Rutgers first-year women's basketball coach Coquese Washington reflects on season, career
PISCATAWAY – Coquese Washington fell in love with basketball in elementary school, then excelled in the game through high school at Flint (Michigan) Central. By the time she completed her playing days, as a star player at the University of Notre Dame, the more elementary it became that her future would no longer include the sport.
Yet here she is, the head women’s basketball coach at Rutgers University, two-thirds through her first season.
Graduating with a B.A in History, in just three years, she decided to use her fourth to enter law school. She was going to be an attorney.
But, like the 1962 award-winning Broadway musical, “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum,” the newly-formed WNBA got her attention, and in her words, “I was like, the heck with this law thing. I’m gonna go play some basketball.’’
After her rookie year as she resumed her law studies, Notre Dame head basketball coach Muffet McGraw asked if she would be an assistant coach. She accepted.“My mind set was it would be easier staying in shape and stay in a basketball mentality, as opposed to working in a law firm which is what I had done in the previous off-season. I loved it,’’ she said. “I loved being able to coach and play. But in my mind it was like temporary. I thought once I retired from playing basketball, I would go be a lawyer and life would go on.
“But along the way I just fell in love with coaching. I fell in love wearing sweats to work every day, as opposed to the power suit and heels.”
Eventually she received a Juris Doctorate. She played six years in the WNBA, during which time she became involved in the league’s development of the Players Association, became Executive Vice President of the WNBPA, led negotiations for the first collective bargaining agreement, and was involved in the league’s first free agency agreement.
And on and on, including being a member of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund Board of Directors.
Why so involved?
“I think two reasons,’’ she said. “One, I realized how much people have done so that I could have the opportunities that I enjoyed in my life. Whether it’s Title IX, civil rights. My parents worked at G.M. and were heavily involved in union and labor issues. And, I’m probably just bossy! If there’s going be some decisions being made, I want to be a part of it. That’s what my mother says to me.”
Her time assisting at Notre Dame led to her first head coaching job. In 12 seasons at Penn State, she averaged 17-18 wins a year, made four NCAA tournaments and twice reached the Sweet 16.
Washington, who turned 52 this week, eventually returned to South Bend for two seasons before landing the job here in late May.
She didn’t exactly inherit the keys to the kingdom. There were seven scholarship players on the roster, three of whom were here last season while totaling five starts in an 11-20 season.
This season, two-thirds done, Rutgers has an 8-11 record with 11 games left in the regular season. Starting Thursday night here against 14th-ranked Michigan, Rutgers will play five games against ranked teams. Although the record isn’t horrible, some of the losses were: by 40 to Tennessee, and most recently 24 at Maryland.
'Building the culture'
“We try not to put success based on wins. I think that would be unfair to these kids because of the timing of everything,’’ Washington said. “You can’t come into the season basically in June or July and expect all these things to happen. So we’ve talked from day one about building the culture and laying the foundation.
“We’re competitors,” she offered. “We get on the court and we compete. We want to get better, go out here on game day and play in a way that our fans, our alums, and our esteemed coaches C. Vivian Stringer and Theresa Grentz can be proud of.”
There have been several proud moments recently in this program. Last month Stringer was honored with the court at Jersey Mike’s Arena being named in her honor. Two weeks ago on the same floor, Grentz was honored in recognition of the 1982 AIWA national championship.
Last week the program reached its 1,000 victory, and the win at Minnesota was Washington’s 100th in the Big Ten.
Assistant coach Tasha Pointer played for Stringer and has been impressed with her new coach.
“Obviously she’s extremely smart, bright; she wouldn’t have the JD if she was not,’’ she said. “What makes her unique is that offensively she’s brilliant. She’s extremely caring and thoughtful. She is very inclusive; how she deals with people and how she makes others feel, regardless of their title or position. It’s how she wants to make sure everyone is part of Rutgers women’s basketball and part of her basketball family.
“And she’s really good with the players, because she’s able to brighten their days and find the laughter and humor in what they do and who they are as people.”
As for the shadow of the two Hall of Fame predecessors, it’s all about inspiration rather than pressure. “Oh my gosh,’’ Washington said. “It’s so inspiring. It’s like, you look at what can be. I think pretty soon we’re going to pack this place, every game, packed to the rafters.
“It’s all about relationships and the impact you can have on young people,” she added. “And yet I still say, ‘one of these days I’m gonna practice law again.’ But I don’t know.’’
Perhaps a funny thing will happen on the way to the forum.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Rutgers women's basketball coach Coquese Washington reflects on season
