Denise Dove Ianello
Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Eighth Year
Northern Illinois, 1991

Having been at Arizona nearly as long as Joan Bonvicini, Denise Dove Ianello has played a vital role in the rebuilding of the UA program. As the UA recruiting coordinator, Ianello has helped the Wildcats court some of the country's top talent over the last seven years, including a fourth-ranked recruiting class for the 1998-99 season.

As the program's associate head coach, Ianello continues to contribute to the successful system which has taken Arizona women's basketball to the next level of competition and to national prominence.

Ianello, 30, may well be one of the most respected recruiting coordinators in the country, but not without due cause. Her work ethic, outgoing personality, knowledge of the game and relationship with the student-athletes provide a quality package for Arizona's program.

Her responsibilities for this campaign remain the same as the past four seasons - evaluating and coordinating the recruitment of prospective student-athletes and coaching on the floor with the guards. Ianello is responsible for the recruitment of all of the team's current underclassmen. She also assists with academics, scouting and the Joan Bonvicini Hoop Camp.

At the age of 22, Ianello began her first year at Arizona as the restricted earnings coach and was promoted to a full-time assistant in 1993 after being on Arizona's staff for only seven months. She served as academic coordinator, coached the Wildcat guards, assisted in recruiting and was director of the Joan Bonvicini Hoop Camp.

At the beginning of the 1994-95 season, she was promoted to recruiting coordinator in addition to handling team travel operations, assisting with academics and coaching the posts. Her most recent promotion, to the position of associate head coach, came in May, 1998.

A 1992 graduate of Northern Illinois, the then-Denise Dove was a three-year starting point guard for the Huskies. During her career, she led her team to appearances in both the NCAA Tournament and the NWIT, and NIU earned national rankings as high as No. 11. With Dove leading the offense, Northern Illinois led the nation in scoring for two of her last three years. Dove was named Player of the Year for her team in 1989 and Defensive Player of the Year in 1990.

She is the Huskies' all-time career assist leader (526), the single-season assist leader (169) and ranks ninth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,042 points. In addition, she holds all nine NIU three-point field goal records, ranks seventh in NCAA Division I career three-point field goals made and 10th in three-point field goal percentage.

Ianello is also the only Huskie, male or female, to have tallied over 1,000 points and 500 assists during her career. She was named Northern Illinois Woman of the Year as a senior and named to Who's Who in American Universities. She was a two-time all-conference selection as well.

Ianello graduated with a degree in corporate communications and spent her final year of school as a student-assistant with the NIU coaching staff.

Ianello is a "student of the game" and a "coach's kid," having grown up with her father in the coaching ranks. She learned the ropes while watching and listening to her father, Steve Dove, who was a successful coach at the high school and junior college levels, then was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. He is currently director of athletics at Edina High School in Edina, Minn. She credits her success as a player and a coach not only to her father, but also to her mother, Sue, and sister, Stacey.

Originally from New Hope, Minn., Ianello was a two-time all-state selection at Robinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minn. as well as an honorable mention USA Today All-American and Parade Magazine All-American. She was the first player in the state of Minnesota, male or female, to score a three-point field goal, after the three-point line was installed. Her senior year she was named Homecoming Queen.

Ianello enjoys going to movies, listening to R&B music, laying out in the sun and watching any type of basketball on television. She married UA football recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach, Rob Ianello, on July 3, 1999.the outdoors.