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Georgia women's basketball has begun its reconstruction under the guise of the Ayla Guzzardo era and four seems to be the lucky number.
The new head coach, fourth in program history, has already recruited four players from the transfer portal, including two from McNeese State, one from Purdue and one from Wake Forest.
She's also hired four assistant coaches: Kenneth Lee, Jr., Justin Payne, Ronneka Robertson and Amber Gregg.
Lee was named an associate head coach and the defensive coordinator, while Payne was named an associate head coach and the offensive coordinator. Robertson and Gregg will work as assistant coaches and recruiting coordinators alongside Bri Patton.
Georgia released the salaries for most the coaches to the Athens Banner-Herald under an open records request. As previously reported, Guzzardo will be paid $600,000 annually. Lee will make $245,000 a year, Gregg will be paid $180,000 and Robertson $125,000.
The previous staff pay heading into last season included $1.03 million a year for coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson and three assistant coaches each making at least $215,000 per season.
Lee, Robertson and Guzzardo go way back. The pair followed Guzzardo from Southeastern Louisiana — where they engineered four-straight winning seasons, two regular season conference championships, a tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament berth — to McNeese State — where the trio engineered the best single-season turnaround with a 19-win improvement, taking the Cowgirls from 10-21 in 2024-25 to 29-6 in 2025-26.
Prior to their time with Guzzardo, Lee had stints at Brusly High School in Hammond, La., and Ponchatoula High School. Roberston spent time at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community and East Central Community College in Decatur, Miss., as well as Kentwood High School in Louisiana.
Robertson coached two-time Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year Jen Pierre and 2023 Southland Conference Tournament MVP Haley Giaratano.
Guzzardo nabbed Payne from the head coaching role at Nicholls State (a Division 1 school in the Southland Conference) and Gregg from an assistant coaching role at UTSA.
Payne led the Colonels to their best finish since 2018-19 and their first ever NCAA Tournament win on any side. Prior to taking over at his alma mater, Payne had a four-season stint as the head coach at Georgia Southwestern and spent eight seasons as an assistant at Nicholls State.
Prior to joining the staff at her alma mater, Gregg spent six seasons at Louisiana, working with the Sun Belt 2019 Freshmen of the Year selection, Brandi Williams. She was a director of player development for boys in Austin, Texas, as well between the under-17 team and the elite program.
Patton is one of two who were retained from Katie Abrahamson-Henderson's staff, including the executive director of basketball operations and administration, Megan Herboth.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: A look at the names, salaries of Georgia WBB's new assistant coaches
Continue reading...
The new head coach, fourth in program history, has already recruited four players from the transfer portal, including two from McNeese State, one from Purdue and one from Wake Forest.
She's also hired four assistant coaches: Kenneth Lee, Jr., Justin Payne, Ronneka Robertson and Amber Gregg.
Lee was named an associate head coach and the defensive coordinator, while Payne was named an associate head coach and the offensive coordinator. Robertson and Gregg will work as assistant coaches and recruiting coordinators alongside Bri Patton.
Georgia released the salaries for most the coaches to the Athens Banner-Herald under an open records request. As previously reported, Guzzardo will be paid $600,000 annually. Lee will make $245,000 a year, Gregg will be paid $180,000 and Robertson $125,000.
The previous staff pay heading into last season included $1.03 million a year for coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson and three assistant coaches each making at least $215,000 per season.
Lee, Robertson and Guzzardo go way back. The pair followed Guzzardo from Southeastern Louisiana — where they engineered four-straight winning seasons, two regular season conference championships, a tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament berth — to McNeese State — where the trio engineered the best single-season turnaround with a 19-win improvement, taking the Cowgirls from 10-21 in 2024-25 to 29-6 in 2025-26.
Prior to their time with Guzzardo, Lee had stints at Brusly High School in Hammond, La., and Ponchatoula High School. Roberston spent time at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community and East Central Community College in Decatur, Miss., as well as Kentwood High School in Louisiana.
Robertson coached two-time Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year Jen Pierre and 2023 Southland Conference Tournament MVP Haley Giaratano.
Guzzardo nabbed Payne from the head coaching role at Nicholls State (a Division 1 school in the Southland Conference) and Gregg from an assistant coaching role at UTSA.
Payne led the Colonels to their best finish since 2018-19 and their first ever NCAA Tournament win on any side. Prior to taking over at his alma mater, Payne had a four-season stint as the head coach at Georgia Southwestern and spent eight seasons as an assistant at Nicholls State.
Prior to joining the staff at her alma mater, Gregg spent six seasons at Louisiana, working with the Sun Belt 2019 Freshmen of the Year selection, Brandi Williams. She was a director of player development for boys in Austin, Texas, as well between the under-17 team and the elite program.
Patton is one of two who were retained from Katie Abrahamson-Henderson's staff, including the executive director of basketball operations and administration, Megan Herboth.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: A look at the names, salaries of Georgia WBB's new assistant coaches
Continue reading...
