Speaker Profile

Jennifer Rizzotti is a Connecticut native and the current President of the Connecticut Sun in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She joined the Sun after five seasons as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at George Washington University and 17 seasons as Head Coach of the University of Hartford Women’s Basketball program, where she compiled a 316-216 (.594) record and was named America East Coach of the Year three times. Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, Rizzotti is well-known in basketball circles around the world, most notably as an assistant coach to the USA Basketball Women’s National Team, with whom she won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jen is also currently the USA Basketball 3x3 Women’s National Team head coach and added 2023 USA Basketball 3x3 Coach of the Year to her resume after leading three 3x3 teams to gold at the 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup, the 2023 3x3 Women’s Pan American Games, and the 2023 FIBA 3x3 Americup. In 2024, Rizzotti led the 2024 USA 3x3 Women’s National Team to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the team earned a bronze medal and won 2024 USA Basketball 3x3 Coach of the Year for her performance.

As a student at the University of Connecticut, Rizzotti first vaulted into the national spotlight as the starting point guard for the Huskies' first national championship team in 1995 with an undefeated 35-0 record. A former All-American and the NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player after her junior and senior seasons, in 1996 Rizzotti virtually swept the postseason awards as Big East Player of the Year, Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Associated Press Player of the Year, the Honda-Broderick Cup for Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year, the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award recipient, and the Wade Trophy winner. Rizzotti graduated as UConn's career leader in assists (637) and steals (349) and still ranks fourth and third all-time in those categories. Rizzotti played eight seasons of professional basketball following her graduation from UConn in 1996, winning two WNBA championships with the Houston Comets. Rizzotti and her husband, Bill Sullivan, have two sons, Holden and Conor.