Agnus Berenato (born Agnus McGlade on December 9, 1956), is a former basketball coach. She was the head

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

coach at Rider from 1982 to 1985,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

from 1989 to 2003,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

from 2003 to 2013, and

Kennesaw State Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was found ...

from 2016 to 2021. She is the all-time wins leader among women's basketball head coaches at the University of Pittsburgh.

Early life and education

Berenato is the eighth of ten children born to Peter and Theresa McGlade. Raised in

Gloucester City, New Jersey Gloucester City is a city in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 11,456,Gloucester Catholic High School Gloucester Catholic High School is a co-educational six-year Roman Catholic high school located in Gloucester City, in Camden County, New Jersey. The school is managed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. The school serves students in seve ...

, where she played on three state championship teams. Berenato is the elder sister of former Georgia Tech Head Coach and

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

Commissioner Bernadette McGlade.

Coach

Rider University

From 1982 to 1985, she served as the head women's basketball coach at Rider. During her time at Rider, she also coached Rider's women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team posting a 66-51 record in four seasons. She has also been elected into the Camden County, Rider University, and Mount Saint Mary's University Sports Hall of Fames.

Georgia Tech

Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, she served as the head women's basketball coach for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

from 1989 to 2003, where she compiled a 223-209 record with appearances in the 1993 and 2003 NCAA Tournaments.

University of Pittsburgh

During her tenure at the University of Pittsburgh, the Panthers women's basketball enjoyed the most successful era in its history to date. She led Pitt to a WNIT final four in 2005 and the school's first women's NCAA tournament appearance in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. The Panthers concluded the season at 24-9, including a first round win over

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

. During the 2007 season, Berenato led the Pitt women to its first win over an opponent ranked in the top 10, first Sweet Sixteen appearance, and first final ranking in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll (#16). Success continued in 2009 as she led the Panthers to their second straight Sweet 16 appearance and broke a school record for victories. In 2010, she led Pitt to its fifth straight post-season appearance, a first round loss in the WNIT. With her 159th win at Pitt on December 20, 2012, Berenato broke the all-time record for wins among women's basketball head coaches at the university. However, following back-to-back winless seasons in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

in 2012 and 2013, the university announced on April 1, 2013 that she would not return to coach at the university. Berenato finished with a 161-149 (.519) record in 10 seasons at Pitt. While at Pitt, Berenato was a two time Dapper Dan Sportswomen of the Year, winning the honor in 2005 and 2007.

Sports Diplomacy

In 2017, Berenato traveled to

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. State Department's

Sports Diplomacy Politics and sports or sports diplomacy describes the use of sport as a means to influence diplomatic, social, and political International relations, relations. Sports diplomacy may transcend cultural differences and bring people together. The us ...

Office. During her visit, she conducted basketball clinics and programming related to youth empowerment. In so doing, Berenato helped contribute to Sports Diplomacy's mission to build understanding, awareness, and skills for youth from under-served communities.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berenato, Agnus 1956 births Living people American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from New Jersey Basketball players from New Jersey Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball coaches Gloucester Catholic High School alumni High school basketball coaches in New Jersey People from Gloucester City, New Jersey Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey 21st-century American women Kennesaw State Owls women's basketball coaches Rider Broncs women's basketball coaches