DePaul promotes Jill Pizzotti to
replace longtime women's coach Doug Bruno
[April 04, 2025]
By ANDREW SELIGMAN
CHICAGO (AP) — DePaul promoted assistant Jill Pizzotti on Thursday
to take over for longtime coach Doug Bruno, who stepped down last
week.
Pizzotti was hired by DePaul in 2011 and served as interim coach
with Bruno missing this season because of health issues. The Blue
Demons went 13-19 overall and finished sixth in the Big East
Conference at 8-10.
“This season, I had the opportunity to see Jill in a new light as
Interim Head Coach, and I was especially impressed by her ability to
teach, lead, and build consensus among the young women in our
program," athletic director DeWayne Peevy said in a statement. “She
knows exactly what it takes to compete at a championship level, and
she has the recruiting ability, player development expertise, and
motivational leadership to bring the best to Chicago and keep them
here. Jill understands the direction this program needs to go, and I
have full confidence in her ability to continue the championship
standard we’ve come to expect for our women’s basketball program at
DePaul.”
DePaul has made the NCAA Tournament 10 times and advanced to the
Sweet 16 twice since Pizzotti's arrival. The Blue Demons have won
six Big East regular-season championships and five conference
tournaments in that time. She was elevated to associate head coach
in 2014.
“Working to fulfill the vision of legendary coach Doug Bruno is an
honor,” she said. “We want to bring DePaul women’s basketball back
to national prominence and use the energy and momentum in our great
sport now to reach new heights.”
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DePaul head coach Doug Bruno calls to his team in the first half of
an NCAA college basketball game against UConn, Monday, Jan. 23,
2023, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
A Chicago-area product, Pizzotti has three decades
of coaching experience. She was head coach at Saint Louis University
from 1995 to 2005 after working as an assistant at Northern Kentucky
and Indiana. From 2005 to 2010, she was Nike's manager of women's
college basketball, serving as the liaison with the nation's top
teams as well as the Women’s Basketball Coaching Association and USA
Basketball. She was an assistant at West Virginia for the 2010-11
season, when the Mountainers finished 24-10 and made the NCAA
Tournament.
Pizzotti has big shoes to fill at DePaul.
Bruno played for Naismith Hall of Fame coach Ray Meyer. He led the
women's team to 786 wins, 25 NCAA Tournament berths and 19
conference titles over 39 seasons and two stints after initially
being hired in 1977. He was inducted into the Women’s Basketball
Hall of Fame in 2022.
Bruno is staying at the school as the special assistant to the vice
president/director of athletics for women’s basketball.
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