Illinois hires Shauna Green as women’s basketball coach

Illinois hired Shauna Green as its women’s basketball coach on Monday, hoping she can lift a struggling program following a winning tenure at Dayton.

Green was chosen Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year three times while leading Dayton to five conference regular-season championships and a 127-50 record over six years. The Flyers went 26-6 this season, finishing first in the league in the regular season and beating DePaul in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Georgia.

“I truly believe the time is now for the program and we will work tirelessly to build it into a championship program,” Green said in a statement.

Green is 156-75 in eight seasons as a head coach, including two at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. She has also been an assistant at Dayton, Northwestern and Providence.

Green, who’s from Clinton, Iowa, is Canisius’ all-time leading scorer with 2,012 points from 1998 to 2002.

She replaces the retired Nancy Fahey, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach who struggled over five years at Illinois after winning five national championships at the Division III level. The Illini went 7-20 this season and were 42-99 overall — 7-77 in Big Ten regular-season games — during her tenure.

“In visiting with Shauna, I was struck by her inner drive, her innate competitiveness, and her commitment to the student-athletes under her charge,” athletic director Josh Whitman said in a statement. “She and I connected quickly around an ambitious vision for the future of Illinois women’s basketball, which she and her staff plan to spread around the state and across the country.”