Randi Henderson spent seven seasons at the helm for the Bears. (Clara Richards | Student Life)

Hiring a high-profile coach to take the reins of a Division III athletic program tends to be a rare occurrence. With the hire of Lisa Stone, Washington University’s women’s basketball program appears to be bucking that trend.

Stone brings a nearly unmatched depth of experience to the WashU program. Since 1985, she has been a head coach at both the Division I and III levels, and left all five of her stops along the way with winning records. Most notably, Stone spent over two decades coaching Division I programs. Following stints at Drake University (2000-2003) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2003-2011), where she was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2010, Stone coached at St. Louis University from 2012-2022.

At SLU, Stone led the Billikens to their first ever A-10 regular-season title and a program-record 26 wins in 2016. Stone was fired following a 9-18 season in 2022, but recorded winning records in six of her seasons with SLU. In addition, when she left SLU, Stone was ranked 14th in career wins among active Division I head coaches.

Stone is also a well-respected coach in Division III circles. She started her career at Cornell College (1985-1988), before coaching University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1988-2000. At Eau Claire, Stone turned around a program that had just one previous winning season, bringing them to the National Championship game in 1997, where they lost to New York University by two points. That same year, she was named WBCA Division III Coach of the Year.

“Coach Stone’s arrival marks an exciting new chapter for our women’s basketball program, and I am certain her leadership will inspire not only our scholar-champions, but also our broader University community,” Athletic Director Anthony Azama said in a press release announcing the hire. 

Stone’s appointment came 57 days after former head coach Randi Henderson announced that she had accepted a job as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, a program that has made national headlines with back-to-back NCAA Division I national runner-up finishes with star point guard Caitlin Clark. 

Henderson started for the Hawkeyes as a player for three seasons (1998-2001), was a team captain, and finished 11th on the program’s all-time scoring list. Stone also played at Iowa from 1980 to 1984, where she was a three-time team captain and finished 31st in the program’s career scoring charts.

In 2017, Henderson took over at WashU from Hall of Fame coach Nancy Fahey, who won five national championships with the Bears. Henderson departs St. Louis after seven seasons, which included four trips to the NCAA tournament and one University Athletic Association (UAA) title. Her team had a record of 103-54 during her tenure and finished with winning records in every campaign. In the 2018-19 season, when Henderson led the Bears to a UAA title, she was named the d3hoops.com Central Region Coach of the Year, and her coaching staff earned UAA Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

“We are appreciative of Randi Henderson leading our program for the last seven seasons, adding to the legacy of WashU Women’s basketball,” Azama said in a statement published by the WashU Athletic Department. “She established a culture of excellence, inclusivity, and empowerment while simultaneously impacting lives beyond the sport of basketball.” 

During Henderson’s tenure, former players criticized what they saw as a toxic environment that led a number of players to leave the team over the last few years, as a Student Life report revealed this May. While many players identified struggles with “differential treatment” from Henderson’s coaching staff, other players described her coaching style as “tough love.”

After making a run to the NCAA tournament under Henderson last year, the Bears program is filled with potential. Guard Jessica Brooks is returning as a graduate student, and sophomore center Lexy Harris will look to build off a breakout first-year campaign. While Henderson’s departure left questions about the program, the hire of a proven winner — Stone — sets the Bears up for an intriguing 2024-25 season.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on June 27, 2024, and was updated and republished on Aug. 25, 2024, after WashU announced the hiring of Lisa Stone.