Tammi Reiss is about to lose her primary lieutenant off the University of Rhode Island women’s basketball staff.
Adeniyi Amadou has been named the next women’s basketball head coach at New Mexico State, a move that will end his time with the Rams after seven years.
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Amadou will stay with URI through its upcoming NCAA Tournament run and then depart for the Aggies. He leaves Kingston with a total of three Atlantic 10 championship rings – a pair from the regular season and the tournament title the Rams clinched Sunday, March 8, thanks to a 53-51 win over George Mason.
“The success we have achieved is directly associated with his passion for the game, strategic knowledge, dedication to our student athletes, recruiting and relationship abilities, player development and above all work ethic,” Reiss said in a statement. “There are not enough superlatives or adjectives to describe the incredible man he is.”
Amadou and Reiss were assistant coaches on the same Syracuse staff before she was hired away to lead URI ahead of the 2019-20 season. Reiss quickly secured a commitment from Amadou to leave the Orange with her and help the Rams rebuild what had been a largely dormant program in recent seasons. Reiss collected her third conference Coach of the Year honor in 2025-26, an award she’s said belongs to her entire bench staff.
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“He has built this Rhode Island program from Day One with me,” Reiss said. “He is not only my associate head coach, but also my family.”
Amadou was primarily responsible for the school’s overseas recruiting success as a Paris native. URI secured commitments from France internationals such as Emmanuelle Tahane, Marie-Paule Foppossi, Mayé Touré, Hawa Komara, Anaelle Dutat, Ines Debroise and Palmire Mbu. Amadou also helped develop post options such as Albina Syla, who was named the Most Outstanding Player at this year’s conference tournament.
“Adeniyi is a tremendous teacher of the game and is widely regarded as the best recruiter in college basketball,” New Mexico State athletic director Joe Fields said in a statement. “He truly cares about developing student-athletes both on and off the court.”
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Amadou is the second associate head coach to be hired away from Reiss for the chance to lead a program of his or her own. Rams alum Megan Shoniker was named head coach at New Hampshire ahead of the 2024-25 season and just wrapped up her second season with the Wildcats. Ali Jaques remains on staff as an associate head coach, Jen Fay continues as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, and Cory Macchioni is an experienced chief of staff.
“I have a hard time seeing what a sideline looks like without seeing him to my left,” Reiss said. “I can’t thank him enough for the impact he has had on our program, community, university and me.”
URI carries a 28-4 record into the March Madness field, which will be unveiled during a Sunday night selection show. The Rams will host a watch party at their on-campus practice facility and learn their first opponent in the 68-team bracket. As a conference tournament champion, URI is guaranteed to avoid the First Four and held a projected No. 11 seed as of late Tuesday night, according to ESPN’s Bracket watch.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island women’s basketball’s Amadou heading to New Mexico State
