Rutgers Athletic Director to Begin Her First Major Coaching Search
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A blowout loss at Nebraska was the final strike
The 2025-26 season has not been kind to Rutgers basketball fans. While the men’s team has scratched and clawed to grab five victories in Big Ten conference play, the women’s team hasn’t been nearly as successful. After Rutgers was dominated in Lincoln by the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 93-52, head coach Coquese Washington was asked about her job security and replied that she felt confident she would be back next season.
Athletic Director Keli Zinn had other ideas, announcing today that coach Washington has been dismissed. It should be no surprise that Washington was fired, even for Rutges fans used to administrations that have tolerated prolonged mediocrity in the past, rather than pay a coach’s early buyout. Even among loyal Rutgers fans, the feeling was that coach Washington would be given another year to see what she could do with improved NIL resources.
In a season in which the team went 9-20 overall and a startling 1-17 in conference, including losing their final eleven games, even the most forgiving Scarlet Knights fans had little reason why it made sense to keep Washington for another year. The Scarlet Knights suffered 14 double-digit losses this season, and an average margin of defeat of 23 points per game in Big Ten conference play.
After four years on the Banks, Washington finishes with a woeful 42-84 record, including 11-61 in Big Ten play. A program of pride and consistency in the past is now the bottom feeder of the Big Ten conference. AD Zinn alluded to as much in her statement to the media.
“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.”
A Promising Start in 2022
Hired in May of 2022 after Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer announced her official retirement, Washington led Rutgers to a 12-20 record in her first year with only eight players on the roster. Luck was on the team’s side as they managed to stay healthy, winning five conference games and advancing past the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Unable to gel with star power
During the 2023-24 season, Washington’s team regressed, going 8-24, including a 2-16 in conference. Of note. Of note, star player Kaylene Smikle fell out of favor with her head coach. Smikle immediately showed promise in her freshman campaign, logging five 20-point games before the first Big Ten game was even played.
Smikle continued her success in her sophomore season, leaving the program midway through the 2023-24 season following a reported health issue and subsequently transferring to Maryland, where she earned All-Big Ten First Team honors.
kaylene smikle is a bucket 🏀🪣
— terpqt (@terpqt) September 21, 2024
she dropped 29 (‼️) points against maryland her freshman year at rutgers...and now she's a terp herself 🤭
so excited to watch kaylene hoop in a maryland jersey this season 🐢 pic.twitter.com/1k1u53Tv5X
The following season, 5-star freshman phenom Kiymomi McMiller starred on the court, but her off-court issues sealed her fate at Rutgers. Following a January 2025 incident, she was briefly suspended by head coach Coquese Washington for an altercation in the locker room. McMiller would return but missed the final 10 games of the season and did not appear on the bench, with the team citing that she was not at full health.
Like Smikle, McMiller transferred to another Big Ten program - Penn State - where she put together an impressive stat line of 21 points per game, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Having issues with one player happens; having them with two in back-to-back seasons, in which the player transfers to a rival school and dominates, is certainly not good optics for coach Washington.
A chance for AD Zinn to put her stamp on the program
Washington’s buyout is $1.675 million, which, in 2026, is a relatively small amount to eat for a Big Ten program. With Zinn, the former Executive Deputy AD at LSU, having the support of current Rutgers and former LSU President William Tate, a national search now begins. It will be interesting to see if she reaches out to current LSU coach Kim Mulkey. who owns a 142-22 career record in Baton Rouge.
John Catapano graduated from Rutgers in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, covering the women’s field hockey and soccer teams for the campus paper, The Daily Targum. After college, he moved to Los Angeles, got a job at Walt Disney Television, and has worked in media ever since. John currently works with the Wasserman Media Group in their Brooklyn, NY office, collaborating with brands, influencers, and athletes across the globe. When the pandemic struck in 2020 and Catapano began working remotely, he resumed writing by contributing to a Rutgers fan blog. He covered various sports, highlighted human interest stories, and focused on topics that Scarlet Nation wanted to discuss. It’s never easy being a Rutgers fan, but with over 500,000 alumni living worldwide and a passionate fanbase, covering the Scarlet Knights is always engaging.