Former women’s basketball Head Coach Pat Knapp accepted the head coaching position at the University of Pennsylvania this July, ending an 18-year tenure with the Hoyas.

While at Georgetown , Knapp was heralded for both the athletic and academic successes of his team members. Twelve of his former players have gone on to play in European leagues and two – including recent graduate Rebekkah Brunson (COL ’04) – have been drafted into the WNBA. In addition to these athletic achievements, he has coached one Rhodes Scholar and 49 Big East Academic All-Stars.

Knapp led Georgetown to the WNIT in four of his last six seasons and one NCAA tournament. Under his guidance the Hoyas won two Big East regular season championships and carried a 20-win season twice. In the 1992-93 season the Hoyas won their first conference title on its way to a Sweet 16 appearance in the team’s only trip to the NCAA tournament. For his successful season, Knapp earned the Big East Coach of the Year honors and Georgetown ‘s Outstanding Coaching Achievement Award. The team was named the ECAC Women’s Basketball Team of the Year.

The Pennsylvania team he is now charged with coming off a successful 17-11 season and its second Ivy League championship in four years.

” If it wasn’t Penn, I wouldn’t be here,” Knapp told the Philadelphia Inquirer in late July, “but I know the people in this athletic administration, and the facilities are great.”

Knapp is a native of Roslyn , Pa. , and began his coaching career in 1976 at Philadelphia ‘s Bishop McDevitt High School . He then moved on to a four-year head coaching position with the women’s team at New Mexico State University before taking the position at Georgetown .

“Pat has done the Georgetown community a great service these past 18 years and we are very grateful for all his efforts,” Georgetown University Interim Athletic Director Adam Brick said in a July press release. “He built the Georgetown program to national prominence and we wish him and his family the best.”

A press conference to name Knapp’s successor is scheduled for 11 a.m. today.