Yolanda Cole - Women's Basketball Coach - University of Massachusetts Athletics

Yolanda Cole

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
ycole@umass.edu

Yolanda Cole enters her third season as an assistant coach on the UMass women’s basketball staff in 2025-26. Cole joined the Minutewomen in the summer of 2023 with 16-plus years of Division I coaching experience and started her coaching career at Central Connecticut State and Kellogg Community College.

During the 2024-25 season, Cole assisted the Minutewomen to an impressive turnaround season, posting a 17-15 overall record and an 11-7 record in the A-10. The 17 games won was a 12-win increase from the 2023-24 year, with the program increasing its conference win total by nine games.

Additionally, Massachusetts earned a first-round bye in the 2025 A-10 Championship as the seventh seed, while accepting an invitation to the WNIT for the fourth time in progrma history. UMass sat No. 151 in the NCAA Women’s Basketball NET rankings; finishing the season at 43rd in the country in rebound margin, 56th in scoring defense, 64th in offensive rebounding, 73rd in opponent field goal percetnage and 75th in forced turnovers.

UMass finished the 2023-24 regular season with a win over St. Bonaventure in the finale before following with a 54-49 win over La Salle to advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship second round. Lilly Taulelei earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors after starting 22-of-31 games in her freshman season while Stefanie Kulesza earned a spot on the Cancun Challenge All-Tournament Team after posting a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double against no. 23-ranked Washington State.

"I followed Yolanda's coaching career for quite some time and have always been impressed with the impact she has made on her teams and staffs," said head coach Mike Leflar. "Everyone I spoke with talked about her strengths as a relationship builder and that is something I value. Yolanda has significant on-court experience and I look forward to working alongside her as we continue to grow UMass women's basketball."

A native of Battle Creek, Michigan, Cole arrived at Massachusetts from Hofstra in Hempstead, New York. She began her tenure with the Pride in July 2021 as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Prior to her time at Hofstra, Cole served as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart University for seven seasons where she was responsible for recruiting, scouting, community outreach and guard development. She was promoted to Associate Head Coach of the Pioneers in June of 2021.

At Sacred Heart, Cole helped the Pioneers to three Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) appearances (2016, 2017, 2019), a Northeast Conference (NEC) Regular Season Championship (2015-16), as well as advised 15 All-NEC selections and three Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association honorees. While on staff, SHU posted a .720 winning percentage in the NEC.

Cole spent two years at Delaware State University as an assistant coach, previous to Sacred Heart, guiding three guards to All-MEAC honors. In addition, she also served as the scouting coordinator, managed scheduling and was a liaison to the student-athlete academic center.

Cole had a five-year stint at Florida Atlantic University, helping the Owls move from a 13^th-place finish to a third-place finish and a WNIT appearance during her time as an assistant coach. During her tenure at FAU, she coached one Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and four All-Sun Belt Conference student-athletes.

Cole attended the University of Michigan, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and was the head manager for the women's basketball team. As an undergraduate student, she worked as a camp instructor at the girls' basketball camp and eventually served as the women's basketball assistant camp director.