Latest news with #Rizzotti
USA Today
05-08-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Former Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca release statement on CT Sun bid status
The group of former Boston Celtics minority owner and Bain Capital executive Steve Pagliuca (hereafter referred to as 'Pagsgroup') has put out a statement clarifying that they have not finalized a bid to purchase the Connecticut Sun, a WNBA franchise currently based in Uncasville, Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun tribal nation casino and resort. This comes in response to Sun team president Jennifer Rizzotti denying the team had been sold to Pagliuca's group as the WNBA also pushed back on claims the team would relocate to Boston. "Contrary to some of the articles that were out yesterday, the team has not been sold," said Rizzotti this weekend. "No transaction has been agreed yet," agreed the statement put out by Pagsgroup, noting the organization's goal of 'keeping New England's WNBA team in New England.' In the comments made by Rizzotti, allusions were made to other interested parties potentially bidding on the team, and the wording of the statement released by Pagsgroup hints that there may be a bidder (or several) interested in relocating the team outside of New England. It could also be framing to cast the group in such a light given little is known about the competition to buy the team at present. We do know that Pagsgroup has the support of Massachusetts Governor and basketball fan Maura Healy, as well as, per the release, Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee. "Our objective, should we acquire the team, is to honor that legacy, further invest in the team, grow its devoted fan base in the region, and build a championship team that players and fans continue to be proud of," suggests the release from Pagsgroup. Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on: Spotify: iTunes: YouTube:
USA Today
04-08-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Are the WNBA's Connecticut Sun going to stay put instead of moving to Boston?
Are the WNBA's Connecticut Sun going to stay put instead of moving to Boston? It seems as if the league is not wild about the notion of relocating the franchise to Massachusetts based on statements recently circulated in a release put out in response to the news that former Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca has bought the Sun with intent to relocate the club to Boston. Now, according to recent reporting from MassLive's Kenneth Manoj, Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti related that the team has not, in fact, actually been sold to any party at present. "Contrary to some of the articles that were out yesterday, the team has not been sold," said Rizzotti on Sunday (Aug. 3). " ... unless it comes out of official Connecticut Sun or Mohegan Sun channels, it's not official." Rizzotti added that "any sale or relocation is subject to board approval, so ... non-disclosure agreement comes into play, so we're not allowed to actually talk about specific groups that we may have been talking to." "I can say that I have met personally with different investment groups over the last few months, and it's been a thorough process, and we're not quite at the finish line yet," said the Sun president, perhaps hinting that the alluded-to discussions might be more complex than we had been led to believe by earlier reports. For now, it seems that the league would prefer Boston get a franchise via expansion, suggesting that there could be an effort to sell the Sun, but keep them in their current market. And perhaps develop dedicated practice facilities they currently lack. Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on: Spotify: iTunes: YouTube:
17-06-2025
- Sport
UConn greats Rebecca Lobo and Jen Rizzotti reunite to coach AAU team with their sons on it
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Rebecca Lobo had just finished broadcasting Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever's nationally televised victory over the New York Liberty last month when she rushed to the airport to catch a flight back home to Connecticut. She had another game the next day— and she was coaching in this one. Lobo has been coaching her son, Thomas, on his AAU team since he was in the seventh grade. That team, CT Force, was playing in the second day of a tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts, close to where the Hall of Famer grew up. But even if travel delays prevented her from getting there, Lobo wasn't worried. She knew Jen Rizzotti would be. The two stars from UConn's 1995 women's national championship basketball team have been co-coaching since Rizzotti moved back to Connecticut to take over as the Sun's president in 2021 and was looking for an AAU team for her son, Conor. 