Ted Riverso, one of the premier women's basketball coaches in the Midwest, will enter his ninth season as head coach of the Augsburg University women's basketball program in the 2023-24 campaign.
Augsburg Coaching Highlights
In his seven seasons at Augsburg, he has led the Auggies to a 107-55 record, including a berth in the 2016-17 MIAC postseason playoffs, three consecutive MIAC playoff appearances in 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2021-22, and the program's first ever MIAC regular season title in 2021-22. The winningest coach in Augsburg women's basketball history, Riverso was named the MIAC Coach of the Year for both the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons and has earned the award a total of nine times including seven as the head coach at St. Thomas.
He has coached and recruited some of the most talented student-athletes in Augsburg women's basketball history, including four of the top 15 scorers in Tamira McLemore, Camryn Speese, Kaezha Wubben and Aiza Wilson. Under the tutelage of Riverso, Jen Masello became the first player in program history to be named MIAC Women's Basketball Player of the Year in the 2021-22 season. After the 2019-20 season, McLemore became the 17th player in MIAC women's basketball history to earn All-MIAC Honors in all four seasons of their career. Other season honors included Aiza Wilson breaking the MIAC 3-point record (227) and Arianna Jones leading all NCAA Division III women's basketball players in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.43).
Previous Coaching Experience/Achievements
Riverso served as women's basketball head coach at the University of St. Thomas from 1984 to 1999, building the Tommies into a national powerhouse in small-college women's basketball. Most recently, he spent eight seasons (2006-14) as an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota women's basketball team.
In his 15 seasons as head coach at St. Thomas, Riverso led the Tommies to five MIAC championships (1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998), 11 top-two MIAC finishes, 14 straight appearances in the NCAA Division III national tournament, three trips to the NCAA Division III Final Four (1991, 1995, 1996) and the 1991 NCAA Division III national title.
Riverso's Tommies had just one sub-.500 season in his 15 years, finishing with a 337-80 (.808) record, including the best record among Division III teams in the 1990s -- 247-37 (.870). The Tommies went 102-11 in his final four seasons.
He coached a national player of the year, seven first-team All-Americans and five honorable-mention All-Americans with the Tommies. He was named MIAC Coach of the Year seven times, Women's Basketball Coaches Association District Coach of the Year three times and American Women's Sports Foundation National Coach of the Year in 1991. He was inducted into the St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1998, City Pages newspaper selected him as the "Best Local Sports Coach."
Riverso left coaching in 1999 to serve as a development officer at St. Thomas, including three years (2003-06) as Director of Development for Intercollegiate Athletics. He was able to raise more than $4.3 million for the school from 2000 to 2006.
After serving as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Class AAA state champion Benilde-St. Margaret's girls' basketball team in 2005-06, Riverso was hired as an assistant coach at Division I Minnesota, where he served on Pam Borton's staff from 2006 to 2014. Working with player development, recruiting and scouting, Riverso was a part of Gopher squads that went 141-119 in his eight seasons, with two NCAA national tournament berths and three WNIT berths.
Prior to becoming a head coach, he had served as a women's basketball assistant coach (1979-81) and men's basketball assistant coach (1981-84) at St. Thomas. He also served as an instructor in the philosophy department at St. Thomas from 1984 to 2001.
Personal/Family Notes
A native of Philadelphia, Riverso graduated from West Chester University (Pa.) with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, and later earned his master's degree in philosophy from West Chester. He has three children --
T.J.,
Mary and
Anna.
YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD
| Year |
Overall Record |
Overall Pct. |
MIAC Record |
MIAC Pct. |
MIAC Finish |
Notes |
| 2023-24 |
8-15 |
.348 |
7-13 |
.350 |
t7th-12 |
|
| 2022-23 |
13-12 |
.520 |
10-12 |
.455 |
8th/12 |
|
| 2021-22 |
21-6 |
.778 |
19-2 |
.905 |
1st/12 |
MIAC Playoff Runner-Up
MIAC Coach of the Year |
| 2020-21 |
1-5 |
.167 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Shortened season due to COVID-19 Pandemic |
| 2019-20 |
22-5 |
.815 |
17-3 |
.850 |
2nd/12 |
MIAC Playoff Runner-Up |
| 2018-19 |
22-5 |
.815 |
16-2 |
.889 |
2nd/12 |
MIAC Playoff Runner-Up |
| 2017-18 |
12-12 |
.500 |
8-10 |
.444 |
6th/12 |
|
| 2016-17 |
15-11 |
.577 |
8-10 |
.444 |
6th/12 |
MIAC Playoff Quarterfinals |
| 2015-16 |
14-11 |
.560 |
9-9 |
.500 |
7th/12 |
|
| Augsburg |
128-82 |
.610 |
94-61 |
.606 |
|
|
| Overall |
465-162 |
.742 |
|
|
|
|
