Canada Basketball’s next Women’s Head Coach retired from the NCAA only to be picked up by Canada weeks later.
After the news of Gord Herbert’s hiring as Canada Basketball’s next Men’s Head Coach, the federation announced their new Women’s team coach on Monday. Taking up the position will be Nell Fortner, who is coming out of a checks notes month-ish long retirement to lead this team.
It’s a fantastic hire for Canada for several reasons. First, Fortner has coaching experience at every level — she most recently coached in the NCAA for Georgia Tech, leading them to several weeks ranked in the top-25 this past season. She also coached in the NCAA at Auburn and Purdue in the past. She has WNBA experience as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Indiana Fever from 1999-2003. She also coached Team USA women’s basketball team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, leading them to Gold.
The experience is one thing, but her exact experience fits into the needs of the current Canada Basketball women’s team so well. Canada’s young stars are currently in the NCAA — Syla Swords at Michigan, Toby Fournier at Duke, Avery Howell at USC and now at Washington. Delaney Gibb just won Big-12 Freshman of the Year at BYU, and Jasmine Bascoe had a great postseason at Villanova. Agot Makeer recently committed to South Carolina to play under Dawn Staley, and Savvy Swords has one more year left of high school. These players will all likely be in the Canada Basketball system for years to come, and having a coach that understands how to develop them NOW is spectacular for the next phase of this program’s progression. Coaches will tell you there are big differences between coaching at the collegiate level as opposed to the professional level. It’s why some of the biggest names in college basketball — Dawn Staley, Dan Hurley, and Kim Mulkey — have all publicly declined taking NBA/WNBA jobs.
Knowing how to coach college players differently will be extremely helpful for Fortner in these next few years. Yet her current biggest stars play in the WNBA — Bridget Carleton, Kia Nurse, Aaliyah Edwards, and Laeticia Amihere — experience Fortner also checks off. Those early years in the WNBA were formative in developing the culture of franchises, and Fortner’s experience with the Fever will help her bring out the best in her current WNBA stars.
The piece of the puzzle here that is intriguing is the Team USA Basketball experience. Team USA is a well-oiled machine. They know how to pump out gold-medal winning teams like no other basketball federation worldwide. Hiring someone who has experience with that system is fantastic for Canada. Fortner has won a gold medal at the Olympics, she knows what it takes, and she knows how to feels to finally reach that point. Who better to lead Canada to the podium than someone who knows the view from the top? According to Canada Basketball, Fortner “the winningest coach in USA Basketball women’s history, with a staggering 101-14 record, including gold medals at the 1998 FIBA World Championship and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Nell to Canada Basketball,” said Steve Baur, General Manager and Vice-President, Women’s High Performance. “She’s 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.”
The hiring process for Fortner seems interesting, too — she had just announced her retirement from Georgia Tech women’s basketball about a month ago. According to a tweet from Sportnet’s Michael Grange, Canada Basketball cold-called her shortly after to gauge interest in their open position, and she was interested.
She hit all the boxes in this search for Canada Basketball, a list of experience that was public in reporting about the search. They wanted someone with WNBA and NCAA experience, along with international experience — but also a track record of winning results. That’s Nell Fortner.
“I’m honoured to join Canada Basketball and help lead this next chapter for the Senior Women’s National Team,” said Fortner. “I’ve 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 – I’m excited to get to work.”
Canada’s basketball athletes also had a say in the hiring process — they met with team leadership last fall to make sure everyone was on the same page about the future of the program. They outlined qualities they wanted in their next head coach. Baur said it set a “clear tone” for next steps.
On the athletes’ side, 25 Canadians have committed to the program through the 2026 World Cup, willing to do whatever it takes to help build the team up. Since qualifying tournaments happen all year round, having a deep roster of athletes to dive into when others are unavailable due to WNBA commitments or the NCAA season will help build culture. Canada Basketball announced the pool of 25 players that will be a part of this next chapter.
“We were clear about what this program needs to reach the next level — and that started with setting our own standards for commitment and accountability,” said two-time Olympian and Senior Women’s National Team athlete, Bridget Carleton. “This isn’t just about how we show up, but how we push toward something bigger.”
Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team will compete this summer at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup. The top six teams will qualify for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament, which takes place next March. The team will also hold a training camp this November in Victoria, B.C., as it continues preparations for the next stage of FIBA World Cup qualification.
Here is the current Canadian player pool:
- Kayla Alexander – Milton, Ont.
- Jasmine Bascoe – Milton, Ont.
- Niyah Becker – Winnipeg, Man.
- Bridget Carleton – Chatham, Ont.
- Shay Colley – Brampton, Ont.
- Shy Day-Wilson – Toronto, Ont.
- Quinn Dornstauder – Regina, Sask.
- Yvonne Ejim – Calgary, Alta.
- Aaliyah Edwards – Kingston, Ont.
- Delaney Gibb – Raymond, Alta.
- Taliyah Henderson – Vail, Arizona
- Sami Hill – Toronto, Ont.
- Avery Howell – Boise, Idaho
- Phillipina Kyei – Calgary, Alta.
- Latasha Lattimore – Toronto, Ont.
- Agot Makeer – Thunder Bay, Ont.
- Kia Nurse – Hamilton, Ont.
- Shaina Pellington – Pickering, Ont.
- Emily Potter – Winnipeg, Man.
- Merissah Russell – Ottawa, Ont.
- Savvy Swords – Sudbury, Ont.
- Syla Swords – Sudbury, Ont.
- Sarah Te-Biasu – Montreal, Que.
- Tara Wallack – Surrey, B.C.
- Keishana Washington – Pickering, Ont.