Tag: Coquese Washington

Big Ten Network analyst says Coquese Washington ‘is more than qualified’ to rebuild Rutgers women’s basketball

One Big Ten Network analyst thinks that the hiring of Coquese Washington was a great move for Rutgers women’s basketball.

Coquese Washington has the resume and the credentials to get the job done with the Rutgers women’s basketball team. So says Meghan McKeown, a former Big Ten basketball player who is now a college basketball insider.

A former Northwestern basketball standout, McKeown now works for the Big Ten Network in a variety of roles including as a women’s college basketball analyst.

In terms of the hire of Washington, there is certainly grounds for optimism from Rutgers fans. During a 12-year stretch as head coach at Penn State, McKeown led the Nittany Lions to four NCAA Tournament appearances, twice leading the program to the Sweet Sixteen.

Three other times, Penn State made the NIT.

For a Rutgers program that has, over the past two decades, consistently been a top 25 program and made the NCAA Tournament more often than not, Washington’s track record with Penn State has some interesting carry over to her rebuilding project at Rutgers.

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The Scarlet Knights went 11-20 last year, losing in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament to Indiana.

“I think the reason to be optimistic is coach Washington did have consistent success at Penn State for a stretch. It is incredibly difficult to win the conference, let alone do it three straight years,” McKeown told RutgersWire on Wednesday.

“Sometimes leaving a conference, then coming back, can offer a fresh perspective on how to approach building a program and recruiting. That has a chance to be the case in this instance. Coach also spent time at Notre Dame as associate head coach, and I felt that program was one of the most underrated nationally this past season after struggling when Muffet McGraw retired. This is going to be an uphill battle and will take a few years, but coach Washington is more than qualified to do it.”

After being let go at Penn State in 2019, she spent time at Oklahoma as associate head coach and then the past two seasons at a very good Notre Dame program.

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McKeown, who knows the Big Ten as both a player and a member of the media, thinks that Washington is a good fit. Having played against Washington-coached teams at Penn State adds another layer to McKeown’s buoyant outlook on the latest hire by Rutgers.

“Coach Washington is a great hire for Rutgers. She understands how to win in the Big Ten with a lot of success at Penn State. Coach Washington also understands how to develop pros,” McKeown said.

“I played against Alex Bentley and Maggie Lucas and that Penn State team was one of the hardest to guard. Coach also has experience at the highest level when it comes to recruiting the northeast and nationally. The Big Ten conference is one of the best in the country because of the level of coaching.

“Coach Washington knows how to compete in the chess matches that occur in-game regarding the coaching in this conference.”

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Former Penn State women’s basketball coach lands new Big Ten gig

Former Penn State women’s basketball coach hired by Big Ten school to lead program

Former Penn State women’s basketball head coach Coquese Washington is heading back to the Big Ten as a head coach. Rutgers officially announced on Monday it has hired the former Penn State head coach to serve as the program’s new head coach of the women’s basketball program.

Washington was the successor of former Penn State head coach Rene Portland following Portland’s controversial resignation amid controversy for her alleged discrimination of lesbian players in 2007. Washington took on the Penn State head coaching job as her first professional head coaching opportunity, and she held the job for 12 seasons when Penn State chose to not bring her back after the 2019 season. Prior to coming to Penn State, Washington was an assistant coach for her alma mater, Notre Dame. After moving on from Penn State, Washington spent one season as an assistant head coach for Oklahoma and returned to Notre Dame in 2020 for two more seasons back in South Bend as an assistant.

Washington earned multiple Big Ten coach of the year honors during her time at Penn State (2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14) and took the Lady Lions to four NCAA women’s basketball tournaments and three trips to the women’s NIT. Penn State advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2012 and 2014 and combined for a record of 76-20 during that three-year run.

At Rutgers, Washington will replace the legendary Vivian Stringer, a 2009 inductee to the Basketball Hall of Fame who has coached teams to four Final Four appearances (one with Iowa and three more with Rutgers), three Big East titles (Rutgers), and 10 regular season or conference tournament Big Ten championships (between Iowa and Rutgers) during the regular season.

For more on the former Penn State head coach’s next job, follow the ongoing coverage from our friends at Rutgers Wire.

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Rutgers women’s basketball has a new head coach in Coquese Washington with plenty of Big Ten experience

Rutgers women’s basketball has a new head coach in Coquese Washington who has lots of Big Ten basketball experience.

Coquese Washington is the next head coach of Rutgers women’s basketball. The announcement of Washington came on Monday evening as the former Notre Dame guard is set to become the third head coach in the program’s history.

Washington has a strong resume that most recdently includes the past two seasons as associate head coach for powerhouse Notre Dame, where she was a star player for the then Big East program.

She has 22 years of coaching experience  most notably a twelve-year stint at Penn State where she rebuilt the program and took them to the NCAA Tournament four times and the NIT three times. Twice under her direction, Washington led the Nittany Lions to the Sweet Sixteen.

While she has a very good reputation as a head coach, she was also quite the player in her own right. After her storied career at Notre Dame, she played several seasons in the WNBA including a couple seasons locally for the New York Liberty.

“I am beyond thrilled with the opportunity to be here at Rutgers, a university that excels both academically and athletically,” Washington said in a statment released by the university.

“Following in the footsteps of Hall of Fame coaches Theresa Grentz and C. Vivian Stringer is a tremendous honor. They exemplify achieving high levels of excellence with grace, class, integrity and dignity. The way they blazed trails and impacted the lives of student-athletes and coaches, beyond the ones on their teams, is nothing short of amazing. Standing on their shoulders to guide this program is going to be a wonderful adventure, and our family is eager to get to Piscataway and become a part of this remarkable community.”

The six-year contract for Washington gives the newest Rutgers head coach a guarantee of $4.625 million. There is also the possibility of meeting bonuses based on performance.

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The retirement of Stringer leaves a giant hole in the program as the Hall of Fame coach was a legend within the game. In some ways, Stringer’s clout was even bigger than the program itself.

Now, it is up to Washington to rebuild this program.

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Last year under acting head coach Timothy Eatman, Rutgers finished 11-20 with a second round loss in the Big Ten Tournament.

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