Jamelle Elliott
Current position
TitleAssistant coach
TeamUConn
ConferenceBig East
Biographical details
Born (1974-05-18) May 18, 1974 (age 49)
Washington, D.C.
Playing career
1992–1996UConn
Position(s)Forward
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1998–2009UConn (assistant)
2009–2018Cincinnati
2020–presentUConn (assistant)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2018–2020UConn (assoc. AD)
Head coaching record
Overall113–162 (.411)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As player:
NCAA championship (1995)
As assistant coach:
5× NCAA championship (2000, 2002–2004, 2009)

Jamelle Renee Elliott (born May 18, 1974)[1] is an American women's basketball coach, formerly at the University of Cincinnati women's basketball team.[2][3]

Early life and high school

Elliott was introduced to basketball by her cousin Adrien Elliott, who Elliott looked up to as a youngster. Adrien went to H.D. Woodson High School in Washington DC.[2] Elliott attended summer camp one year with Adrien, and became interested in the game. She joined her junior high school basketball team, and also joined an Amateur Athletic Union team.[4] Jamelle wanted to follow her cousin to Woodson and get the best basketball experience so she enrolled at Woodson and traveled almost an hour-and-a-half drive each way to school

"I used basketball as my way to hopefully go to college, and it worked out.”

While at Woodson her basketball team won two consecutive state championships. Jamelle also had individual success, earning Scholar-Athlete honors, as well as being named to the Washington Post All-Metro Team.[5]

College

Jamelle played basketball in the summer leagues at Georgetown University. One day Geno Auriemma walked in and liked what he saw. Geno recruited Jamelle to play for him at Connecticut. Jamelle had other colleges recruiting her like Georgetown University, Syracuse University, Temple University, and George Washington University but she eventually chose UConn. Jamelle played in 135 games in her UConn career, having an overall record of 117–18 (.867) and never missing a game in her four years. In her junior season the Huskies went undefeated (35–0) and won the 1995 NCAA National Championship over the Tennessee Lady Vols, starting the decade rivalry between the two teams. She finished her UConn career with 1,387 points and is ranked No. 7 among UConn's all-time rebounding leaders (1,054).[6] Auriemma would say about her, "I've coached a lot of bright players, but Jamelle is the smartest and the toughest".[7]

After college

After graduating from UConn with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Elliott took the following year off from sports, and pursued her master's degree in Sports Management with an interest in some day becoming an athletic director of a college. She was also given an opportunity to work in UConn's business office as a graduate assistant, a great way to gain experience. After taking a year off she began to miss basketball. The next year she accepted an assistant coaching job at Connecticut.[4] She held the assistant coaching position for 12 seasons. The 2002 team was one of the memorable teams along with the 1995 team in UConn history. The 2002 team was the second UConn team to have a perfect record. Elliott put the pressure on the 2002 team to match her 1995 team, and try to be undefeated to motivate them, and it worked. Tamika Williams (a player on the 2002 team) quipped, "Jamelle used to tell us that we never really won a national championship until we went undefeated. She always used to rub that in our faces. But that night we ran to her and rubbed it in her face."[8]

Elliott was also an assistant coach on the 2009 team that went undefeated 39–0.

Cincinnati Bearcats

On May 5, 2009, she achieved her goal of becoming a head coach by taking the Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball job. She was UC women's head coach for nine seasons.[9][10]

“I’d like the opportunity to turn a program around or make it better like Coach Auriemma has done with his basketball program at UConn."

Elliott was previously a candidate for jobs at Fairfield, George Washington and Penn State.[11]

On May 18, 2009, Marisa Moseley, an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota and former Boston University player was hired to replace Elliott as assistant coach for the Huskies.[12]

In March 2018, Elliott was fired after nine seasons. Elliott was 113–162 during that time, but was coming off a 19–13 season in which the Bearcats played in the WNIT.

University of Connecticut statistics

Jamelle Elliott Statistics[13] at University of Connecticut
Name G FG FGA PCT 3FG 3FGA PCT FT FTA PCT REB AVG A TO B S MIN PTS AVG
1992–93 29 110 227 0.485 8 26 0.308 65 85 0.765 227 7.8 33 85 2 21 779 293 10.1
1993–94 33 145 288 0.503 7 34 0.206 93 130 0.715 244 7.4 66 88 5 27 980 390 11.8
1994–95 35 131 253 0.518 14 24 0.583 106 129 0.822 282 8.1 98 82 3 30 911 382 10.9
1995–96 38 116 238 0.487 21 59 0.356 69 86 0.802 301 7.9 79 71 12 34 1045 322 8.5
Totals 135 502 1006 0.499 50 143 0.35 333 430 0.774 1054 7.8 276 326 22 112 3715 1387 10.3

Huskies of Honor induction

Jamelle Elliot at Huskies of Honor induction

On December 29, 2013, the University of Connecticut inducted two women's basketball team, the National Championship winning teams of 2002–03 and 2003–04 into the Huskies of Honor. Elliot was an assistant coach for each of those two seasons.[14]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Cincinnati Bearcats (Big East) (2009–2013)
2009–10 Cincinnati 12–18 4–12 14th
2010–11 Cincinnati 9–20 2–14 15th
2011–12 Cincinnati 16–16 6–10 T-10th WNIT Second Round
2012–13 Cincinnati 12–18 4–12 13th
Cincinnati Bearcats (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2018)
2013–14 Cincinnati 13–18 5–13 8th
2014–15 Cincinnati 8–23 4–14 9th
2015–16 Cincinnati 8–22 4–14 9th
2016–17 Cincinnati 16–14 7–9 5th
2017–18 Cincinnati 19–13 10–6 4th WNIT First Round
Cincinnati: 113–162 (.411) 46–104 (.307)
Total: 113–162 (.411)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 23 Sep 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Jamelle Elliott profile". Archived from the original on 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  3. ^ "Cincinnati Announces Women's Basketball Coaching Change – University of Cincinnati". University of Cincinnati. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  4. ^ a b "UCONN Hoop Legends: JAMELLE ELLIOTT".
  5. ^ "UConn biography". Archived from the original on 2009-03-14. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  6. ^ "Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  7. ^ Auriemma, MacMullan p 273
  8. ^ Kermel p 124
  9. ^ "University Cincinnati Press Release". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  10. ^ "University of Cincinnati Official Athletics web site". Archived from the original on 2009-03-14. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  11. ^ Altavilla, John. "Cincinnati Naming UConn's Elliott Coach". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  12. ^ Altavilla, John. "Auriemma Picks Minnesota's Marisa Moseley To Replace Elliott". Archived from the original on 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  13. ^ "UConn Media Guide" (PDF). p. 143. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  14. ^ Altavilla, John (December 29, 2013). "Taurasi-Era Teams Inducted Into Huskies Of Honor". Hartford Courant. Tribune Company. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 30 Dec 2013.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball head coaches
Jamelle Elliot–championships
Categories