Aug. 23, 2001
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech has named former Yellow Jacket standout Kisha Ford as its new assistant women’s basketball coach, Tech head coach Agnus Berenato announced on Thursday.
Ford, arguably one of the greatest women’s basketball player ever to don the Old Gold and White, will return to the Flats this fall to work with the Tech women’s team after recently completing a successful 2001 season with the WNBA’s Miami Sol. Ford will be responsible for a number of areas with the Yellow Jackets, including overseeing the team’s academic areas and conducting individual workouts. Additionally she will assist with scouting, setting up team travel arrangements and helping coordinate the team’s community service efforts.
“I’m very excited to have Kisha join our coaching staff here at Tech,” said Berenato. “I think it is a compliment to our school and our program that she would want to come back and give back to the team and the school. I thought very highly of her as a player when she was here and she is one of the hardest-working student-athletes that I have ever coached.”
In her career at Tech, Ford rewrote the Yellow Jacket record books as she finished her career as Tech’s all-time leader in five statistical categories and still ranks among the top 10 in nine others. The Jackets’ most prolific scorer, she finished her four years with 1,955 points and also is the all-time leader in field goals made (780), minutes played (3,823) and steals (278).
For her efforts on the court, Ford is one of the most decorated women’s basketball players in school history as she was selected to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team three times, including a pair of second-team selections and a first-team honor in 1997. That same season, she was an honorable mention All-American by both the Associated Press and Kodak. Ford received one of Georgia Tech’s highest honors in 1997 as she was awarded the Total Person Award, annually given to one male and one female athlete recognizing excellence both on the court and in the classroom.
Following her time at Tech, Ford became the first Georgia Tech player to be drafted by the WNBA, when she was selected in the fourth round of the 1997 draft by the New York Liberty. She spent her first two seasons with the Liberty before joining the expansion Orlando Miracle in 1999 and the Miami Sol for the past two years. This past season, Ford helped lead the Sol to the WNBA playoffs, becoming the first expansion team to reach postseason play.
“I think this is a great opportunity for me to get into coaching and be part of the staff at Georgia Tech,” said Ford. “I think that I have a lot that I can offer the team from my experiences as a player and in the business world that can help the team get to the next level and the NCAA Tournament. I can share with them what work ethic is needed to be successful as a professional basketball player and can also offer my experiences with having just gotten my Master’s degree about what it takes to have success off of the court as well.”
Along with her success on the court, Ford has been involved in a number of areas outside the game of basketball, including working as an Associate Program Director for the YWCA of the U.S.A., and serving as an Investment Broker Client Service Supporter with Mutual of New York. A 1997 graduate of Georgia Tech with a Bachelor of Science degree in management, she recently completed work on her Master of Business Administration degree from Baker College in Flint, Mich.
“Kisha has had success both on the court and in business and that will be very valuable to our team,” said Berenato. “She also believes in something that I believe in as well, and that is the coaching profession and I’m very excited that she wants to start her coaching career back here at Georgia Tech.”
