Looking to fulfill her dream of becoming a Division I women's college basketball head coach, Riverdale Baptist girls basketball coach Diane Richardson has resigned her post at the Upper Marlboro private school to become an assistant on the George Washington University staff.

“I just wanted to get back into college coaching,” Richardson said. “I wanted to stay local and close to home. It was just an opportunity to do it now. It's a whole new staff. The new head coach [Jonathan Tsipis] was at Notre Dame. They played for the national championship the past two years.”

Richardson sandwiched two stints at Riverdale Baptist around one-year assistant coaching stints at American University (D.C.) in 2006-07 and the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2007-08. At American she helped the Eagles reach the Patriot League title game, and in her season at Maryland the Terps advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

“I am very excited to add Diane Richardson to my staff as an assistant coach,” said Tsipis in a school press release. “I have known coach Richardson for a long time as a high school head coach and college assistant, and she has always coached at a championship level.

“Diane shares my vision in making the [D.C./Maryland/Virginia area] our top priority in recruiting here at GW. Most importantly, I know coach Richardson will inspire our current players to grow on and off the court, making their experience at GW among the nation's best.”

Richardson coached at Riverdale Baptist from 2001-06 and then returned for the program's last three seasons and finished with an impressive 234-32 overall record. The Crusaders won the National Association of Christian Athletes and the National High School Invitational tournaments this past season. She coached 12 All-Americans and 42 Division I college athletes.

This past winter, Richardson was named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) District High School Coach of the Year and she was chosen to coach in the WBCA All-America game in Denver in March.

“My heart is at Riverdale Baptist but this is the best thing to do to reach my career goal of being a Division I coach,” she said.

jpeters@gazette.net