Nell Fortner Takes on New Role as Coach of Canada Women's Senior National Team

Nell Fortner is taking her career across the northern border.

The former Purdue women's basketball coach was named the next head coach of the Canada Women's Senior National Team.

Canada Basketball made the announcement on Monday.

The news comes weeks after Fortner announced her retirement from Georgia Tech after serving as the coach of the Yellow Jackets from 2019-25.

Fortner and 25 athletes have made a commitment to the Canada Women's Senior National Team through the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, which will be held in Berlin, Germany.

We are thrilled to welcome Nell to Canada Basketball, said Steve Baur , Women's High Performance general manager and vice president.

Shes 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.

Fortner will decades of coaching experience to the Canada Women's Senior National Team, including work with USA Basketball.

She was an assistant on the staff from 1995-96 and was the head coach from 1997-2000.

The United States won a gold medal in the 1998 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin and won another gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Im honored to join Canada Basketball and help lead this next chapter for the Senior Womens National Team, said Fortner.

Ive 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 Im excited to get to work.

Following her playing career at the University of Texas, Fortner jumped right into coaching at the high school level in 1983, spending three years at Killeen High School (Texas).

She then got her first job at the college level at Stephen F.

Austin in 1986.

After one year at USA Basketball, Fortner was named the coach at Purdue for the 1996-97 season, replacing Lin Dunn.

In her lone season with the Boilermakers, Fortner guided the team to a 17-11 record and a 12-4 mark in the Big Ten.

Purdue won a Big Ten regular season title and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament that year.

Fortner returned to USA Basketball as the head coach following her one season in West Lafayette.

She then worked as a head coach of the Indiana Fever (2001-03) and returned to the college level in 2004, coaching at Auburn until 2012.

She then was named coach at Georgia Tech in 2019, where she remained until the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.

In 15 seasons at the college level, Fortner compiled a 272-192 record and her teams reached six NCAA Tournaments and played in two WNIT tournaments and one WBIT event.

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