Amber Raisner, a 2018 graduate of West Hartford’s Hall High, is now coaching at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

If things had gone as planned, Amber Raisner would be working in neuroscience today. That was the degree she earned (along with a minor in French) from Union College in Schenectady, NY.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the lab. “Halfway through I decided I wanted to pursue coaching. I always loved teaching and I wanted to make an impact on people and to be able to do that through a sport I loved,” the Hall graduate said. “I remember calling my dad and telling him I want to coach basketball and my parents were unbelievably supportive.”

In her basketball career at Hall, Raisner scored 1,246 points – good enough for fifth place all-time in the 1,000-point club for West Hartford Public Schools girls basketball. In addition to four years of basketball, she also played four years of tennis and spent time on both the swim team and soccer team. Her work was rewarded when she was name to the All-CCC team for basketball all four seasons.

During her time at Union, she continued to shine on the hardwood. She finished 18th on the all-time scoring average list at Union College, 15th in 3-pointers made (56), ninth in 3-point scoring average, and 11th in assists. More impressively, she did it all in just three seasons as the 2020-21 season was cancelled by COVID. “Losing that year, which is such a pivotal year as a player, reinforces how fragile and precious your time is, and I carry that as a coach. Our coaches did as much as they could given the constraints. You have to keep moving forward and you learn that playing a sport,” Raisner said.

Like many things she does, getting that first basketball position out of college took Raisner to a school with a strong reputation for academics and sports – Yale University in New Haven – where she started as a graduate assistant. “I really wanted to learn by doing and I did. Coach D (Dalila Eshe), who was unbelievable mentor, and I are still close.”

Raisner said they threw her right into the job and she is grateful for where she ended up. “I was pretty lucky to be close to home for my first job with an unbelievable support section. It taught me a lot and I am still incredibly close with the staff and some of my girls I had there,” she said.

After three seasons with the Bulldogs, she made the move to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, bringing her strong background in guard development, defensive excellence, and academic achievement to her role as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. In her first season last year, Army finished tied for second in the Patriot League and earned a trip to the WNIT Great 8 against Marshall. That is the furthest postseason run in the program’s history.

This season will be her second with the Black Knights program under head coach Katie Kuester, who hired Raisner at West Point. “It was a lot of learning the first year, Raisner recalled. “None of us have a military background and we had to immerse ourselves in West Point. People here are exceptional and our girls – what they do every day – is spectacular.”

Recruiting athletes for a military academy can have its own challenges as well. “I asked our girls how they got here and about 90% of players didn’t consider an Army path. I was surprised by that,” said Raisner.

But it is a two-way street, Raisner said, as not everyone is cut out for West Point. “If you are not high character and high academic this is not the place for you. What they do here is develop leaders. There are a lot of misconceptions about it and I have to deal with that in recruiting. Being a service academy benefits it gives our girls is huge.”

The hard work Raisner has been doing is paying off for her. In March 2025, she was recognized nationally as a WBCA Thirty Under 30 honoree – a prestigious award that celebrates 30 of the most promising young coaches in women’s basketball. “It was such an honor and so nice to be recognized for your work. It meant my coach at the time recognized what I was doing,” she added.

She is not sitting on her laurels and as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Black Knights there is no off-season, but she’s okay with that. “There’s always recruiting to be done,” Raisner said. “In season it shifts to working with our current roster and their development. We’re always in the gym during season and I love that,” she added.

And when not in the gym, it’s back to the phones. “We’re making calls, updating our recruits on our current environment. You can’t show recruits West Point over the phone – it has a real impact when they see it.” There is an academic/basketball summer session for the players on the team that lasts three and a half weeks and then it’s checking out potential recruits at AAU tournaments for the rest of the summer. “There’s never a dull moment – always something to be done. For somebody who likes to do a million things at once it is the right structure.”

Despite the rigorous schedule and balancing so many tasks at the same time, Raisner said her professional life is what she wants it to be. “This is the place I want to be right now and exactly where I want to be right now. These are the people I am supposed to be with and grow with our head coach who is one of the most impactful people I have been around,” Raisner said.

The road she has taken to get there, from high school through college, has set her on the path. “If you told high school sophomore Amber where I am right now she would be blown away and so grateful where she is now. I get to wake up every day and coach basketball with a group of amazing people. I don’t take it for granted,” said Raisner.

As for the mid-course correction from future neuroscientist to a career in coaching, it all fits together. “The degree helps when it comes to what I challenge myself to do day-to-day. It wasn’t the most conventional path but it was the path for me, she said. “I have never once looked back from it. It is something I am supposed to be doing.”

Raisner will be returning to the basketball court in Connecticut as the Black Knights travel to UConn in their exhibition opener on Oct. 25.

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