Nikki McCray-Penson has returned to the coaching ranks.
The former Mississippi State women’s basketball head coach was named an assistant coach at Rutgers on Tuesday, the Scarlet Knights announced.
McCray-Penson coached just one season in Starkville before stepping down for health reasons prior to the 2021-22 campaign. She led the Bulldogs to a 10-9 campaign in 2020-21; MSU missed the NCAA tournament and turned down a WNIT bid.
But McCray-Penson’s experience and her winning ways at Old Dominion earned her another look on the staff of Rutgers head coach Coquese Washington, with whom McCray-Penson played on the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.
“Simply put, Nikki is a winner,” Washington said in a news release. “She has excelled at the highest levels of our game. Her experience as a college All-American, a WNBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, and her national championship-caliber coaching pedigree provides us with tremendous knowledge and wisdom. She is an incredible competitor, and our players will learn a ton from her as they feel her dedication to excellence on a daily basis.”
Doug Novak took over the interim job at Mississippi State after McCray-Penson stepped down, and former Louisville assistant Sam Purcell was hired to lead the Bulldogs program in March.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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