'It's been a blast because we were super close in college and after college, and then when she went down to D.C. we lost a little contact," Lobo said. "Now we get to see each other through the spring and through the fall.' It's hard to miss a lot of the unselfish play and style the Huskies greats learned in their time under Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey, who just finished off their 40th year at the school. Lobo and Rizzotti have instilled that in their boys' team. Lobo laughed at the notion that they were the younger version of the Hall of Fame coaches, although she acknowledged that Rizzotti, who takes the lead as coach in most of the games, has the same fiery passion as Auriemma. After one play in the boys' game when an official made a call she didn't agree with, the former point guard said something to him. As she walked away, the referee warned her, saying that he heard what she had muttered under her breath and to knock it off, which drew a chuckle from Rizzotti. Handing the clipboard over to Rizzotti when she moved back to Connecticut was a no-brainer for Lobo. Rizzotti had been a head coach at both Hartford and George Washington for two decades before coming to the Sun. 'One thing I'm not is stupid. And like, I think I know basketball pretty well," Lobo said. "I didn't coach in college for 20-plus years like she did. It's incredible what she does with these kids. Because it's in practices, not only game strategy, where she's elite.' Besides coaching on the bench, Lobo mused that her role off the court is to be the one to tell the kids to put their phones away when they are out to dinner — a Dailey trait. Coaching her son's team has allowed Rizzotti to spend more time with him. 'If we were at home, he'd want to be going to hang out with his friends or he's in his room sleeping,' Rizzotti said. 'We get a lot of time in the car together. We hang out after the games and have meals together. It's time that I'll always cherish and I'll never have again with him.' Rizzotti said her son will get mad at her and talk back, but she has seen how much working together has meant to his game and their relationship. 'She knows what she's talking about and it feels great that I can go out there and listen to my coach and know that she's right, like, every time,' Conor said. 'So it's awesome playing with these guys and being able to play under her, because we just work so well together.' Their team won the tournament game on that Sunday relatively easily. Lobo graciously took photos between games with players from the girls' AAU teams and talked with players and parents on the boys' side. That's the norm at these tournaments. Lobo recalled being in Atlantic City for a tournament and a group of boys came up to her on the boardwalk asking for a photo. One of them was wearing a Clark jersey. Before she took the photos, she asked them to name a few other WNBA players and they obliged, rattling off stars of the women's league. 'I was like, this is amazing,' she said. The championship game — one of many titles the team has won — gave Rizzotti a chance to coach against another female head coach, a rarity in boys' AAU basketball. Rizzotti had seen a couple of female coaches on the sidelines at this tournament, but hadn't come across a female head coach until the finale. Unfortunately, she's seen the ego of some male coaches get in the way at tournaments. 'There's not a whole lot of men that want to lose to a woman standing on the other sideline and things get said or done that maybe they wouldn't do in other games,' Rizzotti said. 'If they're up like five or six points they'd start stalling with like seven or eight minutes to go because there's no shot clock and they don't want to lose to us.' Rizzotti said she handled that by walking to halfcourt and saying something about trying to make the players better. 'Like, stalling with seven minutes left?' Rizzotti said. 'The parents hear me and I'm like, 'This is what you're paying for?'" Both Lobo and Rizzotti said they will be sad when this is over in a few weeks. There's one more tournament in the area, then a trip to Myrtle Beach to close out the season. Neither plans to coach another boys' AAU team when this is done. 'I'm gonna miss it, like, just really, really miss it," Lobo said. 'This is the end of it. I don't really have interest in coaching another team that doesn't have my son on it."
