the Informer

Courtesy of hartfordhawks.com

Women’s basketball Head Coach Jennifer Rizzotti was named the 2011 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year on Friday after her gold medal coaching performance with the U-19 National Women’s team at the 2011 FIBA U-19 World Championships.

Starting on July 21 in Puerto Montt and Puerto Veras, Chile, Rizzotti and her team went 8-1 across a 10-day span to take the top spot at the event.

“It is an honor to be named the USA Basketball National Coach of the Year,” Rizzotti said. “I had a great group of players and an extremely hard working staff that deserves equal credit. Our players worked really hard in a short amount of time to become not just the best players, but the best team in the U19 Championship.”

The award, established in 1996, “recognizes a USA Basketball head coach who, during the year of the award, made significant impact on the success of individual athlete and team performance at the highest level of competition,” according to usabasketball.com.

Previous recipients of the award include Geno Auriemma for his work with the University of Connecticut women’s team, Mike Krzyzewski for his work with the Duke University men’s team, Larry Brown for his work with the Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons, and Jim Boeheim for his work with Syracuse University’s men’s basketball team.

Her recent gold medal performance marked the second year in a row Rizzotti attained a top FIBA Championship spot, in 2010 she achieved the same mark at the FIBA Americas U-18 Championships.

En route to the FIBA U19 World Championship top podium spot for the fourth year in a row, the USA team, led by Rizzotti at this past year’s event, ranked first in a majority of the statistical categories among the 16 total teams who participated. Such were average points per game (76.8), field goal percentage (.43), offensive rebounds per game (17.1) and defensive rebounds per game (33.8).

“Jen’s leadership helped the USA U19 women’s team improve each and every day of training, and even during each game of the tournament. It was impressive to watch the team’s progress,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball Executive Director/CEO. “USA Basketball is proud to recognize her efforts, and we are grateful for her commitment and dedication.”

Rizzotti also coached the team to outscore and outrebound opponents by 16.6 points and 16.7 rebounds in addition to limiting opponents to 60.2 points per game and 33.2 percent shooting.

On her award recognition Rizzotti also stated, “Joi Williams and Sue Semrau, my assistants, worked tirelessly to prepare for our opponents and help me keep perspective and balance throughout the tournament.”

“I liked playing for coach Rizzotti because she was always intense and into the games, and even in practice she was intense,” said USA U19 team member Breanna Stewart of Cicero-North Syracuse H.S. in North Syracuse, N.Y.

Along with USA’s Ariel Massengale of Bolingbrook H.S. in Bolingbrook, Ill., Stewart was named to the five-person All-FIBA U19 World Championship Team.

Stewart went on to say, “I think she wanted to get the best out of us in the little time that we had together, and I really enjoyed playing for her.”