College - Georgia
In her seventh season as an assistant coach with the Connecticut Sun, Bernadette Mattox works primarily with the team’s wing players, and is also responsible for helping to scout opponents and college players as well as prepare game plans.

Last season, Lindsay Whalen had an MVP-caliber season, leading the league in assist average and assist-per-turnover ratio while setting new career highs for scoring and rebounding. Jamie Carey also had a career year while rookie Amber Holt was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team.

Connecticut led the WNBA in assist-per-turnover ratio (1.25) in 2008, the third time since 2005 that has happened. The Sun have not ranked lower than third in this category since the 2003 season.

In 2007, Whalen and Katie Douglas became the first backcourt tandem in franchise history to each compile 100 assists in a season.

Hired by head coach Mike Thibault on March 27, 2003, Mattox brought 18 years of Division I and international coaching experience with her when she accepted an assistant coaching position with the Connecticut Sun. Prior to her arrival in Connecticut, Mattox made NCAA history when she became the first female to serve as a Division I assistant for a men’s team, beginning a four-year stint under coach Rick Pitino at Kentucky in 1990. During the four seasons Mattox was on Pitino’s staff, the Wildcats were 108-24 with a Final Four appearance in 1993. She also served as an assistant athletic director at UK from 1994-95.

In 1995, Mattox became the first African American to coach the Kentucky Women’s basketball program, guiding the Wildcats for eight seasons. During her tenure as UK’s head coach, she led the Wildcats to an NCAA Tournament berth in 1999. She also served as an assistant coach on the 1998 USA Basketball Women’s World Championship team, which posted a 9-0 record on the way to winning the Gold Medal in Germany.

Mattox graduated from the University of Georgia, where she was a standout women's basketball player, earning the program's first All-American designation in 1979-80, when she averaged 20.6 points, 4.6 assists and 4.2 steals per game as a junior. Mattox was also the first player in Georgia women’s basketball history to earn Academic All-American honors, and she finished her career averaging 15 points per game. She went on to work as an assistant to Georgia head coach Andy Landers for five years.

Mattox lives in Lexington, Ky. with her husband Vince and son Vincent.