Nell Fortner named coach of Canadian senior women’s basketball team

Canada Basketball has found a new leader for its senior women’s national team.

Nell Fortner was named the program’s new head coach in an announcement made by the organization on Monday.

Her decorated resume includes an Olympic gold medal as head coach of Team USA in 2000 and a FIBA women’s world championship in 1998. Fortner also previously spent time as a head coach in the NCAA — winning Big Ten Coach of the Year with Purdue in 1997 — and as an executive with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.

The 66-year-old recently announced her retirement from NCAA coaching after spending the last six years (2019-2025) heading Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball team. She led the program to its second Sweet 16 appearance in school history 2021.

“We are thrilled to welcome Nell to Canada Basketball,” said Steve Baur, general Manager and vice-president, women’s high performance, in a statement. “She’s a proven leader with deep experience at the highest levels of the sport, and someone whose values and vision strongly align with the standards our program has committed to for the future.”

Along with leading the U.S. to a pair of gold medals, she is also the winningest coach in women’s USA Basketball history with a 101-14 record.

“I’m honoured to join Canada Basketball and help lead this next chapter for the senior women’s national team,” said Fortner. “I’ve followed the rise of this program for years and have great respect for the culture the organization and players are building. This is a special group with the talent, toughness and togetherness and they have the ability to achieve something great – I’m excited to get to work.”

Fortner takes over for Victor Lapena, who led Canada’s women’s team from 2022-24 before he and the program mutually agreed to part ways after the Paris Olympics, where Canada failed to win a game. He previously led them to a fourth-place finish at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup.

Canada will next compete internationally at the 2025 FIBA women’s AmeriCup this summer. The top six teams will qualify for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.

The Canadian women are currently ranked No. 7 in the latest FIBA World Rankings.