Olivia Orlando Named Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach
NASHUA, N.H. - Bishop Guertin High School Director of Athletics Ryan Brown announced on Wednesday, June 21, the hiring of Olivia Orlando as the newest head coach of the varsity girls basketball program.
Orlando joins BG after a Division I playing career as a member of the Providence College program from 2017-21. As a member of the Friars, Orlando appeared in 95 games — making 76 starts — over four years, and helped the team reach the Round of 16 in the 2019 Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
At Providence, Orlando earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively, in the field of education. She has put those to use as she currently works in the field of elementary special education.
“I am incredibly excited and thankful for the opportunity to coach the varsity girls basketball team at BG,” Orlando said. “Basketball has always been more than a sport to me - it has the power to bring people together in order to achieve a common goal. It builds lifelong skills like teamwork, resilience, perseverance, determination, hard work, and many others.
“Basketball enables and guides players to grow not only as athletes, but more importantly, as human beings,” she added. “I am excited to be able to give back to the sport that has already given so much to me, and to do it with an incredible BG squad!”
Orlando is one of the state’s most decorated high school players in recent memory. As a player at Tilton School, she rewrote the record books, becoming the program’s all-time leader in career points (1,524), rebounds (1,219), steals (446) and assists (520). Her play on the court garnered numerous accolades as in 2017 she was tabbed as both the New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year as well as the USA Today All-USA New Hampshire Player of the Year. She was also named to the USA Today All-USA New Hampshire Girls Basketball First Team as a junior in 2016. A leader both on and off the court at Tilton, Orlando was a three-time team captain and named most valuable player during her final three seasons.
“We are very excited to welcome Coach Orlando into the Bishop Guertin community,” Brown said. “Our girls basketball program has been one of the best in the state in any sport in the last decade and we are confident that with her talents Olivia can continue that winning tradition. We are also looking forward to the mentorship and guidance she can provide our players as a strong female role model.”
Orlando inherits a team that is coming off back-to-back New Hampshire Division I State Championships in both 2022 and 2023 under the guidance of head coach Brad Kreick, who stepped away from the program at the end of this past season.
“I am thrilled BG has selected Liv as the next head coach of the program. I have long admired her on-court accomplishments as a decorated high school, AAU, and Division I college player during her four years at Providence College in the highly competitive Big East Conference,” Kreick said. “I have enjoyed watching her interact with and mentor our players as a familiar coaching presence in recent years at numerous off-season team activities. Her basketball pedigree — combined with exceptional leadership skills and an infectious personality — quickly earned her the full respect and admiration of our players. BG has made a great choice.”
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