Yolanda Cole

Biography

Yolanda Cole enters her third season as an assistant coach on the UMass women’s basketball staff in 2025-26. Cole joined the Minutewomen in the summer of 2023 with 16-plus years of Division I coaching experience and started her coaching career at Central Connecticut State and Kellogg Community College. During the 2024-25 season, Cole assisted the Minutewomen to an impressive turnaround season, posting a 17-15 overall record and an 11-7 record in the A-10. The 17 games won was a 12-win increase from the 2023-24 year, with the program increasing its conference win total by nine games. Additionally, Massachusetts earned a first-round bye in the 2025 A-10 Championship as the seventh seed, while accepting an invitation to the WNIT for the fourth time in progrma history. UMass sat No. 151 in the NCAA Women’s Basketball NET rankings; finishing the season at 43rd in the country in rebound margin, 56th in scoring defense, 64th in offensive rebounding, 73rd in opponent field goal percetnage and 75th in forced turnovers. UMass finished the 2023-24 regular season with a win over St. Bonaventure in the finale before following with a 54-49 win over La Salle to advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship second round. Lilly Taulelei earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors after starting 22-of-31 games in her freshman season while Stefanie Kulesza earned a spot on the Cancun Challenge All-Tournament Team after posting a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double against no. 23-ranked Washington State.