Rutgers women’s basketball adds new additions to coaching staff for upcoming season
Earlier this month, head coach Coquese Washington announced the additions of two new assistant coaches to the Rutgers women's basketball coaching staff. Nneka Enemkpali and Jeanine Wasielewski will join the Scarlet Knights for the 2023-2024 season.
Enemkpali, who will also serve as the director of recruiting for Rutgers, most recently served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for USC. Enemkpali helped develop talented players and led the Trojans to land the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class.
Before her time at USC, Enemkpali spent the 2020-2021 season as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the previous two seasons in that same role at UC Santa Barbara. Enemkpali also served as video coordinator at Gonzaga prior to joining the Gauchos. In both years, the Bulldogs won the West Coast Conference titles.
"I am excited to be joining the rich tradition and legacy that is Rutgers women's basketball," Enemkpali said of her hiring. "Coquese has a clear vision for the direction in which she wants to grow this program. I look forward to working alongside her and the incredible staff to support this program and our student-athletes."
Wasielewski, who will serve as director of player enhancement, joins the Knights with more than 14 years of college basketball experience. Before joining Rutgers, Wasielewski was the head coach at Southwestern Michigan College and led the Roadrunners to an 18-9 record last season.
From 2019 to 2021, Wasielewski served as the lead assistant coach at Saint Francis, where she scouted opponents, recruited players and worked primarily with the guards. Wasielewski also worked with Washington from 2017 to 2019, as she was a member of her coaching staff at Penn State. In her time with the Nittany Lions, Wasielewski assisted with the team's offense, opponent scouting and on-campus recruiting.
Before her time at Penn State, Wasielewski was the lead assistant coach at Loyola University Chicago. She coordinated the team's offense, led the player development efforts for the guards and wings, played a key role in signing top recruiting classes and helped her players succeed in the classroom. In her first collegiate year of coaching, Wasielewski helped bring MSU Denver to a 21-10 record and an NCAA DII Tournament appearance.
"It is an honor to join the Rutgers family and a University that values high academics and the development of student-athletes," Wasielewski said after she was hired. "I am inspired by the vision Coquese has put into action and embrace the challenge of joining a highly experienced and exceptional coaching staff that is rapidly building Rutgers women's basketball back to its championship tradition."
Enemkpali and Wasielewski bring a great deal of experience and will help primarily with player recruitment and enhancement. In this busy off-season, Rutgers has already added four-star freshman guard Mya Petticord and sophomore guard Destiny Adams via the transfer portal. The Knights have also signed incoming freshmen guard Jillian Huerter and four-star guard Lisa Thompson for the upcoming season.
With the additions of Enemkpali and Wasielewski, Washington has taken a step in the right direction to bring success to Rutgers next season. Washington must continue actively recruiting and splashing in the transfer portal to make the NCAA Tournament next season.
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