UNCASVILLE, Conn. — “Jen Rizzotti is a free agent” was Curt Miller’s first text to the leadership of Mohegan Sun once he saw that Rizzotti had parted ways with George Washington in mid-March.
Miller, the Connecticut Sun coach and general manager, saw the news in the midst of WNBA Draft and training camp preparation. From there, he started the pursuit, calling her a “perfect fit” for the Sun organization. Connecticut landed its big target: Last week, Rizzotti was named president of the Sun. On Tuesday, she was officially introduced.
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“It’s a special day,” Miller said. “Not often do you get to bring a legend home.”
Rizzotti has switched gears from coaching and returned to the state where she emerged as a collegiate star for UConn. She helped the Huskies to a 35-0 season and the program’s first national title in 1995. After eight seasons of professional basketball, Rizzotti returned to Connecticut to lead the University of Hartford’s team for 17 seasons, becoming a three-time America East Conference Coach of the Year.
Rizzotti met her husband at UConn and has family in Connecticut. But that familiarity is as simple as her introductory jokes about knowing she’s back in Connecticut when a 35-year-old man tells her he used to watch her playing when he was growing up.
“I know I’m back home, and I’m thrilled to be here,” said Rizzotti, 46.
Back in the mid-1990s, Miller was an assistant at Syracuse and knew of Rizzotti at UConn. When he saw her play in person for the first time, he finally understood the hype surrounding the UConn star.
“You can’t always define it, but you run across people that just have an ‘it’ factor,” Miller said. “And it didn’t take long when you watched Jen play and lead that UConn team that she had that effect. She is a winner.”
Miller moved on to a head coaching job at Bowling Green. When Rizzotti was at Hartford, the two agreed to a two-game series. On Tuesday, as Miller shared the story that the two split the series, Rizzotti, with a smile, threw up her index fingers on both hands to demonstrate. And yet Miller also added that Hartford’s winning margin against Bowling Green was one more point than his team’s victory: “I know how competitive Jen is. She will tell you aggregate. She’s one point better than me.”
Rizzotti remembered the tough road trip loss to Bowling Green in 2008, sharing how her son, Holden, was sick and the weather was horrible. As she detailed the memory, she referenced how the people she has met in the business along the way helped her the past few weeks as she transitioned to her latest career move. George Washington fired her in March after a five-year tenure, and she wasn’t sure what was next. She needed a break, but the Sun opportunity developed quickly and soon became a reality as the weeks went on. As Rizzotti learned more about the Sun, the themes of culture, family and support kept popping up in conversations, and those elements proved essential to her. What the Sun offered was similar to the qualities in places where she’s had success.
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“The more I realized (about the job) the more I knew that I couldn’t pass up this opportunity,” she said. “The similarities are very clear: great people who value the right things, a commitment to excellence that isn’t talked about but shown in their everyday actions and an atmosphere that supports you and makes you feel like family.”
That support has already come into play. Before Rizzotti was named the Sun’s president, she was serving as an assistant for the women’s USA Olympic team and the USA AmeriCup team. Rizzotti let the Sun know of her dream to be an Olympic coach, so she’ll complete both commitments this summer.
Rizzotti said she spoke with her UConn coach, Geno Auriemma, the week before she made the final decision. As she made the pivot, Rizzotti said Auriemma felt as though it was a “no-brainer” and was very supportive.
As she enters the next phase of her career, Rizzotti is in a distinctive position as a former player and coach. She coached at Hartford concurrently during her time in the WNBA, and this move brings a similar ability to connect and balance dual identities.
“Basketball-wise, it’ll be a good translation for me to understand what him and his staff are going through but more importantly what it is they need to continue to be successful,” Rizzotti said of Miller. “So I feel like even though I’ve never been in a position like this, I’ve been preparing for it my whole life, and I’m ready.”
Rizzotti returns to the WNBA as the league celebrates its 25th season. She can remember the excitement when she first started playing for the Houston Comets in 1999 and the doubts about the league’s prospects for longevity.
“That talk kind of went out of the window,” Rizzotti said. “The last decade, we have witnessed the best basketball being played ever on the women’s side.”
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And she’s excited about the league’s trajectory and her role in growing the Sun franchise.
The Sun are still looking for a WNBA championship, and the next part of that journey started Sunday with the team’s first training camp session. The season starts May 16, and last week Rizzotti joined a videoconference with the team to introduce herself. After helping UConn to its first title and Hartford to its first NCAA Tournament appearance, Rizzotti is back in a position to be a trailblazer, a feeling she cherishes.
“I think there’s something special about being able to have that edge,” Rizzotti said. “Connecticut is a special place. The people here embrace great women’s basketball. With no other professional sports, this is the place to be.
“But (a championship is) the goal. They’ve gotten almost all the way there. I can’t take credit for the work that was done before I got here, but I’m certainly going to do the best that I can to help them finish the job.”
(Photo: Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)
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