Fox Sports
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
UConn greats Rebecca Lobo and Jen Rizzotti reunite to coach AAU team with their sons on it
Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Rebecca Lobo had just finished broadcasting Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever's nationally televised victory over the New York Liberty last month when she rushed to the airport to catch a flight back home to Connecticut. She had another game the next day— and she was coaching in this one. Lobo has been coaching her son, Thomas, on his AAU team since he was in the seventh grade. That team, CT Force, was playing in the second day of a tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts, close to where the Hall of Famer grew up. But even if travel delays prevented her from getting there, Lobo wasn't worried. She knew Jen Rizzotti would be. The two stars from UConn's 1995 women's national championship basketball team have been co-coaching since Rizzotti moved back to Connecticut to take over as the Sun's president in 2021 and was looking for an AAU team for her son, Conor. 'It's been a blast because we were super close in college and after college, and then when she went down to D.C. we lost a little contact," Lobo said. "Now we get to see each other through the spring and through the fall.' It's hard to miss a lot of the unselfish play and style the Huskies greats learned in their time under Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey, who just finished off their 40th year at the school. Lobo and Rizzotti have instilled that in their boys' team. Lobo laughed at the notion that they were the younger version of the Hall of Fame coaches, although she acknowledged that Rizzotti, who takes the lead as coach in most of the games, has the same fiery passion as Auriemma. After one play in the boys' game when an official made a call she didn't agree with, the former point guard said something to him. As she walked away, the referee warned her, saying that he heard what she had muttered under her breath and to knock it off, which drew a chuckle from Rizzotti. Handing the clipboard over to Rizzotti when she moved back to Connecticut was a no-brainer for Lobo. Rizzotti had been a head coach at both Hartford and George Washington for two decades before coming to the Sun. 'One thing I'm not is stupid. And like, I think I know basketball pretty well," Lobo said. "I didn't coach in college for 20-plus years like she did. It's incredible what she does with these kids. Because it's in practices, not only game strategy, where she's elite.' Besides coaching on the bench, Lobo mused that her role off the court is to be the one to tell the kids to put their phones away when they are out to dinner — a Dailey trait. Coaching her son's team has allowed Rizzotti to spend more time with him. 'If we were at home, he'd want to be going to hang out with his friends or he's in his room sleeping,' Rizzotti said. 'We get a lot of time in the car together. We hang out after the games and have meals together. It's time that I'll always cherish and I'll never have again with him.' Rizzotti said her son will get mad at her and talk back, but she has seen how much working together has meant to his game and their relationship. 'She knows what she's talking about and it feels great that I can go out there and listen to my coach and know that she's right, like, every time,' Conor said. 'So it's awesome playing with these guys and being able to play under her, because we just work so well together.' Their team won the tournament game on that Sunday relatively easily. Lobo graciously took photos between games with players from the girls' AAU teams and talked with players and parents on the boys' side. That's the norm at these tournaments. Lobo recalled being in Atlantic City for a tournament and a group of boys came up to her on the boardwalk asking for a photo. One of them was wearing a Clark jersey. Before she took the photos, she asked them to name a few other WNBA players and they obliged, rattling off stars of the women's league. 'I was like, this is amazing,' she said. The championship game — one of many titles the team has won — gave Rizzotti a chance to coach against another female head coach, a rarity in boys' AAU basketball. Rizzotti had seen a couple of female coaches on the sidelines at this tournament, but hadn't come across a female head coach until the finale. Unfortunately, she's seen the ego of some male coaches get in the way at tournaments. 'There's not a whole lot of men that want to lose to a woman standing on the other sideline and things get said or done that maybe they wouldn't do in other games,' Rizzotti said. 'If they're up like five or six points they'd start stalling with like seven or eight minutes to go because there's no shot clock and they don't want to lose to us.' Rizzotti said she handled that by walking to halfcourt and saying something about trying to make the players better. 'Like, stalling with seven minutes left?' Rizzotti said. 'The parents hear me and I'm like, 'This is what you're paying for?'" Both Lobo and Rizzotti said they will be sad when this is over in a few weeks. There's one more tournament in the area, then a trip to Myrtle Beach to close out the season. Neither plans to coach another boys' AAU team when this is done. 'I'm gonna miss it, like, just really, really miss it," Lobo said. 'This is the end of it. I don't really have interest in coaching another team that doesn't have my son on it." ___ AP WNBA: recommended
