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Central Connecticut State University Athletics
Amanda Shannon Russo
Amanda Shannon Russo

Bio

Amanda Shannon Russo sets forth in her second season as an assistant coach of the women's basketball staff. Russo came to Central Connecticut after most recently serving as the recruiting coordinator at Saint Anselm College and was a 1,000-point scorer at her alma mater, Merrimack College.

"I am very excited to have Amanda join our program at Central Connecticut," Piper said. "She has tremendous coaching experience and was very successful as an assistant in the NE-10 at Saint Anselm, Stonehill and Merrimack. She is an extremely hard-worker and is capable of doing an outstanding job recruiting locally for us."

"I am beyond excited to join Coach Piper and the Central Connecticut family," Russo said. "This is an amazing opportunity and I am thrilled to be a part of a successful program. I am looking forward to working with our motivated staff and players to continue to bring this program to the next level."

At Saint Anselm Russo earn an at-large bid to the Division II NCAA Tournament. The berth marked the Hawks' first NCAA bid since the 1998-99 season. In three seasons at Saint Anselm, Russo helped the program to 42 wins and helped three Hawks earn Northeast-10 First or Second Team honors and three more earn All-Rookie team recognition.

Russo came to Saint Anselm after spending a season at Stonehill College where she helped the Skyhawks win 24 games, qualify for their 21st NCAA Tournament and advance to the regional semifinals.

She spent the 2010-11 campaign at Mount Ida College and helped the Mustangs post a 14-12 record and earn a trip to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament.

A 2009 graduate of Merrimack, Russo began her coaching career at her alma mater during the 2010-11 season. She helped the Warriors to a spot in the NE-10 Tournament. She engaged in practice planning and preparation, broke down game film and helped organize and track the Warriors' community service engagements.

Russo, formerly Amanda Shannon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies from Merrimack where she was a four-year letterwinner for the Warriors. She graduated from Northeastern University in the summer of 2017 with a Masters of Sports Leadership. 

As an undergraduate at Merrimack, she was captain as a senior and a two-time All Northeast-10 performer, earning Second Team honors as a senior after collecting Third Team accolades her junior season. She finished her career with 1,360 career points. Russo was her team's representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, serving as treasurer, for three years.

Russo resides in Middletown, CT with her wife Brittney.