Milligan out as head coach; ‘I’m at peace’

This story was updated at 11:19 p.m. March 11.

By Kadie DiGiuseppe

Rider women’s basketball Head Coach Lynn Milligan was let go after leading the team for 18 seasons, Rider Athletics announced. 

The statement came from Athletic Director Don Harnum shortly before 2 p.m. on March 10 on the Rider Athletics website. 

“I sincerely wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors,” Harnum said in the announcement.

Milligan was not quoted in the statement. 

In an interview with The Rider News on March 11, Milligan said, “Being in this profession for as long as I have, I’m proud of the longevity that I’ve had. Push comes to shove and it comes down to winning and we did not do that enough. I’m at peace with that. I’m perfectly fine with that.”

The Broncs finished the 2024-25 season with a 7-22 overall record and a 5-15 conference record, which put them in 11th in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings, just missing the postseason.

This is the first time that Rider has been left out of the MAAC tournament in program history with the introduction of two new teams to the conference and a new playoff format this season.

The tournament is from March 11 through March 15 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. 

Milligan said, “I’m proud of the work we did at Rider. I was able to coach at my alma mater for as long as I was and just really proud of everything that we did, proud of every player that ever played for me, proud of every coach that ever coached with me, and I feel good about the way that we left the program and the legacy that we left. I’m just really proud of that and really proud of everybody that associated with it.”

A former manager for the team from 2021 to 2024, Thomas Metz, said he found out the news from an X, formerly Twitter, notification on his phone. 

“I was like ‘What coach is getting changed?’ and then when I saw that it was Coach Milligan I was like, ‘Wow.’ I was kind of shocked,” Metz said. “I don’t think Rider will find another coach like Coach Milligan.”

According to the statement, Milligan finished her Rider career with a 214-332 overall record and is the all-time leader for career victories, 11 ahead of current men’s basketball Head Coach Kevin Baggett.

Under her leadership, the Broncs won the MAAC championship in 2020 for the first time in program history. However, that season the MAAC and NCAA tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rider was given the 2020 title for its conference-best regular season record. 

“Coach Milligan was a leader on and off the court,” Metz said. “She was a mentor and a leader and all of her players always respected that of her. She always wanted the best out of her players and 100% effort all the time.”

In Milligan’s time at Rider, 13 players combined to earn 20 All-MAAC honors while nine other players earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors under her. Six special awards were also earned under Milligan, according to Rider Athletics. 

Milligan said, “With the number of text messages and phone calls that I’ve gotten from players, past players, alumni, the Rider community, coaches, friends, reminded me that it is less about winning [and] more about the people that I’ve been around.”

Milligan is a 1992 graduate class with a bachelors in communication and in 1994 with a masters in counseling. 

“The Rider community has been nothing but wonderful to me and I’m going to miss it,” Milligan said.

The end of the statement reads, “A national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.”