Arcadia athletics file photo

Rider athletic director Don Harnum has announced the hiring of Jackie Hartzell as the next head coach of the women's basketball program. Hartzell, who spent three years as head coach at Division III Arcadia, set the school single-season record for wins and rattled off three winning seasons, three of the four in the recorded history of Arcadia women's basketball.

"I am honored and humbled to be named the head coach at Rider University," said Hartzell. "I want to thank president (Gregory) Dell'Omo, athletic director Don Harnum, and Senior Woman's Administrator Karin Torchia for believing in me and giving me this incredible opportunity. I look forward to this new and exciting challenge and I can't wait to get started."

Hartzell is the seventh Division III head coach to move directly to D-I head coach in the past five years and the second to do so in two days, after McMurry's Drew Long was hired at Houston Christian. Scroll to the bottom of this story for a full listing of every coach to do so in the last 25 years.

• Drew Long takes head coaching job at Houston Christian
• More coaching moves in the women's Coaching Carousel
• Men's Coaching Carousel

At Arcadia, Hartzell produced an instant turnaround, posting a 54-26 (.675) record over three seasons with a 28-16 (.636) conference mark, and was named the MAC Coach of the Year following the 2024-25 season. In her first season, Hartzell led the women's basketball team to their first MAC postseason victory in program history. In her second season at the helm of the program, Hartzell set a program record for wins and guided the Knights to the team's first-ever appearance in the conference championship game.

Her time at Arcadia came after a successful eight-season run as head coach at Division II University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, where she compiled a 185-57 (.765) record, going 123-28 (.815) against conference opponents, won three CACC championships, made five NCAA Tournament appearances, and earned five NCAA Division II Tournament victories, highlighted by a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2018.

"The preference going into the search was to attract someone that had successful head coaching experience and strong recruiting ties to the region," said Harnum. "After speaking to numerous individuals with strong knowledge in women's basketball coaching circles and interviewing several impressive candidates, I am confident we found what we were looking for in Jackie Hartzell. She has a proven track record of supporting student-athlete development, both academically and athletically, while creating a positive environment that produces winning results."

A four-time CACC Coach of the Year, Hartzell was selected as the HERO Sports Women's Basketball Division II National Coach of the Year following the 2017-18 season and the NCAA East Region Coach of the Year in 2019. Locally, she was selected as the Philadelphia Coaches Conference Collegiate Coach of the Year in 2017 and the City of Basketball Love Coach of the Year in 2022.