Janese Constantine has been added to the Alabama women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach, head coach Kristy Curry announced on Friday.
“We are so excited to welcome Janese, Paul and PJ to our Alabama family,” said Curry. “I have known Janese since she was a high school athlete and have watched her develop into one of the best young impact recruiters and coaches in our game. Her background having played in the Big Ten at Wisconsin, playing professionally overseas, and her experiences as a coach will allow her to be a difference maker with our young ladies in the classroom, on the court and in the community. She will bring a special passion, loyalty and energy to our program and our staff is so excited to work with her.”
Constantine will join the Crimson Tide and coach the post players, after spending the previous four seasons at Indiana.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Coach Curry and her staff here at Alabama,” stated Constantine. “Since high school I’ve always admired her for her kind, consistent, and contagious spirit. Without a doubt, within the first five minutes of being around her, you get a sense of her love for her family, players, and the game of basketball. My hope is to take my past experiences and serve the staff and the players to the best of my ability. My family and I are so excited once again to be at an institution together living out our dreams. I truly believe God’s provision for bringing us here together is this is another farm to plant seeds for Him in it.”
During Constantine’s time as an assistant and coaching the guards at IU, the Hoosiers reached new heights as the 2019-20 season was no different with the team finishing with program records in overall wins (24), Big Ten victories (13), securing the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the second time in her tenure and making the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2006.
Indiana spent all 20 weeks of the season ranked in the Associated Press top 25, including reaching a program record ranking of No. 12. It marked the program’s fourth-straight 20-win season as the team was a lock for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament before the Coronavirus pandemic canceled the remainder of the season. IU also made history in the 2019 Paradise Jam where the Hoosiers upset then No. 5/6 South Carolina in the program’s first top five non-conference victory in school history.
Constantine was also instrumental in recruiting for the Hoosiers, most recently with the Class of 2023 which featured a pair of five-star commitments and a No. 18 overall ranking in the country according to ESPN. The class also ranked 12th in the nation and fourth overall in the Big Ten according to the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and third in the Big Ten by All Star Girls Report.
Since Constantine joined the staff in 2016-17, six Hoosier guards have been named to All-Big Ten teams, most recently with the first team selections of Ali Patberg and Grace Berger – the first duo to earn first team honors for the first time since 1986 and just the third time in program history. Berger and Patberg would also go on to be the first pair of All-Americans for the program in the same year since 1989 as each earned 2019-20 WBCA All-American Honorable Mention honors.
In 2018, Constantine helped guide the Hoosiers to the WNIT Championship with an overall record of 23-14, while in 2016-17 Indianapolis, Ind. native assisted in the Hoosiers’ historic season during her first year by advancing to the WNIT quarterfinals and a then program-record 23 wins. It marked the first time in school history that IU has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons and the first back-to-back winning seasons since 2007-08 and 2008-09. During that year, Indiana also set single season program records for points scored (2,547), points per game (74.9) and assists (564). Constantine was also instrumental in development of guards Alexis Gassion (All-Big Ten honorable mention, All-Defensive team) and Tyra Buss (WBCA All-American honorable mention, All-Big Ten first team).
Before coming to IU, Constantine spent the previous two seasons as an assistant and post players coach at IUPUI, where she helped lead the Jaguars to a 21-win season in 2015-16, the third highest win total in a single year in program history and the second highest number of wins for the school in Division I history.
Prior to IUPUI, Constantine spent two seasons as an assistant and coached the point guards at Milwaukee after serving as a graduate assistant at Auburn in 2011-12.
A standout player at Ben Davis High School, Constantine was named Gatorade Player of the Year, an Indiana All-Star and an All-State selection in 2004.
Constantine played collegiately in the Big Ten at Wisconsin (2005-08) where she finished her career averaging 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game during her four seasons. She was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and off the court earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition three times. Banks ended her career as one of 10 players in Badgers history to eclipse 1,500 career points.
After college, Constantine played professionally in Ukraine, Switzerland and Iceland. Following three years in professional basketball, she spent the 2010-11 season as a volunteer coach at Ben Davis.
Janese and her husband Paul, who is a coach on the Alabama Football strength and conditioning staff, are the proud parents of their eight-month-old son, PJ.
https://rolltide.com/news/2020/6/12/womens-basketball-adds-janese-constantine-to-coaching-staff.aspx
