Coquese Washington facts for kids
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Washington in 2024
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| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | ||||||||||||||
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| Head Coach | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
| Born | January 17, 1971 Flint, Michigan, U.S. |
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| High school | Flint Central (Flint, Michigan) | |||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | |||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 138 lb (63 kg) | |||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||
| College | Notre Dame (1989–1993) | |||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1997–2003 | |||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1999–present | |||||||||||||
| League | Big Ten | |||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||
| As player: | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Portland Power | |||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | New York Liberty | |||||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | Houston Comets | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Indiana Fever | |||||||||||||
| As coach: | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2007 | Notre Dame (assistant) | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2019 | Penn State | |||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Oklahoma (associate head coach) | |||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Notre Dame (associate head coach) | |||||||||||||
| 2022–Present | Rutgers | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
As player:
As coach:
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Medals
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Coquese Makebra Washington (born January 17, 1971) is a famous basketball coach and former player. She is currently the head coach for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's team. Coquese also has a special law degree called a Juris Doctor, and she was the very first president of the WNBA Players Association from 1999 to 2001. She played basketball in high school at Flint Central High School and in college at the University of Notre Dame.
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Coquese Washington's Early Life and High School Basketball
Coquese Washington grew up in Flint, Michigan. She went to Flint Central High School. She was the starting point guard for her basketball team for all four years. This was a big deal because she was the first player at Central to start every year.
Coquese was an amazing player. She earned "all-state" honors two years in a row. In her final year, she scored 373 points, setting a new school record for a single season. Her total career points reached an impressive 1,123! She also led her team to their first-ever conference and district championships. Besides basketball, Coquese was also talented in music. She could play seven different musical instruments!
College Years at Notre Dame
After high school, Coquese played basketball for the Notre Dame's Fighting Irish women's team. She played there from 1989 to 1993.
Later, she went to Notre Dame Law School from 1994 to 1997. There, she earned her J.D. degree, which means she studied law and became a lawyer.
Playing Professional Basketball
After college, Coquese started her professional basketball career. In 1997–98, she joined the American Basketball League 1996-98 (ABL). She was the starting point guard for the Portland Power.
Playing in the WNBA
Coquese also played in the WNBA. Here's a look at her time with different teams:
- In 1998–99, she played for the New York Liberty.
- From 2000 to 2001, she played for the Houston Comets. In 2001, she started all 32 games as a point guard. She averaged 5.3 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game. She even had a fantastic game with ten points, nine rebounds, and six assists!
- In 2003, she played for the Indiana Fever. She started 10 games and averaged 3.2 points and 2.4 assists per game.
Coaching Career Highlights
Coquese Washington started her coaching journey in 1999. She went back to her old college, the University of Notre Dame, to be an assistant coach.
Notre Dame Assistant Coach
As an assistant coach at Notre Dame, Coquese helped the team win the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship in 2001. They beat Purdue in the final game. In 2005, she was promoted to Associate Head Coach. This meant she helped find and recruit new talented young players for the team.
Head Coach at Penn State
On April 23, 2007, Coquese became the head coach for the Penn State women's basketball team. She was the fifth coach in their history.
Coquese helped Penn State's team get better every year. In her first six years, they won more Big Ten games each season. She led them to three straight Big Ten regular season championships from 2012 to 2014. Her teams also made it to the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship three times in a row, advancing past the first round each time. Her best season was 2011–2012, when her team reached the "Sweet Sixteen" before losing to the strong UConn team.
After 12 seasons, Coquese left Penn State on March 8, 2019.
Oklahoma and Return to Notre Dame
After Penn State, Coquese became the associate head coach for the Oklahoma women's basketball team in 2019. Then, from 2020 to 2022, she returned to Notre Dame as an associate head coach.
Rutgers Head Coach
On May 23, 2022, Coquese Washington was announced as the new head coach for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's basketball program.
Awards and Honors
Coquese Washington has received many awards for her great work as a coach:
- 2010–11 and 2012–13: Black Coaches & Administrators Female Coach of the Year
- 2011–12, 2012–13, and 2013–14: Big Ten Coach of the Year
- She was also a finalist for the WBCA National Coach of the Year multiple times.
Personal Life
Coquese Washington lives in Somerset, New Jersey. She is married to Raynell Brown. They have a son named Quenton Kassius Winston Brown (born in 2005) and a daughter named Rhaiyna Kamille Brown (born in 2009). Her mother is Velma Washington. She has two sisters, Stephanie and India, and two brothers, Ameer and Kenyatta.
