Major
Communication Studies
Minor(s)
French
Advisor
de Bruin, Karen
Advisor Department
Honors Program
Advisor
Yanity, Molly
Advisor Department
Communication Studies
Date
5-2025
Keywords
Rhode Island; France; Women's Basketball; College Basketball; Recruitment; Rams
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Abstract
Since the arrival of Head Coach Tammi Reiss and Associate Head Coach Adeniyi Amadou to Kingston in 2019, the University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball program has emerged from mid-major obscurity to become a regional and conference juggernaut with a reputation for developing young women on the court and in life. Many factors have contributed to this meteoric rise, but one that stands out is the program’s reliance on international recruiting to close the skill gap with other mid-major programs, with a particular focus on recruiting within France. This project aimed to highlight the impact of this recruitment strategy on the program's unprecedented success over the past six seasons, including a program-first Atlantic 10 regular season title in 2023. To better understand how this program improved so dramatically, a series of interviews was conducted throughout the 2024-25 women’s basketball season with Head Coach Reiss, Associate Head Coach Amadou, and six past and present French student-athletes who featured for the Rams. Each conversation provided a look into how the strong winning culture established by Coach Reiss and Coach Amadou was forged through multiple seasons of thorough recruiting focused on high-potential players with strong character traits that match the values of the program. The findings from these conversations were compiled into a feature story made for publication. With Coach Amadou’s French origins, his relationship with his homeland opened a pipeline for French prospects, many being the children or grandchildren of African immigrants, to travel to Rhode Island to develop not only as athletes, but also as well-rounded individuals. Through this mission, the Rhode Island Women’s Basketball program has fostered an iron-clad culture that promotes hard work and determination, directly contributing to a period of unprecedented on-court success, while enhancing the overall reputation of the University of Rhode Island abroad.
Media Format
embedly
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Other Communication Commons, Radio Commons, Sports Studies Commons
Comments
Author (Mark Radigan) is a Sports Media & Communications major.
2nd Advisor (Prof. Molly Yanity) is the director of the Sports Media program at the University of Rhode Island.