Jolette Law was named the seventh women’s head basketball coach at the University. Law comes to the Illini after 12 years as an assistant coach at Rutgers University under C. Vivian Stringer.

“This is a dream come true,” Law said. “I’m very excited about the vision here and the possibilities of taking the Big Ten by storm. This is the dawn of a new era and we plan to take the University of Illinois to a new level.”

Law is familiar to the big Ten after playing four years at Iowa in which the Hawkeyes went 105-18. Law was also the only woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in her four years with the team from 1990-94.

In her 12 years as a coach at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights have reached the NCAA Tournament eight times. She helped them to two Final Fours, three Elite Eights, and three Sweet Sixteens, as well as this year’s national runner-up in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Law foresees this kind of success at Illinois and made some bold predictions after she was introduced.

“My mother always said to speak it into existence,” Law said, “You can quote me-today May 11th, 2007-we will win a Big Ten Championship, we will get to the NCAAs, and we will win a national championship at the University of Illinois.”

This is Illinois second straight coach with ties to the Rutgers program, as Law will replace Theresa Grentz. Grentz, who resigned on April 17 after 12 years at Illinois, is 10th on the all-time Division I wins list.

“For many years the state of Illinois has been rich in talent and we plan to keep the best players here to take the Fighting Illini to a national level and become the diamond of the Midwest,” Law said. “This is one of the happiest days of my life. This is a dream job for me.”