Ralph to leave for UConn

Shea Ralph, who served as an assistant coach for the Pitt women’s basketball team for five… Shea Ralph, who served as an assistant coach for the Pitt women’s basketball team for five years, has decided to leave Pitt to join the University of Connecticut, her alma mater.

Pitt coach Agnus Berenato said that while she’s sorry to see Ralph go, she understands the decision that was made.

“Shea was a great hire for our program five years ago,” said Berenato. “But Connecticut is where she comes from. I think it left a little bit of a tattoo on her heart.”

Ralph joined the Pitt staff in the fall of 2003, the first year Berenato served as the team’s head coach. She helped lead a turnaround in the Pitt program, which included Pitt’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, its first-ever trip to the Sweet 16 and its best record in school history, among others.

Berenato said that she is confident Ralph wouldn’t have left Pitt for any other place but Connecticut, where Ralph captained the national championship team in 2000 and still ranks as one of the most prolific players in the school’s history.

“That’s the No. 1 program in the country,” said Berenato of Connecticut.

“And it’s a compliment that [Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma] called us. He could have called anyone in the country, and he called the University of Pittsburgh.”

After leaving Connecticut as a player, Ralph was drafted by the WNBA’s Utah Starzz before injuring her knee and going into coaching.

She replaces Tonya Cardoza, who was recently named head coach at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Berenato said she has a few ideas on people to replace Ralph on her staff.

“I have a very short list,” said Berenato. “It’ll be done quickly and swiftly. And it’ll be someone that fits right in.