Vivian Stringer’s staff from 2007-15 , and played under Stringer from 1997-2001. As a player, Pointer was on the team that went to the NCAA Final Four in 2000, and produced program-record totals of 839 assists and 292 steals while scoring 1,456 points.
She was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Fame back in 2008.
𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘‼️
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) June 27, 2022
𝙏𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙖 𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧, our all-time assists leader and former assistant coach from 2007-15, returns to the sidelines as @CoqueseWashing's first staff hire.
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As an assistant, Pointer ,”recruited seven eventual WNBA Draft picks during her 14 years as an assistant and coached two Big East Rookies of the Year and four Big East Defensive Players of the Year at Rutgers,” ScarletKnights.com.
“I am blessed to return to this great institution at Rutgers University and to be home again in New Jersey, the place that offered me the platform to excel as a student athlete, graduate student, professional, wife, and mother,” Pointer told Scarletknights.com. “I am privileged to have received mentorship, guidance, and love from the one-of-a-kind C. Vivian Stringer. I am grateful to work with Coquese, who is nothing short of spectacular and a person I have come to admire in the profession. Amazing days are ahead!”
Meanwhile, Rutgers hired former Mississippi State and Old Dominion Head Coach Nikki McCray Penson to the coaching staff as an assistant.
𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦‼️
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) June 28, 2022
𝙉𝙞𝙠𝙠𝙞 𝙈𝙘𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙮-𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙣, an All-American, @WNBA All-Star, and 15-year coaching veteran with a 2017 @NCAA National Championship joins @CoqueseWashing's coaching staff.
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“Simply put, Nikki is a winner,” Washington told ScarletKnights.com. “She has excelled at the highest levels of our game. Her experience as a college All-American, a WNBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, and her national championship-caliber coaching pedigree provides us with tremendous knowledge and wisdom. She is an incredible competitor, and our players will learn a ton from her as they feel her dedication to excellence on a daily basis.”
Penson played in the WNBA with Washington for two years at the Indiana Fever in 2002 and 2003. She played collegiately at Tennessee, capturing SEC Player of the Year in her junior and senior years. She helped lead the Lady Vols to the Final Four in 1995, and Tennessee was 122-11 during her four years there as a player.
As a head coach at Old Dominion, Penson went 53-40 and was the 2020 C-USA Coach of the Year. She coached one year at Mississippi State before stepping down due to focus on her health.
Rounding out the coaching staff is John Hampton, who was the head coach at Clarkson University. He also spent seven years at St. Joseph’s, including the last three as assistant head coach.
𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦‼️
— Rutgers W.Basketball (@RutgersWBB) June 29, 2022
𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙤𝙣, former Clarkson head coach who has spent the last seven seasons at St. Joseph's, completes @CoqueseWashing's coaching staff for the '22-23 season.
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“I am honored to be a member of the Rutgers Family at an institution that boasts storied athletic traditions and world-class education,” Hampton told scarletknights.com. “It is a true privilege. Add to this a chance to learn alongside Coquese – one of our great coaching minds – and a staff who have individually impacted the women’s game; I could not feel more blessed or ready to get started.”
