PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – ‘Cheeks in seats’ is a phrase new Pitt women’s basketball coach Robin Harmony used at a news conference at the Petersen Events Center Friday as a big emphasis for her turning around the Panthers program. It’s about getting fans to come watch them.
“We just got to get the fans in the gym to see us play because that’s how I built a program at Charleston,” Harmony said Friday. “Once I got them to come watch us, I hooked them.”
“It’s mostly all the men’s fans who think women can’t play basketball, but we can. Just get them to come in here and then we have everything we need. We just need to get people in that gym cheering and we as coaches will do the job as far as recruiting and finding the right kind of players.”
Harmony was named the 11th coach in Pitt women’s basketball history on Monday. The 19-year veteran head coach led the College of Charleston to a program-record 27 wins this year capturing the CAA regular season and conference tournament championship. In the last three seasons, she had 77 wins and was named the 2026 CAA Coach of the Year.
“They are going to be really surprised when they come,” Harmony added. “We recruit kids that fit us. It’s great, you shoot as many threes as you want. You run up and down the floor, play a lot of defense. They don’t like that part right away, but they will come to love the full-court defense. We got to recruit players who can put the ball in the basket.”
“Robin is incredibly authentic,” said Pitt athletic director Allen Greene. “She is incredibly straightforward and pragmatic and has lots of passion and belief in herself. She fits what we need right now. It’s less about age and more about experience. In having gone through and seen lots of different types of teams, having had lots of different types of seasons. Those are attributes that are going to be very beneficial to us.”
Before coaching at Charleston, the 64-year-old was the head coach at Lamar and the first head coach of NAIA St. Thomas (Fla) with an overall career record of 500-246. Harmony also won the Southland Conference Coach of the Year Award and two-time Sun Conference Coach of the Year. The Hershey native played four years at Miami, and is in the Hurricanes Hall of Fame, and started her coaching career there as an assistant in 1985.
“I don’t think it’s like it used to be when you talk about age,” Harmony said. “I think you feel your age. I think that’s a number. I know that myself and my staff will outwork anybody that is maybe your age.”
“It’s just the determination of how bad you want it. If you do hate to lose more than you love to win, you are going to work until it gets done. I don’t think age is an issue. You see now you start to see hiring of a couple of older coaches. Maybe age is something that is going to help get the program where it needs to be because you have the experience. Sitting in that seat makes a big difference and it could make it go faster.”
Pitt women’s basketball has had one winning season since joining the ACC, 20-12 in 2014-15. Since 2018-19, Pitt women’s basketball is 60-145.
Harmony pointed to former Pitt head coach Agnus Beranato going to back-to-back Sweet 16s in the 2000s as a sign that success can happen again. She said Pitt is a prestigious university in a great conference and she believes the facilities match up with anyone.
“You just got to get Jill’s and Jane’s,” Harmony said. “Whether I’m a good coach or a bad coach, if I don’t have the players, I’m not going to win.”
