The season of change continues at Gampel Pavilion.

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley lost Luke Murray, one of his top lieutenants, this spring when Murray accepted the head coach job at Boston College.

Now, moving forward, women’s coach Geno Auriemma will be without Jamelle Elliott, who announced Thursday that she is leaving her job as an assistant coach after 18 seasons.

A UConn grad, Elliott said it is time for her to do something different.

Experience working with one of the biggest programs in women's college basketball. That's what the Huskies lose with Elliott's departure, and that is not easily replaced.

Elliott came to UConn from Washington, D.C., as a player in 1992 and was part of UConn’s 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.

There, she compiled a record of 113-162 between 2009 and her departure following a 19-13 season in 2017-18. She never was far from Auriemma’s eye, with the Bearcats a member of both the Big East and the American Athletic Conference, like UConn, during those years.

After leaving Cincinnati she returned to UConn as the associate athletic director for UConn's student-athlete alumni organization, The National C Club.

Elliott 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.

Her experience with the Huskies program makes her spot difficult to fill, even though UConn said Thursday that a national search will begin immediately.

With Elliott’s departure, the Huskies are losing someone with deep institutional knowledge, a coach who can teach “the UConn Way,” a woman who can mentor UConn players from the perspective of someone who once was one herself.

And don’t forget someone with 18 years on the bench, studying under Auriemma.

Auriemma issued a heartfelt statement Thursday about Elliott’s contributions to UConn.

"Jamelle spent more than 30 years in and around our program as a player and a coach and she was an important piece of seven championships here at UConn," Auriemma said. "She has impacted generations of Connecticut basketball players, whether it was in her playing career as a captain and a leader, or in her coaching tenure as a recruiter, teacher and mentor.”

"It's going to be difficult to replace someone with that much experience who had that much invested in UConn,” he continued. “I know that the passion she brought for the university as a whole, for the basketball program, for the players, it's going to be difficult to replace. … We'll miss Jamelle tremendously, but I'm grateful for all the time we spent together and all that we accomplished together."

Elliott did not give any clues about her next step, about that new passion, as Auriemma called it, that will fill her life. Instead, in her statement, she discussed what UConn has meant to her.

"I want to thank Coach Auriemma for seeing something in a young girl from the inner city of D.C. enough to be a part of this program," Elliott said. "In the over 30 years since, he has had such a profound impact on my life as a coach, mentor and friend. Having the opportunity to impact so many young women and help provide the same meaningful experience I had as a student-athlete has been the greatest part of this journey.

"This was not an easy decision, but I know it is the right time for me to begin a new chapter. It was a privilege and honor to wear the Husky uniform and be a part of the coaching staff.  UConn will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will always love and support our program and the university."

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