Rutgers hires Nikki McCray-Penson as assistant hoops coach

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Rutgers has hired former Tennessee star Nikki McCray-Penson as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball workforce.

Scarlet Knights coach Coquese Washington announced the hiring Tuesday, a working day just after introducing former Rutgers star Tasha Pointer as an assistant mentor.

McCray-Penson has 15 yrs of university coaching knowledge, most not too long ago as head coach at Mississippi State and Aged Dominion. She performed 9 seasons in the WNBA and gained gold medals with Crew United states of america at the 1996 and 2000 Summer time Olympics.

“Simply set, Nikki is a winner,” Washington reported of her former Indiana Fever teammate from 2002-03. “She has excelled at the best levels of our video game. Her practical experience as a university All-American, a WNBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, and her national championship-caliber coaching pedigree supplies us with tremendous knowledge and knowledge.“

McCray-Penson has gained championships at all ranges. Aside from the Olympics, she was an assistant when South Carolina received the nationwide championship in 2017 and led the Columbus Quest to the 1997 ABL Championship. In college or university, she served Tennessee win 3 SEC standard-period championships, two SEC Event titles, and make a Remaining 4 visual appearance in 1995.

McCray-Penson was named finest defensive participant for Tennessee in every of her 4 many years.

Following two straight 20-earn seasons at Previous Dominon, she remaining to come to be the head mentor at Mississippi Point out in 2020-21. She coached the Bulldogs to 10 wins before stepping down right after a person time to concentrate on her health and fitness.

McCray-Penson also served as head mentor at Western Kentucky.

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Extra AP school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/university-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-major-25-school-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Major25

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