Former Duke University basketball forward Bridgette Mitchell has been named head coach of the Northeastern women’s basketball program, according to an April 17 Northeastern Athletics brief.  The change in leadership comes after the university chose to not renew former head coach Kelly Cole’s contract at the end of the 2020-21 season. 

“Bridgette’s proven success at Pitt and her track record of being one of the top recruiters in the country made her a great choice to lead our women’s basketball program,” said Jeff Konya, Northeastern’s director of athletics and recreation in the article. “She continues to sign top classes at every stop she has been at, including a group at JMU that went 64-8 in CAA play. The more people we spoke to in the industry, the more we affirmed that Bridgette is the ideal candidate to take our program to the next level.”

Mitchell, who kicked off her collegiate career in 2006 in a game against Northeastern, played in 131 games for Duke and made 43 starting appearances. 

Once she graduated, Mitchell played professionally in France and Poland where she earned a bronze medal after appearing in the European Championships in 2011-12. 

Mitchell began her coaching career at Wagner College and has spent the last two years on the University of Pittsburgh’s coaching staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Mitchell helped recruit some of the university’s highest-ranked athletes and worked with the wing players on the Panthers.

Before joining the Pittsburgh coaching staff, Mitchell spent two seasons at Siena College where she served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. 

Additionally, she spent three seasons at James Madison University from 2016-19 during which the Dukes accumulated a 76-26 overall record and made two consecutive ACC regular-season championship appearances in 2017-18 and 2018-19. 

The Huskies were eliminated from the CAA tournament this past season following an 81-65 loss against James Madison University in the quarterfinals. Cole leaves the Huskies after seven seasons and several program records, including the program’s first-ever Women’s National Invitation Tournament appearance in 2019.