Former St. Francis AD/coach named to Penn State women's basketball staff
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Former St. Francis athletic director and women's basketball coach Susan Robinson Fruchtl will join the Penn State women's hoops staff.
Robinson Fruchtl, who has worked at Penn State since 2021, will take on a role specific to the women's basketball program as the senior director of advancement and strategic relations.
"I am ecstatic to have Susan rejoin the Lady Lion program," Penn State coach Tanisha Wright said. "Being able to work alongside Susan will be monumental as we reestablish Penn State women's basketball. Her experience not only playing in the Lady Lion basketball program, but coaching as well is invaluable to what we are building. Susan's expertise in advancement and alumni relations will allow Penn State women's basketball to soar to new levels."
Robinson Fruchtl is one of the most accomplished Nittany Lions in the history of the storied program, as the only Wade Trophy recipient in school history. She earned multiple accolades throughout her playing career, including an All-American nod in 1992 and GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. As a rookie in 1989, she won Atlantic 10 freshman of the year honors. Throughout her career, she was named to the all-Atlantic 10 team on two occasions and secured the conference player of the year title in 1991. She served as a captain from 1990-91 during a season that Penn State compiled a 29-2 record and a No. 1 national ranking in the final Associated Press poll of the regular season.
Upon graduating from Penn State in 1992 with an exercise and sport science degree, Robinson Fruchtl played professionally in Japan. She began her collegiate coaching career at Penn State in 1993 as an assistant coach. During her time as an assistant, she completed her master's in higher education. After leaving Penn State in 1998, Robinson Fruchtl enrolled at Slippery Rock University to pursue her master's degree in secondary guidance. During that time, she served as a volunteer assistant from 1998-2000 for the North Allegheny girls basketball team. In June 2000, she took over as the head girls basketball coach at Beaver Area High School, where she also worked as one of the school's guidance counselors. She helped revive the basketball program and led the Bobcats to the PIAA Class 3A Playoffs in each of her final two seasons. Robinson Fruchtl returned to Happy Valley as an assistant coach on Rene Portland's staff in 2004, when she coached Wright.
After two stints in Happy Valley and coaching high school basketball in the Pittsburgh area, Robinson Fruchtl landed her first head coaching gig at St. Francis in 2007. She led the Red Flash to two NCAA Tournament appearances in five years. Following her stretch in Loretto, she was hired as the head coach at Providence College in 2012, where she spent four seasons building the program. In 2016, Robinson Fruchtl returned to St. Francis as the athletic director, where she spent four years cultivating a love for the development and alumni relations side of college athletics. She spent the 2018-19 season as the interim coach. She took a job as the director of development and advancement for St. Joseph's Catholic Academy in Boalsburg in 2020. She returned to her alma mater in 2021 as a major gifts officer for athletics.
