University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Women's Basketball Assistant Coach
- Phone:
- 545-1254
Two-time Olympic gold medal-winner Yolanda Griffith enters her second season as an assistant coach on Sharon Dawley's University of Massachusetts women's basketball staff in 2015-16. Griffith, a first-ballot inductee into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, brought a wealth of basketball experience with her to Amherst, including 11 years in the WNBA and five as a member of the United States Women's Basketball National Team.
Griffith made her presence felt immediately during her first year with the program as her tutelage helped senior forward Kim Pierre-Louis earn Atlantic 10 Second Team All-Conference and A-10 Most Improved Player honors in 2014-15. Griffith's guidance assisted Pierre-Louis improve from a .483 field goal percentage and 13.1 points per game in 2013-14 to a .533 conversion rate from the floor and 18.4 points on average in 2014-15. Pierre-Louis' field goal percentage and points per game ranked first and second, respectively, across the A-10 while the improved interior play helped UMass record the third-best team field goal accuracy throughout the league.
Prior to helping Pierre-Louis become the 19th member of the UMass Women's Basketball 1,000-Point Club, Griffith served as the top assistant coach at Lafayette College during the 2013-14 season. At Lafayette, Griffith mentored the Leopards' post players, including all-Patriot League honoree and 1,000-point scorer Emily Homan, and was the team's compliance liaison and schedule coordinator in addition to her duties as a coach.
"Yolanda Griffith is one of the best to ever play this game," Dawley said. "Simply put, she can play, but more importantly, she knows how to coach. She understands the game of basketball and how to teach it. She has that innate ability to connect with players and we love the positive energy she brings to the court each day."
Prior to arriving at Lafayette, Griffith was an assistant coach at Dartmouth College from 2011-13, where she worked alongside current UMass assistant and then-Big Green head coach Chris Wielgus. Griffith also has experience coaching within the WNBA as she served as an assistant on the Indiana Fever staff in 2009.
Competitively, Griffith is one of the most lauded players in WNBA history for a career than spanned 11 seasons. She was named a league all-star on eight occasions (1999-2001, 2003-07) and earned WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and MVP in 1999. Griffith also earned a spot on the WNBA All-Decade Team and was chosen as the MVP of the 2005 finals when she guided Sacramento to the WNBA Championship behind 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest over the eight-game postseason.
Griffith, also competed for the United States National Women's Basketball National Team from 1999-2004, when she earned a pair of gold medals. Griffith helped Team USA take home gold at the 2000 Olympic Games held in Sydney, Australia, before the squad repeated as champions four years later in Athens, Greece.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Griffith also traveled the globe playing basketball as she competed for Euroleague professional teams in Germany (1993-97), Italy (2000-02) and Russia (2003-06). In addition, Griffith spent seasons in the Women's Korean Basketball League (2007-08) and Women's Chinese Basketball Association (2008-09).
Griffith began her collegiate career at Palm Beach Junior College, where she earned all-America honors during the 1990-91 season. She transferred to Florida Atlantic University and earned Kodak Division II Player of the Year honors in 1992-93.
Griffith has also contributed to the game of basketball away from the court as a member of the USA Basketball Women's Developmental National Team Committee, where she serves as an athlete representative. Previously, Griffith also held an advisory role for ESPNW in which she assisted ESPN's goal to further the network's outreach to female athletes.
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| UMass Assistant Coach Yolanda Griffith's Year-By-Year Results | ||||
| Year | Program | Position | W-L | Postseason Notes |
| 2011-12 | Dartmouth | Assistant Coach | 6-22 | - |
| 2012-13 | Dartmouth | Assistant Coach | 6-22 | - |
| 2013-14 | Lafayette | Assistant Coach | 14-16 | Patriot League Tournament First Round |
| 2014-15 | Massachusetts | Assistant Coach | 12-18 | Atlantic 10 Tournament Second Round |
