Janice Joseph-Richard (; February 19, 1964 – December 1, 2010) was an American basketball coach who coached the San Jose State Spartans, Xavier Gold Nuggets, and Louisiana College Lady Wildcats.
Early life Joseph-Richard was born on February 19, 1964, and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana, where she attended and played basketball at Peabody Magnet High School. After graduating, she went on to play for Louisiana College (now Louisiana Christian University), where, in 1986, she would lead to team to a #1 ranking and a third-place finish at the NAIA National Championship. While at Louisiana College, she amassed over 2,300 points had had 700 assists and was selected as an NAIA first-team All-American selection in both 1985 and 1986.
After graduating, Joseph Richard played basketball in Europe for the PS Karlsruhe Lions, winning a European league title.
Coaching career In 1987, Richard would become an assistant coach at Southeastern Louisiana under former Louisiana College head coach, Frank Schneider. In 1992, she became the head coach of the Xavier Gold Nuggets, coaching the team to five consecutive NAIA tournament appearances and being named the GCAC Coach of the Year four times. In 1998, she resigned as head coach at Xavier to move to California for a marriage.
A year later, she returned to coaching, being hired as the head coach for the San Jose State Spartans. Over her tenure as the Spartans' head coach, she guided the team to its first winning season in 18 years, though fell shy of a conference title. She was named as the 2002 WAC coach for her turnaround of the team. She coached the team for seven seasons, before taking medical leave to fight breast cancer, and moving back to Louisiana.
After recovering from her cancer treatments, she was hired to coach for her alma mater, the Louisiana College Lady Wildcats. As head coach Joseph-Richard lead the team to a first round appearance at the 2010 NCAA Division III Tournament.
After the 2009–10 season, Joseph-Richard again took a leave of absence to treat her breast cancer, though she would not return, passing from her cancer on December 1, 2010.
Legacy In 2016, Joseph-Richard was inducted to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. In 2022, she was inducted to Xavier athletics' Hall of Fame.
Head coaching record
References