Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner, who led US women to Olympic gold in 2000, announces retirement

ATLANTA (AP) - Nell Fortner announced Monday she is retiring following 15 seasons as a college basketball head coach, including the last six at Georgia Tech.

Fortner also was the first coach and general manager for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever from 1999-2003 and coached the United States women’s national team to gold medals at the 1998 world championships and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Fortner won 272 games at the college level and earned coach of the year honors in three conferences. She was named Big Ten coach of the year in 1997 following her one season at Purdue and then coached eight seasons at Auburn, from 2004-12, where she was named Southeastern Conference coach of the year in 2009.

Fortner then moved to Georgia Tech, where she led the Yellow Jackets to this year’s NCAA Tournament and was named Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year in 2021. The Yellow Jackets finished 22-11 with a 74-49 loss to Richmond in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia Tech announced assistant LaSondra Barrett will serve as interim coach.

"After a lot of deep thought and contemplation following the conclusion of our season, I have decided to retire from coaching," Fortner said in a statement released by Georgia Tech. "This was not an easy decision, nor one that I made lightly, especially after returning to the NCAA Tournament this season and having so many special players and coaches coming back next season."

Fortner referred to Georgia Tech as "a gold mine, as an institution and athletics department." She said the program was in good position to compete for ACC and national championships.

"That makes it very hard to step away. But for me, after spending much of the last 30-plus years on the sideline, I just feel that it’s time," she said.

The decision came less than two months after Fortner was awarded a three-year extension, through the 2029-30 season. At the time, Georgia Tech was 18-4 and No. 17 in the AP Top 25.

Fortner led Georgia Tech to a 110-75 record in six seasons with NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022 before this season.

Overall, Fortner’s college record is 272-192.

"Nell Fortner will be greatly missed by the entire Georgia Tech community," Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt said. "She's not only been an incredible leader of our women's basketball program, but she's been a great sounding board for me.”

Batt said Georgia Tech will conduct a national search for a full-time replacement.