Few things in sports are more elusive than viable hope for a successful Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team, except maybe a Browns Super Bowl, the Milwaukee Bucks making it past round one of the NBA Playoffs and at this point, any team staying in Oakland, California.
The hiring of Robin Pingeton was marketed by UW Athletics as a “new era” in Wisconsin women’s basketball. Pingeton joins the Badgers after 15 seasons at the helm of the Missouri women’s basketball program, posting a 250–218 record.
Based on the program’s recent track record, it would be easy to look past that statement. In the past month, however, Pingeton has put her money where her mouth is and recruited an impressive collection of transfers to join the team, quickly building momentum in her first months in Madison.
And as Badger fans look down the barrel of what will almost certainly be another painful football season, it’s not a pipe dream to have hope for women's basketball.
Before the abrupt departure of former head coach Marisa Mosely in March, two of the team’s most talented players beat her to the punch. After the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, forward Serah Williams announced she would be entering the transfer portal and later her commitment to UConn.
Close behind Williams was guard Ronnie Porter. However, three weeks after Pingeton was hired, Porter announced that she had removed her name from the transfer portal and decided to return to Wisconsin.
Retaining Porter was crucial for the roster, as she’d played for the Badgers since she was a freshman and is a well-known member of a team that often underperforms relative to their talented roster.
Pingeton’s first and arguably most notable transfer, junior guard Laci Steele, comes to Wisconsin from NC State. Steele scored only 3.4 points in 11.8 minutes per game, but her recruitment showed Pingeton’s ability to lure power conference players to Wisconsin.
In her year with NC State, Steele reached the NCAA Women’s Sweet 16 and the ACC Championship game. Steele’s willingness to give this program a chance during a rebuild hints that Pinegton is building something special.
Along with Steele, Pingeton's team has recruited high scoring transfers from small programs, like senior forward Gift Uchenna, junior guard Kyrah Daniels and graduate guard Destiny Howell. Uchenna, a transfer from Southern Illinois, averaged 14.5 points per game. Daniels averaged 12.0 points and 5.1 rebounds last season with Missouri State. Howell averaged 14.9 points, with more than nine 20-point games in the season.
Pingeton has also made additions to the coaching staff. Assistant coaches Chris Bracey and McGhee Mann will join her from her previous job at Missouri, she announced at her introductory press conference. UW Athletics announced in May that Ariel Massengal, a former University of Tennessee player and rising coaching talent, will also join the team as an assistant coach.
While the fruits of Pingeton's rebuild may not be immediately visible in her first month, it's clear that she is putting the pieces in place to win at a program where success has been elusive.
Gabriella Hartlaub is the former arts editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has also written state politics and campus news. She currently is a summer reporting intern with Raleigh News and Observer. Follow her on Twitter at @gabihartlaub.
