Sharon Gittens
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Sharon Gittens is entering her 16th season as an assistant coach with the women’s basketball program and her responsibilities include academic supervision, alumni relations, recruiting, game scheduling and team travel.
Gittens graduated from Trenton State College in 1991 with a degree in Business Management and was a three-year letter winner and starting point guard for the Lions, helping her alma mater advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament in 1988.
“The opportunity Rider has given me to coach at the Division I level and develop and mature as a person is something I will always appreciate and treasure,” said Gittens. “Working alongside Coach Harrison has broadened my horizons and enhanced my ideals about the game of basketball.”
Since coming to Rider, Gittens has helped recruit and coach 10 of the 16 1,000 point scorers and 11 of the 19 leading rebounders in the 68 year history of the program. Two of her recruits, Debbie Snyder and Jessica Beck, are members of the Rider Athletics Hall of Fame. Numerous former players have entered the coaching ranks, either on the collegiate or high school level.
During her fifth and sixth seasons, the women’s basketball teams were honored for having the highest and second highest team grade point average in the nation by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) with the 1995-96 academic national championship team honored by former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman in a ceremony at the statehouse
in Trenton.
Gittens has been actively involved in the community both on and off campus. She has worked with the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure volunteer committee and has served as the liaison for team clinics at the Parkway Elementary School in Ewing and the Millhill
School in Trenton. In addition, Gittens has coordinated the team’s efforts to help feed the hungry at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen during Thanksgiving.
Most recently, Gittens served as a guest speaker at the Valentine Residential Correctional facility for females during women’s history month. Gittens has worked extensively broadening the participation of the women’s basketball team with such programs as the MAAC Gives Back and National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
“Sharon works diligently and has established herself as the “go to” person on campus,” said head coach Tori Harrison. “Sharon has developed many valuable relationships with faculty and staff over the years.”
Gittens earned her Master degree in Human Services Administration from Rider in 2002 and resides in Pemberton, New Jersey with her daughter, Gabriela.
