UConn assistant coach Jamelle Elliott is leaving the program “to pursue opportunities outside coaching,” the team announced on Thursday. She had spent 18 seasons as an assistant with the Huskies across two stints, with the latter coming between 2020-26.
“This was not an easy decision, but I know it is the right time for me to begin a new chapter,” Elliott said in a release. “It was a privilege and honor to wear the Husky uniform and be a part of the coaching staff. UConn will always hold a special
place in my heart, and I will always love and support our program and the university.”
“It’s going to be difficult to replace someone with that much experience who had that much invested in UConn,” Geno Auriemma said in a release. “I know that the passion she brought for the university as a whole, for the basketball program, for the players, it’s going to be difficult to replace. But I know that in the next phase of her life, she’ll bring the same passion and intensity and the same love of working with other people that she had here. We’ll miss Jamelle tremendously, but I’m grateful for all the time we spent together and all that we accomplished together.”
UConn will begin “a national search” to hire a new assistant coach soon.
A native of Washington, DC, Elliott arrived in Storrs as a freshman forward in 1992. During her playing career, she piled up 1,387 career points and 1,054 career rebounds, becoming the second player in program history to join the 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound club. Elliott graduated second on the career rebounds list and 11th on the career scoring list, though she now sits seventh and 37th, respectively.
Elliott appeared in 135 career games and, according to the team, never missed a single contest or even a practice. She helped the Huskies capture six Big East titles as well as the program’s first national championship in 1995.
Two years after her playing career ended at UConn, Elliott joined Auriemma’s staff as an assistant. She spent 11 seasons on the bench, winning six national championships along the way, before becoming the head coach at Cincinnati in 2009. She held that job until 2018.
Elliott returned to her alma mater that same year, though not in a coaching role. Instead, she came in as the Associate Athletic Director for the National C Club, the school’s student-athlete alumni organization.
But when former UConn assistant coach Jasmine Lister left the team in the middle of the 2019-20 campaign, Elliott filled in as an interim on staff for the remainder of the year. She was named a permanent assistant later that offseason.
“Jamelle spent more than 30 years in and around our program as a player and a coach and she was an important piece of seven championships here at UConn,” Auriemma said. “She has impacted generations of Connecticut basketball players, whether it was in her playing career as a captain and a leader, or in her coaching tenure as a recruiter, teacher and mentor. The impact that Jamelle had here at UConn as a student-athlete, as an administrator, as a basketball coach, very few can match. I’m really proud of her accomplishments here.”
Elliott graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management and then added a master’s degree in sport management. In 2024, the UConn Business School inducted her into its Hall of Fame. In total, she spent 22 seasons with the Huskies as both a player and coach, becoming part of seven national championship teams in total.
“I want to thank Coach Auriemma for seeing something in a young girl from the inner city of D.C. enough to be a part of this program,” Elliott said. “In the over 30 years since, he has had such a profound impact on my life as a coach, mentor and friend. Having the opportunity to impact so many young women and help provide the same meaningful experience I had as a student-athlete has been the greatest part of this journey.”
UConn will now hire a new full-time assistant for the first time since 2021, when Morgan Valley replaced Shea Ralph. The rest of the Huskies’ coaching staff still includes associate head coach Chris Dailey and non-recruiting assistant Tonya Cardoza.
