UConn women’s basketball name former player, Hartford coach Morgan Valley assistant coach
It didn’t take long for UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma to find Shea Ralph’s replacement. Just over a week after the assistant coach left to become the head coach at Vanderbilt, the Huskies announced that former player Morgan Valley will be taking over Ralph’s role.
Valley won three national titles as a Husky and has spent the last 16 years coaching, including the last two seasons as head coach at the University of Hartford.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have Morgan come on board,” Auriemma said in a statement. “We wanted to get someone in here who had varied experiences, and certainly Morgan, since her playing days at UConn, has had an impact at numerous schools around the country. We thought it’d be the perfect situation for us. Morgan is familiar with who we are, what we stand for and what our goals are. I think they’re perfectly aligned with Morgan’s values and goals, and we’re just excited to have her back with our program.”
“Words cannot express how honored and excited I am to come back home and represent the University of Connecticut,” Valley added. “I am so grateful to Coach Auriemma for this amazing opportunity. This is a dream come true and I can’t wait to get started.”
“I was not planning on leaving Hartford until I received the call from UConn,” Valley said in a statement from Hartford. “I will forever be grateful to the University of Hartford, which will always have a special place in my heart. While I know Hartford will build upon the recent success of the men’s basketball team, which just had its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, I am beyond grateful that the opportunity to return to UConn presented itself.”
Prior to returning to Connecticut, Valley had coaching stints at Holy Cross (2005-07), New Hampshire (2007-08), Towson (2008-10), UMass (2010-14), Virginia Tech (2014-15), Washington (2015-17) and Arizona (2017-19). As an assistant with Washington, Valley helped guide the program and current WNBA star Kelsey Plum to the team’s first-ever Final Four appearance in 2016. Valley was aboard in Tucson when the Wildcats won the 2019 WNIT championship.
Valley, a 2004 grad of UConn, was a part of the program’s 2002, 2003 and 2004 championship teams and served as a student assistant from 2004-05.
Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com