About Agnus
South Jersey Roots
A native of Gloucester City, New Jersey, Agnus is the eighth of 10 children. She grew up in an athletic family in the heart of South Jersey. The family basketball games were always intense and launched the careers of older sister Mickey, Agnus, Bernie, and Theresa.
The McGlade sisters are members of a unique segment of athletes who went straight from high school to the pros. Both Mickey and Agnus left their South Jersey home after high school and headed off to France to play professional basketball.
After the passage of Title IX, both sisters would return to the states to join Bernie to compete on the collegiate level at UNC-Chapel Hill. Agnus went on to graduate from Mount St. Mary’s, marry her college sweetheart Jack Berenato and begin her coaching career.
Agnus and Jack have five children: Theresa Marie (Mike and granddaughter, Frankie), Andrew, Santo (Alicia), Clare, and Christina.
College Coaching
On March 30, 2016, a new era in Agnus Berenato’s illustrious coaching began when she was named the seventh Head Coach in Kennesaw State University women’s basketball history. In two short years, the rebuilding has started with 11 ASUN All-Conference award winners including:
- Back to back ASUN Freshmen of the Year award winners (2016-2017 and 2017-2018)
- Longest ASUN conference win streak in program history
- First ever home ASUN Tournament game
- First ever ASUN Tournament victory
- Highest ASUN regular season finish in program history (4th in 2017)
In 1981, Agnus served as the head women’s basketball coach for Rider while simultaneously coaching the women’s volleyball team posting a 66-51 record in four seasons. During her four years at Rider, all of Berenato’s student-athletes in basketball and volleyball received their degrees and an impressive graduation rate of 100 percent. In 2002, Agnus was inducted into the Rider Hall of Fame.
As the Head Coach for Georgia Tech, Agnus guided Tech to postseason play six times, including four-straight appearances in 2000-2003. The highlight of her coaching career came in 1992, when Tech captured a national championship by winning the National Women’s Invitational Tournament in their first ever post-season appearance. During her tenure with Tech Agnus coached 10 different players to All-ACC honors.
As the winningest coach at the University of Pittsburgh, the Panthers women’s basketball enjoyed the most successful era in its history to date under Agnus Berenato. She led Pitt to:
- A WNIT final four in 2005
- The school’s first-ever women’s NCAA tournament appearance in 2006
- Back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2008 and 2009
Pitt climbed as high as No. 15 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll which tied the highest-ever ranking achieved. Twenty-one times Pitt players have earned all-league accolades under Berenato. The 2010-11 season marked the 10th year in a row that at least one Panthers player was tabbed to an All-Big East team.
HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS:
- Rider University
- Mount St. Mary’s
- Camden County (NJ)
- Basketball Club of South Jersey Hall of Fame
Giving Back
Agnus takes great pride in participating in numerous community service events, mission trips, goodwill tours and volunteering.
Agnus not only gives of herself locally to her community but around the world. Agnus has served on a Pediatric AIDS mission in Kingston, Jamaica, Goodwill tour of Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar (only women’s coach of 5 college basketball coaches), two Surgicorps Medical missions in Vietnam and Bhutan and most recently was a women’s Leadership Ambassador for the U.S. Embassy in Suriname and Guyana.
VOLUNTEERING
- 2017 Women’s Leadership Ambassador for the U.S. Embassy in Guyana and Suriname
- 2017 Surgicorps Medical Mission-Bhutan
- 2016 Surgicorps Medical Mission-Vietnam
- 2009 College Basketball Tour-Afghanistan, Kuwait and Qatar
- 2003 Father Ho Lung Missionaries of the Poor-Kingston, Jamaica
- Pittsburgh Opera
- Girl Scouts of America
- Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure
- East End Cooperative Ministries
- Pittsburgh Food Bank
Super Cate
On January 27, 2017, Agnus Berenato and the ladies of Kennesaw State University women’s basketball program welcomed the newest member to their Owl family, Cate Zavitz.
Zavitz has been diagnosed with Autosomal Recessive Congenital Ichthyosis (ARCI). A form of skin disease in which her skin grows too fast where she has excess skin on her body, causing her body to overheat easily which decreases her ability to sweat and control her body temperature.
