Growing up in a family full of coaches and educators, Rebecca Nemerow Tillett was all but predestined to become one herself.
Now Tillett, who is coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons as associate head coach at Navy, will continue her rapid ascent up the college coaching ranks by taking over as Longwood University’s head women’s basketball coach, athletics director Troy Austin announced Thursday.
“We’re ecstatic to announce Rebecca Tillett as head coach of our women’s basketball program,” Austin said. “It’s obvious that she comes from a family of coaches, both in her coaching philosophy and the impressive resume she has built over the past two decades. She has grown up immersed in the profession in nearly every aspect of her life, so it’s no surprise she has had sustained success at every step of her own coaching career.
“No matter the level of competition, coaches are first and foremost educators, and Rebecca has both the tangible and intangible traits that are universal among great coaches and teachers. When you combine her talents, her work ethic and her experience with her vision to develop Longwood’s program around academics, relationships and a cohesive team-first mentality, you have the makings of an outstanding leader for Longwood basketball.”
Tillett joined the staff at Navy as an assistant coach in 2014-15 under two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Stefanie Pemper. After just two seasons, Pemper promoted Tillett to recruiting coordinator in 2016-17, and then to associate head coach in 2017-18.
“Rebecca will be terrific at Longwood because she knows how to be successful in every aspect of the job,” said Pemper, who has amassed a 118-57 record in 10 seasons at Navy. “She’s a smart problem-solver, a great collaborator and a tough competitor. Her passion for basketball, for coaching, and for mentoring women is non-stop. She has endeared herself to our program and will do the same in Farmville.”
During her four years in Annapolis, Md., Tillett helped the Mids to an 81-47 record, including this past season when they set the program wins record at 25-8 and reached both the Patriot League Championship game and the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) for the second straight year. Navy went 46-26 in league play and back-to-back top-three finishes during Tillett’s four-year stint, winning at least 10 league games in three of those years.
A three-year letterwinner, senior captain and 1999 graduate of William & Mary, Tillett was involved with all aspects of the program at Navy and specialized as the team’s defensive coordinator. In that role she oversaw a unit that led the Patriot League in defensive scoring twice, posted the eighth-lowest opponent scoring average in the nation in 2017-18 and produced the 2016 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and a pair of All-Defensive Team honorees in 2017 and 2018.
“Our family feels incredibly fortunate to join Longwood Athletics, the university, and the Farmville community,” Tillett said. “To embark on the journey a team takes each season in my home state of Virginia is quite literally a dream come true. Our staff will look to build relationships with our current players and recruit student-athletes who want to be a part of something greater than themselves at Longwood.
“In the classroom and on the court, we will strive to be citizen-leaders. Thank you to President W. Taylor Reveley IV and Troy Austin for the opportunity. Their collective vision for building on the continued success of Longwood Athletics is inspiring. I am grateful to Stef Pemper and [IUP head coach] Tom McConnell for giving me my first opportunities in college athletics and for allowing me to learn from and with them.”
Tillett’s tenure at Navy was only her second coaching stop at the college level – the other being an 18-10 stint in one season as assistant coach alongside McConnell at Division II IUP in Indiana, Pa., in 2013-14 – but her coaching career began 20 years ago when she stepped into the same profession as her father, Larry.
Tillett grew up in a Nemerow household with a father who coached two sports and a mother who taught and coached for more than 35 years. She is the oldest of four children, three of which went into the coaching profession themselves, and all in the commonwealth of Virginia. Larry coached basketball and soccer at Osbourn Park in Manassas. Her younger brother Daniel coaches basketball and soccer at Patriot High School in Nokesville. Nate coaches soccer at Battlefield High School in Haymarket. Her youngest brother Jonah almost escaped the family tradition until he became a Robotics coach at Piney Branch Elementary School in Bristow.
Rebecca was the first of those to transcend to the college level, and now she becomes the eighth head coach in the history of the Lancer program. It’s a post Tillett has earned in short order in just five years at the college level, but one that she has prepared for with two decades worth of consistent coaching success since graduating from William & Mary in 1999.
Tillett spent the first 15 years of her career at the high school level, amassing a 166-72 overall record as a head coach while developing powerhouse programs at Osbourn Park High School in Manassas from 2001-07 and then at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge from 2007-13.
At Osbourn Park, she turned a program that had endured nine consecutive losing seasons prior to her arrival into a Cardinal District contender that tied the school record with 19 victories in 2007. In her four years as head coach – which followed two as the head junior varsity coach and varsity assistant – she led Osbourn Park to the Virginia regionals three times and posted a 44-33 record.
She parlayed her success at Osbourn Park into a run at Forest Park where she was named head coach of the Bruins in 2007. She went on to amass a 122-39 record in seven years, earning three Northwest Region Coach of the Year awards, three Cardinal District Coach of the Year awards and Prince William Coach of the Year recognition from both the Washington Post and the News & Messenger.
Forest Park experienced championship success under Tillett, winning the Northwest Region in 2008, 2009 and 2011 and the Cardinal District Championship those same years. The Bruins won the regular-season title four times and advanced to three state tournaments, making a run to the championship game in 2008.
Under Tillett, Forest Park sent players to Division I programs all over the Commonwealth and the surrounding region, including Virginia, George Washington, James Madison and George Mason.
As a high school coach, Tillett also held full-time teaching positions both at the high school and elementary school levels and remains a licensed teacher in Virginia. She is equally decorated in that role, earning recognition as the 2006 KidBiz3000 Teacher of the Year at Osbourn Park and a SPARK Award Hero in Education honor in 2010 at Forest Park.
Tillett has also spent time as a scout for Women’s National Basketball Association, working for the Atlanta Dream from 2010-13.
A native of Williamsburg, Va., Tillett earned her Bachelor of Science in kinesiology from William & Mary in 1999. She and her husband, Brett, have three children: Isabel, Jack and Maya.
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