Georgia Tech women’s basketball coach Nell Fortner informed her team and the school that she is retiring, Tech announced Monday.
Tech assistant LaSondra Barrett will serve as Tech’s interim head coach. Fortner’s retirement is effective immediately.
“After a lot of deep thought and contemplation following the conclusion of our season, I have decided to retire from coaching,” Fortner said in a release. “This was not an easy decision, nor one that I made lightly, especially after returning to the NCAA Tournament this season and having so many special players and coaches coming back next season. Georgia Tech is a gold mine, as an institution and an athletics department, and is well-positioned to compete for ACC and national championships in women’s basketball. That makes it very hard to step away. But for me, after spending much of the last 30-plus years on the sideline, I just feel that it’s time.
“I’d like to thank all of the players, coaches, staff, administration and fans that have made the last six years at Georgia Tech so special. It’s the people that make this place so great, and I will miss everyone very much. However, I am excited for the new head coach that will have the incredible opportunity to lead this program into the next era of collegiate athletics. I am positive that they will have great success and I will always be there to support this program and the wonderful people associated with it.”
Fortner, 66, coached the Yellow Jackets for six seasons and led the team to the NCAA Tournament this past season and a 22-11 record. The Jackets began the season 15-0 and ended the season with a loss to Richmond in the first round of March Madness in Los Angeles.
Five Tech players have entered the NCAA’s transfer portal and assistant coach Blanche Alverson was named the head coach at San Diego on March 25.
In April 2019, Fortner was hired by Tech after nearly a decade of working as an analyst for ESPN. She had previously coached at Auburn (2004-12) and Purdue (1996-97). In February, Fortner signed a three-year contract extension through the 2029-30 season.
Tech made the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16 in 2021 and lost in the tournament’s first round in 2023. The Jackets also participated in the 2024 WBIT.
Fortner was named ACC coach of the year for the 2020-21 season and named the Atlanta Tipoff’s Club Whack Hyder Georgia women’s college coach of the year for the 2024-25 season. She had a record of 110-75 in six seasons with the Jackets.
“Nell Fortner will be greatly missed by the entire Georgia Tech community,” Tech Athletic Director J Batt said in a release. “She’s not only been an incredible leader of our women’s basketball program, but she’s been a great sounding board for me. I can’t thank her enough for her friendship and for all that she’s done for Georgia Tech, our women’s basketball program and the student-athletes that she has coached during her six years on The Flats.
“The future of Georgia Tech women’s basketball is very bright. We will immediately begin a national search to identify the best new leader to build on the success that coach Fortner achieved here at Tech.”
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