Berenato keeps her expectations high

Agnus Berenato arrived at Pitt in 2003 with a plan. She had just finished coaching Georgia… Agnus Berenato arrived at Pitt in 2003 with a plan. She had just finished coaching Georgia Tech to an NCAA Tournament berth and was hungry to take her new program to greater heights.

Berenato, 51, came at the right time. Pitt had just completed its $100 million-plus arena, the Petersen Events Center, and pledged stronger backing for its women’s basketball program. It seemed like the perfect moment to take a team that had just one winning record since 1995 to a new level of success.

For Berenato, the challenge seemed just right. She had just reached her pinnacle as Georgia Tech’s coach, and the program appeared ready to slow down again. Pitt, a program mired in mediocrity for decades, looked like an opportunity for Berenato to start fresh. She beat out former Tulsa coach Kathy McConnell-Miller, who knew coaches at Colorado, and then-Pitt assistant Alvis Rogers. What would follow was a rapid rise to success. It took legendary Connecticut coach Gino Auriemma four seasons to win 20 games. It would take Berenato just three.

‘I saw a strong administration,’ said Berenato. ‘I saw that [Pitt] had a wonderful home in the [Petersen Events Center]. Pittsburgh just seemed to be a blue-collar city that values its sports. I thought I’d really be able to go with it.’

Go with it she did.

In five seasons, Berenato has taken the Panthers from 6-20 in her first season to 24-11 and a Sweet 16 appearance in her fifth. For Berenato, the turnaround comes from the supportive atmosphere at Pitt and her steadfast belief in her winning philosophy.

‘Agnus Berenato took a program that was a bottom feeder in the Big East Conference and turned it into one that is now expected to make it into the NCAA Tournament in only a five-year span,’ wrote JoAnne Harrop, the former Pitt women’s basketball beat reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review from 2003 to 2007, in an e-mail. ‘And she has done it the right way, with top recruits, a talented assistant coaching staff, a challenging nonconference schedule and an attitude that Pitt can play with any team in the country.’

But the rapid turnaround didn’t start right away. Pitt lost five of its first games under its new coach and finished the season on a 12-game losing streak, during which the Panthers only lost by fewer than 10 points twice. Admission to the games was free, but the crowds remained thin. But for Berenato, the focus was on building the right mentality with the program, from the top to the bottom.

‘That first year was all about how you go about doing things,’ said Berenato. ‘We always talked about manners. You always write thank-you cards and introduce yourself to everyone in the room. They had to give 20 minutes of autographs after each game. We told them that they represented women athletes at Pitt. We basically had to start from the ground up.’

So Berenato started politicking, working the city for support. She spoke to men’s clubs and started promoting Pitt women’s basketball to anyone who would listen. Berenato said she even told fans to get their season-ticket packages while there were still some available.

‘We kept telling them we’re going to win national championships sooner than they thought,’ said Berenato, a native of Gloucester City, N.J.

With the new facilities and a philosophy in place, Berenato started making headway in recruiting, signing nationally known center Marcedes Walker and athletically gifted wing Shavonte Zellous for the 2004-05 season. Then Mallorie Winn, a young guard, transferred from Berenato’s old Georgia Tech squad to join Berenato and Berenato’s assistant, Jeff Williams, who coached for two years as an assistant at Georgia Tech.

In 2007, Berenato signed Taneisha Harrison, an accomplished guard from Maryland; local star Shayla Scott, who was considered one of the best forwards in the nation; and Chelsea Cole, rated the No. 50 player in the country by All-Star Girls Report, a respected high school women’s basketball recruiting Web site. It was the newest star-studded cast added to Berenato’s ever-improving rosters.

‘Coach Berenato just kept telling me they wanted to win national championships,’ said Cole, referring to Berenato’s recruiting pitch. ‘The coaching staff seemed like they wanted to win more than us.’

Suddenly it seemed like Berenato was building Pitt into a winner.

‘If you look around the country, the schools that have added money to their programs have had the most success,’ said Villanova coach Harry Perretta, who coached Villanova for the 30th year this past season. ‘They built [the Petersen Events Center], brought in Agnus and really started taking off.’

Graduated senior Karlyle Lim said Berenato and her coaching staff sold recruits on their philosophy.

‘Coach Berenato has an infectious, enthusiastic personality,’ said Lim. ‘You could look at a six-win season and be pessimistic and ask yourself, ‘Why would I come here?’ But Coach Berenato and her staff made you believe. That was all I needed.’

In her second season, Berenato began making some noise. Pitt wasn’t losing as badly to the teams that had mopped the floor with the Panthers the prior season. While Zellous redshirted, Walker made a splash as a freshman. The 6-foot-3 Philadelphian averaged 13 points and nine rebounds for a Pitt team that more than doubled its win total from 2003-04. Pitt finished 13-15 overall and 5-11 in the Big East. It would be the last losing season for the Panthers in the past three seasons.

‘Everything we planned was happening,’ said Berenato. ‘We got radio [to broadcast the games]. It was gradual but pretty fast and ahead of our schedule.’

Pitt stormed to a 22-11 finish in 2005-06 with two wins against perennial power South Florida and one against West Virginia, another solid Big East program. Many thought the Panthers were snubbed when they didn’t receive an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament that season. The team was disappointed, but it was motivated to keep working. Pitt reached the semifinals of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, a 32-team tournament featuring the best of the rest of women’s college hoops not in the NCAA Tournament.

Then the team caught fire in Berenato’s fourth season. Pitt finished 24-9 and made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed. It was the first-ever NCAA Tournament berth for Pitt women’s basketball. To top it all off, the Petersen Events Center hosted Pitt’s first and second-round games. The Panthers won their first contest, 71-61, against James Madison, but they lost a closely fought second-round game to one of the top programs in women’s basketball, Tennessee, the eventual national champion.

A year later, with a preseason ranking, Berenato and her Panthers were on the cusp. Pitt had one of its toughest schedules ever and found itself seconds away from upsetting powerhouse teams like Duke and Rutgers. When the NCAA Tournament came, Berenato’s team was ready to top its previous best.

‘She just kept saying that we aren’t looking back at last year,’ said Cole. ‘We didn’t want to settle for anything similar to last year. She wants every year to have new success.’

The Panthers, owners of the highest seed in their brief NCAA Tournament history, a No. 6 seed, staved off Wyoming in the first round, 63-58. Then they did the unthinkable: They defeated the 2005 champion Baylor, 67-59, to reach the Sweet 16.

Berenato had told her team to pack for Spokane, Wash., the site of Pitt’s regional semifinals and finals. She also told her coaching staff to bring four coaching outfits.

The confidence paid off for the first 30 minutes of Pitt’s Sweet 16 matchup with second-seeded Stanford. But Stanford pulled away and defeated Pitt, 72-53. The Cardinal lost the national championship to Tennessee the following weekend.

‘Now that we went, we have to get to the Elite 8,’ said Berenato. ‘You have to keep pushing the bar higher and higher.’

And if the past is any indication of what’s to come, she will.