Hoop Dreams

How the URI Women’s Basketball coach created a championship culture

By Ken Abrams

University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball head coach Tammi Reiss is her team’s biggest booster. Hired in 2019, Reiss turned the team from a struggling program into a league leader in just a couple of years. After a 22-win season in 2021-2022, her Lady Rams were undefeated in conference play this year, and at press time, on track for a postseason appearance.

Her passion for the sport is evident. Reiss, a former WNBA player (drafted fifth overall by the Utah Starzz in 1997) and All-American at the University of Virginia, fell in love with the game at a young age. “The reason I coach is because I’ve had unbelievable mentors,” she explains. “Every one of my experiences in basketball has brought me nothing but love and joy. I picked up a basketball in the 5th grade and started playing competitively, training with a semi-pro basketball player who worked with me from the day I picked up the ball till the day I left the WNBA.”

College athletics have come a long way since Reiss played in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, particularly women’s sports. “Back then we were still fighting for equality; it was relatively early in Title 9. Women’s basketball was just grabbing a foothold – there was no television coverage, and no technology. There was no entitlement back then; we were trying to earn everything we got. There were no trainers, no air conditioned gyms. We played outside on the black top under the lights until it was dark.”

After several years in the pros, the New York native began her coaching career with the Utah Starzz, later moving to several colleges before coming to URI. In addition to winning games, Reiss has worked hard to build a fan base, increase media coverage, and encourage supporters, particularly young women, to attend games.

How did she build a championship culture at URI, a program that hadn’t seen much success until she arrived? “It’s knowing what your morality and values system is, what you want it to be,” she says. “I came from winning programs and had a lot of success. I took the best ideas of what winners do on a consistent basis from my mentors. That involves discipline and accountability. They are probably the two hardest words to stick to, especially when winning and losing is involved.”

Coming off several losing seasons, recruiting quality players was not an easy task when Reiss arrived in 2019. “No kid in the United States wants to come to a loser,” she explains. “When you’re looking at a rebuild job, you got to have a game plan.” With help from associate coach Adeniyi Amadou, originally from Paris, France, Reiss set out to build a team around a core of international athletes. The strategy worked – the Rams quickly became competitive with a mix of players from France, Israel, Estonia, and the United States. “We sprinkled in a couple of special American kids who wanted to be builders. Now we sell that we’re a winner,” says Reiss. “We’re competitive in A-10 championships, we have a practice facility, we charter flights. Our budget is in the top three in the league. We’re in a beautiful coastal community.”

Another marker of her success – many of her former players now play professionally. “All five of our kids who graduated last year are playing pro in Europe,” she explains. “Some are in the top Euro league, some are making $150,000 a year; these are lucrative careers. We develop them to become pros. That’s what I’m most proud of, helping them to fulfill their dream.”