Wisconsin lands former Missouri leader for head coach
It didn’t take the Wisconsin administration long to find a new head women’s basketball coach. The school announced Robin Pingeton to the position on Tuesday.
Pingeton led Missouri to 10 postseason appearances over the past 15 seasons before stepping down following this past year. Four of those 10 were in the NCAA Tournament for the Tigers, a place the Badgers have not seen since 2010.
She becomes the eighth head coach in program history, replacing Marisa Moseley who resigned earlier this year. Moseley was hired in 2021, going just 47-75 during her time, including a 13-17 record this past year for the 14th consecutive losing season the program has suffered.
A Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalist in 2017 and ‘18, Pingeton is one of just 14 coaches from the “Power Four” conferences with 500 career victories. In 30 years on the sidelines, she has won 585 games, played in 20 postseason tournaments and landed nine All-Americans with five conference players of the year.
“I am excited to get to Madison and get to work,” Pingeton said. “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.”
Pingeton announced her resignation in February, finishing out the season. Missouri went 14-18 overall, and were just 79-99 the past six years.
Under Pingeton, Missouri went 250-218 from 2010-25, recording five seasons with at least 20 wins during that time. She has also coached at Illinois State, winning 144 games and three straight Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles with two NCAA Tournament appearances.
“I am extremely pleased that Robin will be joining the Wisconsin Athletics family,” said McIntosh, the UW Director of Athletics. “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.”
Pingeton has work to do, as several key players within the Wisconsin program have entered the transfer portal including leading scorer and rebounder Serah Williams. Ronnie Porter, Tessa Grady and Carter McCray have also entered.
Prior to landing at Illinois State, Pingeton was an assistant at Iowa State for three years and is a former standout player at St. Ambrose where she remains the school’s career scoring leader with over 2,500 points.
