Kimberley Rybczyk was named Head Women’s Basketball Coach at her alma mater Western Connecticut State University in April of 2002. She will begin her eighth season with the Colonials.

Last season, WestConn went 21-6, was 12-2 in the Little East Conference and made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as an at-large recipient, since 1998.

For the second straight year, Rybczyk was named LEC Coach of the Year, by her peers a year ago.
Each year since her arrival, the Colonials have improved on their record. With back-to-back 20-plus win season, the 2007-08 finish of 20-7 was the first since WestConn went 23-7 and were crowned ECAC New England Champions in 1998-99.

Rybczyk, a 1988 graduate and a four-year women’s basketball letter-winner, returned to the Danbury, Connecticut area having spent the previous 14 years as assistant coach at several Division I and Division II schools in New England as well as heading up the programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for six seasons and Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX for one.

During her stint at Rensselaer (N.Y), her squad posted a 23-5 record, won the UCAA championship, and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history during the 2000-01 season. She was named UCAA Coach of the Year twice, WBCA Division III, District 2 Coach of the Year once, BCANY Coach of the Year once, and New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year once. Also, Rybczyk’s squads at RPI and Southwestern were ranked twice among the Top 25 in the nation academically by the WBCA in Division III for cumulative team GPA.

Rybczyk filled the position left vacant at WestConn when her former coach Jody Rajcula retired in March of 2002, after 21 years at the helm. WestConn posted an overall record of 383-168 during Rajcula’s tenure.
In 1988, Rybczyk was a Division III Third Team All-American at WestConn where she is still the career assist leader with 606 assists. She ranks sixth on the Colonials’ all-time steals list with 199.

In addition, Rybczyk has coached the Adirondack Team in the Empire State Games Open Division (NY) during the summer of 1999 where she led her team to the bronze medal. She also coached in the Nutmeg State Games Open Division (Conn.) from 1991-1994 where her team earned three gold medals in four years. Rybczyk has also served for two seasons on the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll Committee from 2004-2006.

A native of Cromwell, Connecticut, Rybczyk was the first female inducted into the Cromwell Athletic Hall of Fame during the spring of 1992.

Kim Rybczyk’s Record at WestConn: