Rutgers Athletics has parted ways with women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington, per an announcement that Athletic Director Keli Zinn made to the university. This decision came after the women’s basketball program came in last place in the Big Ten for the second time in three years.
Washington spent four seasons at the helm of the program. During that time, the team had a 42-84 record, including an 11-61 record in Big Ten play. During her last season at the helm, the team went 9-20 with a 1-17 record in conference play. The team had more losses by 20 or more points than they had wins last season, and had several losses by 40 or more points. Washington never had a winning season during her four seasons at Rutgers, with her best campaign coming in 2024-2025, when the team went 13-20.
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In addition to the poor on-court play, Washington’s tenure was riddled with several off-court issues with star players. Kaylene Smikle set herself apart as a freshman star during Washington’s first season at Rutgers. She helped the depleted Knights, who only had eight players on their roster, limp to a 12-20 record.
Smikle started off her sophomore campaign much in the same way she closed her freshman campaign, having five 20-point performances before the Big Ten opener at Northwestern. Smikle played five minutes in the Northwestern game and did not see the court for the rest of the season. Washington stated that her absence was due to a medical issue, but did not elaborate on what it was. Smikle never appeared on the sideline for the rest of the season and transferred two weeks after the season ended. She landed at Maryland, where she earned All- Big Ten First Team honors.
A similar situation happened last season with five-star freshman Kiyomi McMiller. McMiller proved herself a star on the court, but a handful of off-court issues saw her get a suspension right before the Knights were set to take on USC. She announced her suspension on social media. She would return later in the season with reports of a locker room altercation that drove a wedge between McMiller and the program. Her last game with the program came in a loss to Indiana. Afterwords Washington stated that McMiller was not 100 percent and would play again when she was healthy. She did not return to the court that season and entered the portal once it was over, landing at Penn State.
The decision to remove Washington as head coach of the women’s basketball program was the first major head coaching decision made by Zinn.
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“Rutgers women’s basketball has a proud and storied history of success, and there is no reason why our program cannot return to its place among the nation’s elite,” said Zinn. “We have invested in women’s basketball in many ways. We compete in the best athletic conference in the country, and we are supported by passionate fans and loyal donors. I am confident we will find the right coach who can elevate this program to where it belongs. I want to thank Coquese for her service to Rutgers and wish her the best.”
With the number of issues Washington faced during her tenure, on top of the poor on-court product, it made clear that a change was needed at the top. However, it should be acknowledged that a few difficulties she faced were not her fault. Just like every other program at Rutgers, Washington had issues relating to poor NIL support. On top of that, the reason she had a depleted roster her first season was that she was hired very late in the process due to a situation involving the retirement of C. Vivian Stringer. These issues are worth noting while doing a full career autopsy, but they were not bad enough to justify the on-court performance/ locker room issues. On top of that, other Rutgers coaches have past success that they can lean on when they have a bad season. Washington, on the other hand, does not have that at Rutgers.
Rutgers will begin the search for a new head coach immediately, according to a statement made by Zinn.
