Rizzotti introduced as Sun president
UNCASVILLE — Connecticut Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller immediately reached for his phone and texted some friends and family last month upon learning that Jen Rizzotti was out of a job.
After the initial shock wore off, he texted leadership at Mohegan Sun.
“Jen Rizzotti is a free agent,” Miller wrote. “Not long after that, I got hit back from leadership at Mohegan and they said, ‘What?’
“I understood that I was in the mindset that it was free agency time and we were trying to put together our training camp, but I knew that Jen was now available, and I thought she was the perfect fit. I wasn’t sure where.”
Make no mistake, Miller was able to find just the spot for Rizzotti, who was formally introduced Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena as president of the WNBA’s Sun.
“It’s a special day,” said Miller, calling the former UConn star the best free agent move of the offseason. “Not often do you get to bring a legend home. We’re so excited about the announcement of Jen as our team president.”
The 46-year-old New Fairfield native, who as point guard led the Huskies to their first national championship in 1995, said the opportunity to return to Connecticut was too good to pass up.
Rizzotti was fired in March as George Washington’s coach after one NCAA Tournament trip in five years at the school. Prior to that, she spent 17 seasons at Hartford, where she won five America East titles and made six NCAA Tournament appearances. She is also an assistant coach with the U.S. National Team.
“Where I’ve had the greatest success in my career has had very distinct characteristics from my time at UConn as a player, to my
time at the University of Hartford, and all my years with USA Basketball,” Rizzotti 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’s the feeling that I got in the weeks learning about this job.”
As team president, Rizzotti takes over a role previously held by Amber Cox, the former vice president for Mohegan Sun Sports. She will be responsible for business and marketing operations. Cox left in February to become chief operating officer of Kansas City’s National Women’s Soccer League team.
Rizzotti, who admitted to being burnt out with coaching, sees this as a natural transition both on and off the court.
“Leadership is leadership,” she said. “I’ve been managing my whole life. Since I was 25 and took over at Hartford, I had to manage a staff and I had to manage a budget and I had to navigate my way through administration. I feel like even though I’ve never been in a position like this, I’ve been preparing for it my whole life. I’m ready.
“One of the things I’ve learned in my career is that you surround yourself with really good people who make you look good and that work tirelessly to help you be successful. I plan to do that here.”
Rizzotti and Miller are no strangers, having coached against each other while Rizzotti was at Hartford and Miller at Bowling Green more than a decade ago. The schools split the two meetings, though Rizzotti still jokes that she has the upper hand on Miller.
“She will tell you aggregate, she’s one point better than me,” Miller said, smiling.
Rizzotti joins a team that reached the WNBA finals in 2019 and made the semifinals last season. Connecticut returns most of its core, including DeWanna Bonner, Jonquel Jones, and Jasmine Thomas. Alyssa Thomas, re-signed in February, is expected to miss the season after tearing her Achilles. The Sun tip off the season May 14 at Atlanta, with the home opener May 16 against Phoenix.
She still plans to coach at both the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico and the Olympics in Tokyo this summer.
“I’m fine being all business and getting the job done, but I want to have fun doing it,” Rizzotti said. “I want to enjoy the people around me and make sure that we’re competing together to be the best that we can be and that we have a bunch of people in our organization that are all-in to the end goal. I felt that theme being pretty consistently permeated through the entire (interview) process, that this was a place that was going to embrace me, welcome me home, value my skill set, work with me on the things I needed to be worked on with. …
“I’m excited for the opportunity, I’m flattered, I’m humbled to be honest with you, that I would even be considered. It makes me even more determined to make sure I do a great job.”
Among the people she reached out to when she was contemplating the position was UConn coach Geno Auriemma. Rizzotti was national player of the year as a Husky in 1996 and was drafted in 48th overall by the Houston Comets in 1999, with whom she won two WNBA titles.
“He felt like it was a no-brainer,” Rizzotti said. “He thought it was a wonderful opportunity. He was excited that I was in a position to be able to take advantage of something like this. Fortunately, he was very supportive of the process that I went through and how I got to the decision.”
As the WNBA gets set to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Rizzotti is excited about the trajectory of the league. TV viewership continues to rise and there’s been talk of expansion.
Players have become more visible, using their platforms on social media to fight inequality and enact change. Last summer, for instance, they joined together in the Florida bubble to protest police brutality.
“People are starting to finally realize that investing in women is the smart thing to do,” Rizzotti said, adding: “They have proven that they are beautiful, fierce, competitive, and not afraid to stand for what is right. They embrace the challenge of changing the world. That’s what makes me proud to be an alum of this league and have my career come back full circle to be involved once again.”