Sammy Jo Prudhomme joined the Illini coaching staff in February 2021 as an assistant coach. Pruhomme primarily works with the Fighting Illini goalkeepers.
Prudhomme comes to Illinois after serving two successful seasons as an assistant/goalkeeper coach at Loyola University Maryland after joining the staff in July 2020.
Guided Izzy Lee to a record breaking season where she shattered the program single-season saves record with 123 in 2025 which also led all Big Ten keepers and was the fourth most in the nation. Her 0.854 save percentage is the second best in a single season in Illinois history, the best since 2003, and was the second best in the Big Ten as well. She improved on her already astounding saves per game stat from last season (5.39) to 5.86 this season leading all Big Ten keepers.
A year prior in 2024 she led Lee to one of the best individual goalkeeping seasons in Illinois history, where she led all Big Ten keepers in saves and in saves per game (5.39) at the conclusion of the regular season. Her 80.2 save percentage was the second-highest mark among conference keepers that saw at least 1,620 minutes of action on the season. Lee's 5.21 goals prevented during Big Ten play ranked second.
At the conclusion of regular season play, Lee's 5.39 saves per game ranked fifth nationally among keepers that saw at least 1,620 minutes of action. Lee was then selected to the U.S. U-23 Women's National Team Training Camp in March/April 2025.
While at Loyola University Maryland, Prudhomme coached 2021 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Paige Sim in just her second season on staff. While an assistant at Loyola, Prudhomme served as head coach of the 2010 Pre-ECNL team for Pipeline SC in Baltimore, Md. She also served as the goalkeeper coach for the ECNL keepers at Pipeline SC since August 2020, and also coach goalkeepers at Beach FC in Long Beach, Calif. from Feb. to April 2020.
Prudhomme began her NCAA career at Oregon State from 2012-13 before transferring to the University of Southern California in 2014. A two-year starter in goal for the Trojans, Prudhomme was the starting goalkeeper on the 2016 NCAA National Championship team for USC. In her final collegiate season, Prudhomme garnered Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year honors, First Team All-Pac 12 honors, and was named to the 2016 College Cup All-Tournament team. In addition, Prudhomme was named to the Second Team United Soccer Coaches All-Region team and was also a Third Team NSCAA Scholar All-American in 2016.
Following a successful collegiate career, Prudhomme was drafted with the 31st overall pick in the NWSL Draft to the Boston Breakers in 2017. With the Breakers, Prudhomme started and played five games in goal, setting an NWSL and Breakers record for consecutive shutout games and minutes. Her time in the NWSL also saw stops with the Houston Dash, Washington Spirit, and Reign FC.
A native of Redondo Beach, Calif., Prudhomme attended Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo, Calif. and played club soccer with the SoCal Blues. She has one brother, Nicholas, and is the daughter of Jobeth and Jon Prudhomme.
