Wisconsin women's basketball hires Robin Pingeton as head coach

Robin Pingeton has been hired as the next head coach for the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball program.

Photo Credit: Aaron Frey-AMF Photos

The University of Wisconsin is taking another swing at reviving its women’s basketball program, and this time, it’s turning to a veteran coach from the SEC.

Robin Pingeton, who stepped down from Missouri at the end of the 2024–25 season after going 14-18, has officially been hired as the new head coach in Madison.

The move was announced by Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh as the Badgers try to claw their way back to respectability after more than a decade of irrelevance in the Big Ten conference.

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Let’s call this what it is: a major project.

Pingeton takes over a program that’s gone a combined 144–274 over the past 14 seasons under Bobbie Kelsey, Jonathan Tsipis, and most recently, Marisa Moseley prior to her "resignation” as head coach.

Forget making noise nationally—Wisconsin hasn’t even been competitive in its own conference. That’s the reality Pingeton is walking into. But if you’re looking for experience, this hire checks that box.

Pingeton brings with her 30 years of head coaching experience and 585 career wins, including a 15-year run at Missouri, where she led the Tigers to 10 postseason appearances and four NCAA Tournaments. She was named a Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalist in 2017 and 2018 and is one of just 14 active coaches at a Power 4 program with 500+ career wins.

“I am extremely pleased that Robin will be joining the Wisconsin Athletics family,” McIntosh said. “She has accomplished so much as a coach and has produced winners both on the court and in the classroom. Robin has Midwest roots and coaching experience and she and her family will fit right into our local community as well as our state. I am thrilled to welcome Robin, her husband, Rich, and their two sons to Wisconsin."

Pingeton’s record at Missouri—250–218 overall, including just 25–37 over the last two seasons—doesn’t jump off the page. The Tigers finished just 3–13 in SEC play this past season and haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2019.

Still, she brings experience and a track record of building respectable programs. Her Missouri teams logged five 20-win seasons, 30 wins over ranked opponents, and produced multiple WNBA players.

“I am excited to get to Madison and get to work,” Pingeton said in a statement. “Relationships are very important to me. I appreciate the time I spent with Chris McIntosh and Marcus Sedberry and I can tell my value system aligns with the people at Wisconsin. I learned a lot in almost 15 years in the Southeastern Conference and I am ready to apply that in Madison while also evolving with the changing landscape in college athletics. There is a rich tradition of athletics success at Wisconsin, and I can't wait to get started."

Her coaching career includes successful stints at Illinois State (144–81) and St. Ambrose (190–76), where she began her head coaching career and remains the program’s all-time leading scorer.

At Illinois State, she led the lady Redbirds to three regular-season Missouri Valley Conference league titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

So, how did Wisconsin land here?

The school worked with Turnkey, an executive search firm it’s partnered with before on major hires. Jocelyn Gates, who led this search for TurnKey and also happens to be the wife of Missouri men’s basketball coach Dennis Gates, helped Mizzou land a proven winner in Kellie Harper from Tennessee just last week.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin ended up with the head basketball coach Missouri was ready to move on from. Fans have every right to be frustrated with this hire.

The athletic department heads will try to sell this hire as being about experience—about finding someone who knows what it takes to win in a high-major conference and can bring professionalism and structure to a program that’s been spinning its wheels. Now it's on them to prove that's enough to move forward.

There’s no illusion this will be easy. The roster needs upgrading. The culture needs reshaping. The brand needs rebuilding. But if Wisconsin wanted a women’s basketball coach with a track record of program-building, player development, and competency—Pingeton fits the profile.

Now, the rebuild begins.

Wisconsin hasn’t sniffed the NCAA Tournament since 2010. The job isn’t just about finding a few more wins on the schedule—it’s about establishing a new standard. And that will take time.

But in Pingeton, the Badgers are betting on experience over flash. A long-game play in a sport that demands both patience and signs of tangible progress.

That said, after everything that came out at the end of the Moseley era, you’d think the University of Wisconsin would want to make a move it could actually sell to the fan base—something bold, something that signals a new chapter. Instead, this uninspired hire raises a much bigger question: what exactly is the vision here?

This feels less like a vote of confidence in Pingeton’s ability to win games and more like a reflection of Wisconsin’s unwillingness to truly invest in a non-revenue sport—hiring someone willing to take the job without major financial backing and, hopefully, steady the ship.

What’s frustrating is how Wisconsin’s athletic department continues to miss the mark on the potential of women’s basketball. Nobody’s asking them to break the bank—but even a modest investment could go a long way. Put something into it, and maybe, just maybe, you start to build real momentum. Either way, Pingeton has a ton of work to do with the Badgers.

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