Former Hartford women’s basketball standout Janelle Harrison returns to her alma mater as a member of the Hawks’ coaching staff in 2021-22. A local product of Cromwell, Conn., she rejoins the team as the director or basketball operations.
Harrison spent four seasons as a forward at Hartford from 2014-18, helping lead the Hawks to a pair of appearances in the America East Championship game in 2015 and 2018. Known for her tenacity on the defensive end, she became the program’s first repeat America East All-Defensive Team member since Erica Beverly (07-08, 08-09, 09-10), after receiving the distinction in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
In addition to her All-Defensive Team nods, Harrison was named to the America East All-Championship Team in 2018. She also took home America East Player of the Week honors three times in her career.
Becoming the 17th player in program history to record 500-plus career rebounds with 558, Harrison averaged 8.3 boards and 4.8 rebounds in 116 career appearances and 87 starts. In addition, she finished her career with 190 steals to rank sixth in program history, while her 72 thefts in the 2017-18 campaign were the fourth-most in a single season in Hartford’s Division I era.
As a senior captain in 2017-18, Harrison put up career-best numbers after averaging 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds in 29.87 minutes per game.
A three-time America East Academic Honor Roll member during her career, Harrison graduated from Hartford in 2018 with a degree in communication. After her collegiate career, she played basketball professionally, where she enjoyed stints in Portugal, Lebanon, Puerto Rico and Egypt.
