Knoxville, Tennessee is home to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. This 32,000 square foot facility was opened in June of 1999 and is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's basketball. The theme of this magnificent facility is Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, and Promote the Future. Each of the three entrances to the Hall of Fame has a bronze statue representing one of the three aspects of this overall theme. This wonderful facility highlights the history of women's basketball from its adaptation by Senda Berenson in 1892 to the modern game today.
On June 14, 2008 the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame will hold its 10th induction ceremony of honorees. This year's induction ceremony will honor six of the game's best. These women not only represent the best aspects of basketball, but the best aspects of sports in general. Through their perserverance and strength of character these spectacular athletes provide inspiration and positive role models for young girls everywhere. This year's inductees are (INFO PROVIDED BY WOMEN"S BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME):
PATTY BRODERICK
- Basketball official since 1972, currently the coordinator of Women’s Basketball Officiating Consortium, which includes eight different conferences
- Has officiated seven Final Fours, six WNBA Championships, two ABL Finals, three ABL All-Star games
- Became the second female to ever officiate an Olympics when she worked the 1988 Olympics in Seoul
- First woman to officiate the Pan American Games in 1987
- Inaugural winner of the Naismith Female Basketball Official of the Year Award in 1988
- On Nov. 30, 1995 was commissioned as a Distinguished Hoosier by the Office of then Governor Evan Bayh from the State of Indiana
- Director of Officials for the WNBA from 2002-2004
- Currently on the Board of Directors for the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO, 2004-2007), earned the 1989 CYO Volunteer Coaching Award and the 1990 St. John Bosco Award, which is the highest award for contributions to CYO
LIN L. LAURSEN
- Head coach of Central Arizona College, where she has tallied an overall record of 971-145 (.870) in 34 seasons
- Has won three NJCAA National Championships (1989, 1998 and 2005) and appeared in eleven Final Fours
- Holds record for NJCAA win
- Has seen 138 of her players go on to major universities, including Bridget Pettis and Amanda Lassiter, who both went on to play in the WNBA
- Named Converse Coach of the Year in 1982-83, Russell Athletic WBCA Coach of the Year in 2004-05, and NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 1988-89, 1997-98 and 2004-05
- Has led Central Arizona to 28 ACCAC Titles, including 21 consecutive and tallied 185 consecutive conference wins over a nine-year span
- Was inducted into NJCAA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in April 2008
DEBBIE RYAN
- Head coach of the Virginia women’s basketball program for 31 years, where she has tallied an overall record of 675-288
- 22 NCAA Tournament appearances and three consecutive Final Four berths (1990-92)
- Tallied her 600th career win against James Madison in 2004, becoming just the seventh coach in NCAA Women’s Basketball history to reach the 600-win milestone at the same school
- Naismith Coach of the Year in 1991
- Seven-time ACC Coach of the Year, which is a conference record
- Led the USA Basketball team to the gold medal in the World University Games in 2001, and was named USA Basketball Developmental Coach of the Year that same year
- Cached the USA basketball team to a silver medal at the Pan American Games in 2003
- Played college basketball at Ursinus College
- Has written three books: Virginia Defense, Virginia Summer Development Program and Women’s Basketball Drills – Conditioning
JILL RANKIN SCHNEIDER
- One of the few ever to be named as one of the nations top 10 players at two different universities: Kodak All-American at Wayland Baptist College (1978-79) and at the University of Tennessee (1979-80)
- Scored 1000 points in a single season at Wayland (1978-79)
- Co-captain of the 1980 Olympic Team; gold medallist in Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Bulgaria
- Currently a girls’ basketball coach at Monterey High in Lubbock Texas
- Served as student assistant at Tennessee for one year; worked as assistant coach at Texas for five years (including the 1986 undefeated season); coached 12 years at Borger High School in Texas
- Named MVP of Wayland in 1979, Tennessee in 1980 and voted MVP of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in 1980
- 1980 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year
- Named an SEC Women’s Basketball “Former Great” honoree in 2004
- Was inducted into the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002
SUZIE McCONNELL-SERIO
- Recently named the best 5-4 basketball player, male or female, of all time by Sports Illustrated
- The first First-Team All-American in Penn State Women’s Basketball history
- Set NCAA records for career assists (1,307), assists in a season (355) and season assist average (11.8)
- Four-time All-Atlantic 10 Conference player at Penn State
- Won two Olympic medals, gold in 1988 and bronze in 1992
- Played three seasons in the WNBA with the Cleveland Rockers, named WNBA Newcomer of the Year and All-WNBA First Team in 1998
- Started her coaching career by leading Oakland Catholic (Pittsburgh) to three state titles and four district championships in 13 seasons
- Coached the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx to back-to-back playoff appearances and was named WNBA Coach of the Year honors in 2004
- Just recently completed her first season at Duquesne
MICHELE TIMMS
- Three-time Olympian
- Played 14 years for the Australian National Team; led the Australian National Team to its first Olympic medal (bronze) in 1996; named Australian Player of the Year in 1996; captain of the Australian team that won the silver medal in 2000
- First Australian woman to play professionally overseas
- Inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame in 2003
- Named the Women’s International Player of the Year in 1994 and 1996
- A member of the Phoenix Mercury from 1997-2001, WNBA All-Star starter in 1999, had her number 7 jersey retired, becoming the first Mercury player and just second WNBA player to have a jersey retired
- Currently a development coach for the NBL Club team, South Dragons, becoming just the second woman to be part of an NBL club’s coaching staff.
You can get ticket info by clicking HERE!
Autograph session with new inductees at 1:00 pm at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Gala Reception and silent auction at 6:00 pm at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony at 8:00 pm at the Bijou Theater
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