Ted Riverso, who won a school-record 128 games in leading the Augsburg University women’s basketball team over the past nine seasons, has retired from his head coaching position, the university announced on Monday.
Taking over the Auggie women’s basketball program in 2015, Riverso finished his Auggie career with a 128-82 (.610) overall record and 94-61 (.606) record in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play; no other women’s basketball head coach in Augsburg history has recorded more than 54 career victories. Including his 15 prior years (1984-99) as head coach at the University of St. Thomas (337-80), his record as a collegiate head coach is 465-162 (.742).
“I am deeply grateful for the support and opportunities I have received during my time at Augsburg,” Riverso said. “Our athletics leadership, in particular, has been as fine a resource group as I have encountered. It has been an honor to be a part of such a dedicated team. It has been a privilege to coach many fine student-athletes over the past nine years. My heartfelt appreciation to all who cared for our players, coaches and staff over this time.”
Riverso recorded seven double-digit win campaigns in his nine seasons, including three 20-plus-win seasons. The Auggies went 22-5 overall (16-2 MIAC) in 2018-19 and 22-5 overall (17-3 MIAC) in 2019-20, each time finishing second in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and playoffs. The Auggies won the MIAC regular-season title for the first time in school history in the 2021-22 season, finishing 21-6 overall (19-2 MIAC).
Riverso was named MIAC Coach of the Year in both the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, two of his nine career conference coach of the year honors. Auggies earned All-MIAC honors 13 times and All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors eight times under Riverso, with Tamira McLemore earning D3hoops.com All-Region honors in 2019 and 2020, Jen Masello earning MIAC Player of the Year and D3hoops.com All-Region honors in 2022, and Aiza Wilson (2019) and Anja Smith (2022) earning MIAC Sixth Player of the Year honors. Alum Jaley Coplin is now playing professional basketball in Germany.
“I am very happy for Ted, but sad that we will be losing such an incredible colleague,” said Augsburg Athletic Director Jeff Swenson. “Ted brought Augsburg its first-ever conference championship in women’s basketball, and in just nine years, he became the winningest coach in school history. He was everything we wanted in a coach and more. Ted embodied everything about Augsburg’s mission, and he brought a winning culture into the women’s basketball program. For that, we thank him for all he has done for Augsburg women’s basketball and Augsburg athletics. We wish him all the best in the future.”
He coached and recruited some of the most talented student-athletes in Augsburg women’s basketball history, including four of the top 15 scorers in McLemore (second, 1,556 points), Camryn Speese (fifth, 1,061 points), Kaezha Wubben (eighth, 1,022 points) and Wilson (15th, 912 points). Masello became the first player in program history to be named MIAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in the 2021-22 season.
After the 2019-20 season, McLemore became the 17th player in MIAC women’s basketball history to earn All-MIAC honors in all four seasons of their careers. Other season honors included Wilson breaking the MIAC’s three-pointer record (227) and Arianna Jones leading all NCAA Division III women’s basketball players in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.43).
As head coach at St. Thomas, he won five MIAC titles and reached NCAA Division III tournament play 14 times, reaching the Division III Final Four three times and winning the national title in 1991. Before coming to Augsburg in 2015, he had served for eight seasons (2006-14) as an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team. He had also served from 1999 to 2006 as a development officer at St. Thomas.