Former Missouri coach Robin Pingeton hired to lead Wisconsin women’s basketball program
MADISON – When it came time to hire a new women’s basketball coach, Wisconsin director of athletics Chris McIntosh went with experience.
Robin Pingeton, who spent the past 15 seasons as the head coach at Missouri, is the ninth coach in program history. She takes over for Marisa Moseley, who resigned earlier this month after four seasons.
Pingeton had a 250-218 (.534) record at Missouri. Her teams made 10 postseason tournaments, including four NCAA appearances. Three of her players at Missouri were WNBA draft picks: Christine Flores (2012), Bri Kulas (2014) and Sophie Cunningham (2019). Twice, in 2017 and ’18, she was a Naismith coach of the year semifinalist.
She also served as a head coach at Illinois State for seven seasons and St. Ambrose for eight. In 30 years as a head coach she has a 585-375 (.609) record with 20 postseason appearances.
“I am extremely pleased that Robin will be joining the Wisconsin Athletics family,” McIntosh said in a press release. “She has accomplished so much as a coach and has produced winners both on the court and in the classroom. Robin has Midwest roots and coaching experience and she and her family will fit right into our local community as well as our state. I am thrilled to welcome Robin, her husband, Rich, and their two sons to Wisconsin.”
Pingeton led Missouri to four straight NCAA tournament appearances (2016-19). The program, however, went each of the past six seasons with a losing record in SEC play and in 15 seasons she posted a 95-148 mark (.391) in conference games. In February, Pingeton announced her resignation effective the end of the season, saying that it was time for a new voice to lead the program.
She takes over a Badgers program that went 13-17 overall and finished 14th in the Big Ten with a 4-14 record. Wisconsin hasn’t had a winning season since 2009-10. Its last winning season in Big Ten play was 2010-11.
Pingeton will have a lot of work to do with the roster. Since Moseley’s departure, two-time all-Big Ten forward Serah Williams announced her intention to transfer. She has been followed into the transfer portal by junior guard Ronnie Porter, sophomore forward Carter McCray, sophomore guard D’Yanis Jimenez, sophomore forward Tessa Grady and freshman forward Gracie Grzesk, who recently announced her commitment to UW-Green Bay.
“I am excited to get to Madison and get to work,” Pingeton said in the press release. “Relationships are very important to me. I appreciate the time I spent with Chris McIntosh and Marcus Sedberry and I can tell my value system aligns with the people at Wisconsin. I learned a lot in almost 15 years in the Southeastern Conference and I am ready to apply that in Madison while also evolving with the changing landscape in college athletics. There is a rich tradition of athletics success at Wisconsin and I can’t wait to get started!”
