Storrs, CT - University of Hartford women's basketball coach and 1996 UConn graduate Jennifer Rizzotti will be honored with The Red O'Neill Award when The UConn Clubs holds its 57th Annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday, April 20, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell.
The Red O'Neill Award is given annually to a former UConn student-athlete who has gone on to distinguish themselves in their chosen careers. It is named for Martin "Red" O'Neill, captain of the 1923 and '24 UConn football team who later went on to a prominent career in medicine.
Rizzotti excelled on both the basketball court and in the classroom during her career at UConn. She earned both National Player of the Year honors during her time as a Husky and Academic All-America accolades. Today, she is making her mark in the world of college athletics as the program's all-time winningest head women's basketball coach at the University of Hartford.
In 11 years at Hartford, Rizzotti has built the women's basketball program into an America East power and a nationally recognized program, winning four regular season championships over the past five years, four tournament championships in eight years, and making five trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Rizzotti's 2009-10 Hawks won a school record 20 consecutive games leading to a perfect 16-0 record in conference play and the programs first ever national rankings. The Hawks were as high as 19th in the country in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and 21st in the nation in the Associated Press poll. The Hawks closed out the regular season and the conference championship with a 27-4 overall record and earned the programs first ever at-large ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
The Hawks 27 wins in 2009-10 was the fourth time in the last five years the Hawks have amassed 25 or more victories. Rizzotti was honored by her peers as the America East Coach of the Year, the third time she has received the distinction, while also being named a finalist for the 2009-10 Kay Yow National Coach of the Year award.
Rizzotti's success has not gone unnoticed at the national level. During the summer of 2006, Rizzotti joined fellow Division I coaches Doug Bruno (DePaul) and Carroll Owens (Northern Illinois) to coach the USA U-18 National Team. With the USA team, Rizzotti won a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championships held at the US Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. This coming summer, Rizzotti will take over head coaching duties for the U-18 National Team as they compete in the 2010 FIBA Americas U-18 Championship June 23-27 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
While proving to be a star at the professional level, the Hawks coach truly made her mark on the basketball world during her memorable career at UConn. Rizzotti's individual accolades were numerous. The point guard was the Associated Press National Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy winner as college basketball's outstanding senior player in 1995-96. She was also a two-time Kodak All-America First Team selection, a GTE/CoSIDA Women's Basketball Academic All-American, the Big East Player of the Year, and the Big East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. During the Huskies' memorable run to the national championship in 1995, Rizzotti was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
During her collegiate career, Rizzotti averaged 11.4 points and totaled 637 assists and 349 steals. She set the UConn season and career records in both of those categories. A native of New Fairfield, Conn, Rizzotti is a 1992 graduate of New Fairfield High School, where she was part of two state championship teams. She was also selected as the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Connecticut as a senior.
