University of Massachusetts women's basketball head coach Tory Verdi has been hired to the same position at Pitt, it was announced Friday morning.
Verdi will take over for Lance White, who was fired March 3 after posting a 42-99 overall record and an 11-74 mark within the ACC in five seasons on Pitt's bench. White never won more than 11 games overall or three ACC games in a given season at Pitt.
Verdi has previous connections with Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke, as Verdi served as the women's basketball coach at Eastern Michigan from 2012 to 2016 while Lyke served as the university's athletic director from 2013 to 2017.
"Tory Verdi owns an outstanding track record of elevating basketball programs on and off the floor," Lyke said in a news release. "This has been evident at each of his coaching stops, both collegiate and professional, during his 28-year career. I saw this firsthand when we worked together at Eastern Michigan, where his blueprint for success completely revitalized our program. Tory continued that exceptional work at Massachusetts, transforming a losing program into Atlantic 10 champions. He is a passionate teacher of the game and personally invested in his student-athletes. We are thrilled to welcome Coach Verdi, his wife Heather and children Avery, Bradyn and Tyler to Pitt."
Verdi will be introduced at a news conference at noon Friday at the Petersen Events Center.
We got our guy 🤩
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_WBB) April 7, 2023
We’re excited to announce Tory Verdi as the 10th head coach in Pitt WBB history‼️
📰 https://t.co/Q1gEFgkRmz#H2P pic.twitter.com/fitccBP21g
Verdi has led the rise of UMass' women's basketball program in the Atlantic 10 Conference in his seven seasons on the bench in Amherst, Mass.
He guided the Minutewomen to the program's first regular-season conference championship in the 2022-'23 season, in which UMass finished with a 26-6 record and a 14-2 record in A10 play -- the second consecutive year in which UMass won a program-record 26 games. UMass lost to St. Louis in overtime in the A10 Tournament Championship Game and went on to defeat Albany in the Women's NIT before bowing out to Harvard March 20 in the second round.
In his seven seasons at UMass, Verdi has turned in a 128-86 overall record and a 57-50 record in A10 play. After three years of building the program back up, Verdi's success over the last four seasons has shown with three 20-plus-win seasons, two WNIT berths, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2022. UMass ended 26-7 overall and 11-4 in A10 play in the 2021-'22 season and defeated Dayton in the A10 Tournament Championship Game. The 12th-seeded Minutewomen lost to No. 5-seed Notre Dame in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Verdi went 72-61 in four seasons at Eastern Michigan. Included in his tenure there were two berths in the WNIT.
He will take on what is expexted to be a substantial rebuild within the Panthers' program. Nine former Pitt players have transferred since the conclusion of the season: Maliyah Johnson, Avery Strickland, Dayshanette Harris, Amber Brown, Cynthia Ezeja, Sandrine Clesca, Emy Hayford, Destiny Strother, and Taisha Exanor.
"I am beyond excited about this opportunity," stated Verdi. "From the first time I stepped on campus and in the Pete, I felt at home. It's time to awake the sleeping giant. I know that we will win and win big. Together, we will move mountains. We will put a product on the floor that our community, city of Pittsburgh and state of Pennsylvania will be proud of. We belong. Change is coming."
Set to return are to-be sophomores Marley Washenitz and Aislin Malcolm. Washenitz started 16 games last season. Additionally, Liatu King was one of the ACC's best rebounders (7.6 per game) and will enter her senior season.
This story was originally published at 10:42 p.m. on April 6, 2023.
