Nykesha Sales, an inaugural member of the Huskies of Honor, is returning to UConn to take a seat on the bench.

Head coach Geno Auriemma announced Monday that Sales will serve as an assistant coach on his women’s basketball staff. She replaces Jamelle Elliott, who resigned in June to pursue non-coaching opportunities.

A Connecticut native, Sales was a member the UConn team that won the first of the Huskies’ dozen NCAA championships. In four seasons, her teams won eight Big East titles (regular and conference tourney) and appeared in two NCAA Final Fours.

"Returning to UConn is a full-circle moment for me," Sales, 50, said. "Connecticut is home and where it all started. UConn obviously had a huge impact on my life and was such a foundational part of my success as a person, player and a coach. Being a part of this legacy again is an incredible honor. I'm extremely grateful and excited."

When her UConn career was over, Sales was the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,178 points – Maya Moore now is first with 3,036 – and she still ranks seventh on the scoring list. She remains atop the all-time steals list with 447.

She twice was an All-American and an All-Big East first-team selection. She was named the league’s freshman of the year in 1995, the defensive player of the year in 1997 and ’98, and the player of the year in 1998.

Sales was inducted into the Huskies of Honor in 2006.

"Bringing Nykesha back to UConn is absolutely the best decision that we could make," Auriemma said. "Having our current players work with one of college basketball's best players and an all-time WNBA great is a dream come true. Kesha has become an accomplished coach, teacher and recruiter, and she will add a new dimension to our program."

In her nine seasons in the WNBA, Sales was an eight-time All-Star for the Orlando Miracle/Connecticut Sun franchise. She is the all-time leading scorer for the Sun with 3,955 points.

Sales went on to play internationally before transitioning to coaching in 2016.

She started her second career with six seasons as an assistant coach at UCF, with the Golden Knights reaching the NCAA Tournament three times. The team won the regular season title in 2022, as well as the American tournament championship.

She later was an assistant coach at Georgia from 2022-26, and the team made two NCAA Tournament appearances in that span.

Sales' addition to the staff extends the continuity among the Huskies. She was a teammate of Elliott, the coach she is replacing.

Elliott came to UConn from Washington, D.C., as a player in 1992 and was part of that first national title team in 1995. Two years after her 1996 graduation, Elliott joined the Huskies coaching staff and stayed until 2009, when she accepted the job as head coach of the women’s team at Cincinnati. 

She later rejoined Auriemma’s staff in 2020 and, in all, spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach. She was part of six national championship teams as a coach, and she also worked with Auriemma when he coached the U.S. Olympic women’s team. She was a scout.