THE FLATS – After helping lead UConn to the 2025 National Championship, Ben Kantor has joined the Georgia Tech women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach, head coach Karen Blair announced on Friday. In two seasons as a member of UConn’s coaching staff, Kantor helped the Huskies to two Final Fours, four conference titles and a national championship.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ben, Catherine and Emilia to our Yellow Jacket family,” Blair said. “I have worked with Ben previously and know we share the same values, vision and passion for developing players. Adding a coach with Ben’s national championship and Final Four experience is a game-changer. He brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and knows what it takes to win at the highest level. Ben will be an invaluable asset to our players and staff and I look forward to collaborating with him on The Flats.”
Kantor arrived in Storrs as a video coordinator for UConn in 2015 and was elevated to assistant coach ahead of the 2023-24 season. He helped guide UConn to 70 wins over the last two years as the Huskies went 37-3 last season and 33-6 in 2023-24. In Kantor’s two coaching seasons, UConn went 36-0 in Big East play, capturing regular season and tournament titles both years.
Over the course of his 10 seasons at UConn, the Huskies won two national titles, 18 conference titles and advanced to eight NCAA Final Fours. Kantor also previously served as a temporary assistant coach for UConn during the Covid-19 impacted 2020-21 season.
“My family and I are incredibly excited and honored to join Karen Blair and the Georgia Tech family,” commented Kantor. “You build special programs with special people, and Karen is a special person. I’ve known her almost 20 years now and she is a tireless worker with a high basketball IQ. Beyond that, she’s just one of the best people I’ve ever known. We’ve talked about this day a lot over the last 15 years, so to be able to finally work together again and execute the championship vision she has for this program is humbling and exciting.”
Additional coaching stops for Kantor include Houston Baptist (2011-12) and Colgate (2010-11). He served as the video coordinator for Memphis women’s basketball (2012-15) and also held the same position at SMU from 2007-10.
Kantor was a practice player for the Illinois women’s basketball team for three seasons and graduated from the university in 2006 with a degree in finance. Kantor is married to Catherine Awwad-Kantor, and they have a daughter, Emilia.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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