Overview
- UConn announced Monday that Nykesha Sales has joined the women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach, filling the vacancy created when Jamelle Elliott left in June to start a consulting business.
- Sales will work under Geno Auriemma alongside associate head coach Chris Dailey and assistants Morgan Valley and Tonya Cardoza to help prepare the team for a challenging nonconference slate and the 2026–27 campaign.
- As a player at UConn from 1994–98 Sales helped win the 1995 national title, was a two-time All‑American, holds the program record for career steals and finished her college career as the program’s leading scorer at the time.
- Sales spent nine seasons in the WNBA with the Orlando Miracle/Connecticut Sun and then moved into college coaching, serving as an assistant under Katie Abrahamson‑Henderson at UCF (2016–22) and Georgia (2022–26).
- The hire continues UConn’s pattern of bringing former stars back into the program to preserve culture and aid recruiting, and it gives players a coach with pro playing experience and a proven track record in player development.