Rhonda Lee Rompola (born March 9, 1960) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head women's basketball coach at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU) from 1991 to 2016.

Early life and education

Rompola was born and raised in

Sayreville, New Jersey Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 Uni ...

. She graduated from

Sayreville War Memorial High School Sayreville War Memorial High School (SWMHS) is a four-year public high school located in the Parlin section of Sayreville, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone seco ...

in 1978. From 1978 to 1980, Rompola played basketball at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, averaging 10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists and was part of two

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

championship teams. Rompola transferred to SMU in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. After redshirting one season per NCAA transfer rules, Rompola played at

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

at SMU from 1981 to 1983. With 21.3 points per game, Rompola was SMU's leading scorer in 1981–82. She graduated in 1983 with a business degree.

Coaching career

From 1983 to 1991, Rompola was an assistant coach at SMU before being promoted to head coach. In her first season as coach in 1991–92, she posted a 17–12 record, the team's first winning season since 1981–82 when she was a player. Overall, she posted a 439–317 () record at SMU. In 1998, SMU won its first-ever WAC tournament title, as it defeated 4th-ranked

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

in the final, and then 25th-ranked

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. In 1998 and 1999, Rompola guided the Mustangs to back-to-back 20-win seasons. She was named the 1999 WAC Coach of the year for her efforts. In 2007, SMU went 24–9, and finished second in Conference USA play with an 11–5 mark. Along with being SMU's all-time leader in coaching wins in any sport, she also earned an honorable mention on the all-time Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team. She coached her 400th victory on February 21, 2013.

Personal life

Previously married to Steven Haddock, Rompola married men's basketball coach

Mike Dement David Michael Dement (born April 10, 1954) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head men's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is married to former Southern Methodist University wom ...

in June 2007.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rompola, Rhonda American women's basketball players Living people 1960 births Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball players People from Sayreville, New Jersey Sayreville War Memorial High School alumni SMU Mustangs women's basketball coaches American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from New Jersey Basketball players from Middlesex County, New Jersey Forwards (basketball) Women's Professional Basketball League players 20th-century American sportswomen