Penn State hires former player Tanisha Wright as women’s basketball coach
Penn State officially has a new women’s basketball coach.
Chicago Sky assistant coach and former Lady Lions player Tanisha Wright has been hired as the program’s next head coach, the program confirmed Wednesday afternoon in a news release. The announcement came on the heels of at least two outlets reporting the hire earlier Wednesday, first by The Inside Zone’s Matt Fortuna and soon thereafter by the Centre Daily Times.
Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft said Wright’s leadership, experience and PSU connections will help return the program to the national stage.
“Penn State women’s basketball has a proud history, a strong tradition and a standard of excellence,” Kraft said in a written statement. “Tanisha Wright embodies everything this program stands for. She is one of the greatest to ever wear a Lady Lion uniform, and she went on to spend 19 years competing and coaching at the highest level of women’s professional basketball, including winning a championship as a player.
“She knows what winning looks like, she knows what it demands and she understands what our fans and this university expect on the court, in the classroom and in the community.”
Wright, who has been with the Sky since 2025, played for Penn State from 2001-2005. She made the NCAA tournament in all four years with the team, including advancing to the Sweet Sixteen three times, with one of those runs going to the Elite Eight.
She still has fond memories of Happy Valley.
“Penn State will always be home to me, and it is an incredible honor to return to this program as head coach,” Wright said in the news release. “This University shaped me as a student athlete, and I understand the pride, tradition and expectations that come with wearing the Lady Lion uniform.”
She finished her career averaging 14.9 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and 3.6 assists per game and, as a senior, she averaged 19.3 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game and 3.6 assists per game.
In her time as a Lady Lion, she won Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year three times, made first team All-Big Ten three times and was an All-American as a senior. She then went on to play 15 years in the WNBA from 2005-2019 after going 12th overall in the first round of the 2025 WNBA Draft to the Seattle Storm.
She won a WNBA championship in 2010 with the Storm.
Wright began her coaching career while she was still playing, taking on a college assistant coach role at Charlotte, which she held from 2017-2021. She got her first WNBA coaching job in 2020 when she became an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces, before getting the head coaching job with the Atlanta Dream, where she compiled a 48-68 record and two playoff appearances between 2022 and 2024.
She’s known as a defensive coach and has the WNBA accolades to back that up as a five-time WNBA first-team all-defense selection.
Wright replaces Carolyn Kieger, who was terminated earlier this month after seven seasons. Kieger finished her tenure with a record of 84-123 overall and a 30-97 record in Big Ten play. She failed to make the NCAA tournament during that time.
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 1:14 PM.
