On Tuesday, the Connecticut Sun officially introduced their new President Jennifer Rizzotti to the franchise. Rizzotti played college and professional basketball in Connecticut. As a player, she led the 1995 UConn Huskies to an undefeated season and their first of now 11 titles.

Rizzotti was the first UConn player drafted into the pros. She played for the New England Blizzards in the American Basketball League and the Houston Comets and Cleveland Rockers in the WNBA. Rizzotti won two WNBA titles with the Houston Comets (1999, 2000).

Rizzotti began her coaching career at the University of Hartford (17 seasons) before George Washington (5 seasons). She first joined the USA Basketball coaching staff as a scout and court coach for the 2016 Olympic team.

Rizzotti was let go as the head coach of the George Washington women’s basketball team on March 15. Rizzotti called the move a surprise during her first press conference with the Sun. Figuring out what was next was a process.

“I knew that I was a little bit burnt out and that I needed a break,” said Rizzotti, “This opportunity came up pretty quickly, or at least the idea of it. And it became more of a reality as the weeks went on.”

Returning to the state of Connecticut was a massive draw as Rizzotti weighed her options. Both she and her husband Bill Sullivan have family in the Nutmeg State. Additionally, she expressed immense pride in what the WNBA players accomplished on and off the court in 2020. Rizzotti got emotional thinking about the opportunity to return to the league and Connecticut in a new capacity.

“They have proven that they are beautiful, fierce, competitive, and not afraid to stand for what is right, and they embrace the challenge of changing the world. That's what makes me proud to be an alum of this league and have my career come back full circle to be involved.”

Rizzotti, who will remain part of the USA Basketball coaching staff, is well respected in Connecticut and basketball. When it comes to the game, very few bring the knowledge, passion, and resume that she does to an organization.

However, being in the front office will be a change of pace for Rizzotti. There will be a learning curve, and there will be areas where she has little experience. Yet, the challenge is an easy fix until she gets up to speed. Hire people who know what you don’t.

“I'll be overseeing all of the business and basketball sides of the house. I was making sure throughout the process that they were going to be able to put a staff in place to assist me in the areas that I don't have the experience with,” Rizzotti told me during a phone interview Thursday.

To that end, Rizzotti will approach her new role much as she did, being a point guard or head coach. It’s all about empowering your team, so the individuals and the sum succeed. She will also have the momentum of a franchise restructure and a WNBA milestone on her side as she looks to bring a new approach to an already successful team.

In February, former VP of the Connecticut Sun Amber Cox was introduced as Chief Operating Officer of the Kansas City franchise. Around this time, Mohegan Sun also sold their indoor lacrosse team. All the moving parts mean as president, Rizzotti’s role as the scope is different than her predecessor’s role.

“The one exciting thing about this role for me is knowing that I can just focus on the Connecticut Sun because they did sell the lacrosse team. I think even for the staff, it’s thinking about what could be accomplished in the offseason. They never typically had one because it was always going from one team to the next,” said Rizzotti.

Despite the difficulties she may encounter, Rizzotti knows her strengths well. One of them is being a competitor. Miller, who coached a two-game series against Rizzotti while the head coach at Bowling Green, confirmed as much.

“We split. Hartford beat Bowling Green by four. Bowling Green beat Hartford by three. So I know how competitive Jen is. She will tell you aggregate she's one point better than me,” Miller said Tuesday.

In business, keeping score is not only a good thing it is necessary. Rizzotti is competitive but also likes to have fun. She hopes her ability to facilitate competition as a head coach will help her staff meet their targets. There is the internal, fun competition and the external type fueled by those who dare to doubt you. Rizzotti is mainly focused on the former but is well aware of the latter.

“Maybe there are some skeptics out there that I will be able to translate coaching to this more administrative business role. But at the end of the day, I've been in the player shoes. As a former player, I've been in Curt's shoes ... I can figure out the rest,” said Rizzotti.

For those who are keeping score, Miller is just as competitive and put the women’s basketball community on notice of where the Connecticut Sun stands with Rizzotti on their side.

“One of the topics by many of the media here today and across the nation is going to be who made the best offseason free agent move? Make no mistake. The Connecticut Sun made the best free agent move. And that is Jennifer Rizzotti.”