Notre Dame Law School

It was apparent early on that Coquese Washington had skills that would take her places. She grew up in Flint, Michigan, where she played seven musical instruments in high school, was an All-State selection for basketball two years in a row, and was awarded a scholarship to attend Notre Dame. She finished Notre Dame in three years, earning a bachelor’s degree in history. After taking a year off to be a high school special education teacher in her hometown, she returned to her alma mater to earn a juris doctorate from the Notre Dame Law School.

But where she ended up . . . well, not even she saw that coming.

Washington was a gifted basketball player, and although she excelled at the sport in high school and it is what brought her to play at Notre Dame, she says her dream was always to practice law.

But after law school, she took a left turn, being recruited and chosen to play for the Portland Power in the short-lived, women’s professional American Basketball League. A year later, she joined the Women’s National Basketball Association, playing first for the New York Liberty and then moving to Houston, helping the Comets win the WNBA title. She was traded to the Indiana Fever and guided that team to its first ever playoff berth, becoming the first player in WNBA history to lead three different teams to the postseason tournament.

Former teammate Rebecca Lobo describes Washington as “a smart teammate who liked to learn. She could fit in with any crowd and had everyone’s respect because she could blend without compromising who she was”.

The WNBA season is in the summer, which allowed Washington to begin coaching at Notre Dame as an assistant under her former coach Muffet McGraw in the off-season. “She did not have any experience, but I thought she’d be great at it,” McGraw says. “I wanted to give her that opportunity and just see if I could try to talk her into trying it out and she was just good at it. I think she found her passion”.

It was also during this time that Washington’s legal skills were called into action. She had been working as an attorney for a New York law firm, so when the WNBA players decided to form a union, she brought her litigation skills to the effort. She became the founding president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and negotiated the players’ first collective bargaining agreement. Lobo said that Washington was “a godsend” during the negotiations. “She was level-headed and bright and also had her law degree”.

It was in law school that she learned to research, analyze situations, and develop strategies, and Washington admits she always thought she would return to work as a lawyer, but somewhere along the way that changed.

“I thought ‘Man, I like coaching, you know. I like the relationships that I have with the players. I like being in the gym,’” Washington said. “I loved basketball. I love being around basketball. I never thought I would enjoy coaching as much as I have, but I really do enjoy it”.

In 2007, Washington was tapped to be the head coach of Penn State’s women’s basketball team. Her success there was steady; by the time she stepped down in 2019, she had led the Lady Lions to four consecutive appearances at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Women’s Basketball Championships and captured three straight Big Ten Conference regular-season championships from 2011 to 2014. Washington was a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year.

But the winning isn’t what kept Washington on the court. It was the opportunity to be a mentor and leader to her players.

“Mentoring them and helping them learn to become powerful, dynamic women—that’s the thing I love best of all.

“We use basketball as a vehicle, but I’m probably most proud of our kids’ ability to achieve. I’ve learned over the years that that is a skill that’s developed, not something you’re born with. Perseverance, persistence, belief—there are so many skills that have to be nurtured to become an achiever”.

It’s a philosophy her players respond to. “I think the biggest thing that coach does is not only tell us what to do, she does it herself,” says Penn State player Alex Bentley. “She has been through the WNBA, she has been through coaching at the top institutions already. She knows the game and I have been picking her brain ever since I was a freshman stepping on the court.

“She is the epitome of a great woman. We just see that and want to be like that, she is a role model and a mentor. Us as women, we want to be like that one day”

After 11 years, Washington left Penn State, having amassed a record of 209 wins and 169 losses and guided the team to four NCAA tournament appearances. She is now an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at the University of Oklahoma