Winnipeg Free Press
17-06-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
UConn greats Rebecca Lobo and Jen Rizzotti reunite to coach AAU team with their sons on it
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Rebecca Lobo had just finished broadcasting Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever's nationally televised victory over the New York Liberty last month when she rushed to the airport to catch a flight back home to Connecticut. She had another game the next day— and she was coaching in this one. Lobo has been coaching her son, Thomas, on his AAU team since he was in the seventh grade. That team, CT Force, was playing in the second day of a tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts, close to where the Hall of Famer grew up. But even if travel delays prevented her from getting there, Lobo wasn't worried. She knew Jen Rizzotti would be. The two stars from UConn's 1995 women's national championship basketball team have been co-coaching since Rizzotti moved back to Connecticut to take over as the Sun's president in 2021 and was looking for an AAU team for her son, Conor. 'It's been a blast because we were super close in college and after college, and then when she went down to D.C. we lost a little contact,' Lobo said. 'Now we get to see each other through the spring and through the fall.' It's hard to miss a lot of the unselfish play and style the Huskies greats learned in their time under Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey, who just finished off their 40th year at the school. Lobo and Rizzotti have instilled that in their boys' team. Lobo laughed at the notion that they were the younger version of the Hall of Fame coaches, although she acknowledged that Rizzotti, who takes the lead as coach in most of the games, has the same fiery passion as Auriemma. After one play in the boys' game when an official made a call she didn't agree with, the former point guard said something to him. As she walked away, the referee warned her, saying that he heard what she had muttered under her breath and to knock it off, which drew a chuckle from Rizzotti. Handing the clipboard over to Rizzotti when she moved back to Connecticut was a no-brainer for Lobo. Rizzotti had been a head coach at both Hartford and George Washington for two decades before coming to the Sun. 'One thing I'm not is stupid. And like, I think I know basketball pretty well,' Lobo said. 'I didn't coach in college for 20-plus years like she did. It's incredible what she does with these kids. Because it's in practices, not only game strategy, where she's elite.' Besides coaching on the bench, Lobo mused that her role off the court is to be the one to tell the kids to put their phones away when they are out to dinner — a Dailey trait. Coaching her son's team has allowed Rizzotti to spend more time with him. 'If we were at home, he'd want to be going to hang out with his friends or he's in his room sleeping,' Rizzotti said. 'We get a lot of time in the car together. We hang out after the games and have meals together. It's time that I'll always cherish and I'll never have again with him.' Rizzotti said her son will get mad at her and talk back, but she has seen how much working together has meant to his game and their relationship. 'She knows what she's talking about and it feels great that I can go out there and listen to my coach and know that she's right, like, every time,' Conor said. 'So it's awesome playing with these guys and being able to play under her, because we just work so well together.' Their team won the tournament game on that Sunday relatively easily. Lobo graciously took photos between games with players from the girls' AAU teams and talked with players and parents on the boys' side. That's the norm at these tournaments. Lobo recalled being in Atlantic City for a tournament and a group of boys came up to her on the boardwalk asking for a photo. One of them was wearing a Clark jersey. Before she took the photos, she asked them to name a few other WNBA players and they obliged, rattling off stars of the women's league. 'I was like, this is amazing,' she said. The championship game — one of many titles the team has won — gave Rizzotti a chance to coach against another female head coach, a rarity in boys' AAU basketball. Rizzotti had seen a couple of female coaches on the sidelines at this tournament, but hadn't come across a female head coach until the finale. Unfortunately, she's seen the ego of some male coaches get in the way at tournaments. 'There's not a whole lot of men that want to lose to a woman standing on the other sideline and things get said or done that maybe they wouldn't do in other games,' Rizzotti said. 'If they're up like five or six points they'd start stalling with like seven or eight minutes to go because there's no shot clock and they don't want to lose to us.' Rizzotti said she handled that by walking to halfcourt and saying something about trying to make the players better. 'Like, stalling with seven minutes left?' Rizzotti said. 'The parents hear me and I'm like, 'This is what you're paying for?'' Both Lobo and Rizzotti said they will be sad when this is over in a few weeks. There's one more tournament in the area, then a trip to Myrtle Beach to close out the season. Neither plans to coach another boys' AAU team when this is done. 'I'm gonna miss it, like, just really, really miss it,' Lobo said. 'This is the end of it. I don't really have interest in coaching another team that doesn't have my son on it.' ___ AP WNBA:
