Sometimes, Plan B is the way to go. I had a post almost all written about the two National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) women who are being inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame this Saturday. It was lost to cyberspace when this laptap was shut down. Since I am at one of my favorite places (the Student Life Archives at the University of Illinois), I don’t have time to rewrite the post, so I will just touch upon the highlights and do a bit of copying and pasting.
Charlotte West and Lin Dunn are among the six Class of 2014 inductees into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The festivities will take place on June 14, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. West is being inducted as a contributor and Dunn as a coach. West became a member of Alpha Xi Delta as a student at Florida State University. Dunn is a Chi Omega from the University of Tennessee – Martin.
West is a legend on the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus, where she spent most of her professional career. She played a major role in advancing women’s athletics. The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame web-site includes this information about West:
• West was an instrumental advocate for women’s sports and a pioneer for Title IX
• She was an all-state athlete in both volleyball and basketball and a nationally rated official in four sports
• Her 1969 Southern Illinois University (SIU) golf team won the National Golf Championship the same year her SIU basketball team placed fifth nationally
• West developed the SIU’s graduate program in sports management, which she directed until 1991
• From 1960 to 1986 she served as the Director of Athletics for women at SIU. She transformed the department into a nationally-recognized program with 11 sports
• West was the 1986 WBCA Administrator of the Year. She served as a consultant to and a member of the WBCA Board of Directors for over 12 years
• She was the first recipient of the Honda Award, a national honor given for outstanding achievement in women’s collegiate athletics and was also the first recipient of the Woman Administrator of the Year award from the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators
• West was the Chair of the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid and Amateurism and a member of the NCAA Athletic Certification Committee, the NCAA Gender Equity Committee, and numerous other NCAA Committees
• She was the 1975 Director of National Championships for the AIAW and the 1978 President of AIAW at which time she served on the US Olympic Committee
• West has been inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame, the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame and she was among the initial class of women inducted into the SIU Hall of Fame
• The new softball facility at Southern Illinois University is named the Charlotte West Stadium
• A room at the new NCAA headquarters has been named the Charlotte West room in her honor
Charlotte West
Here is the information about Dunn from the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame web-site:
• In eleven seasons as a professional head coach, she has compiled a record of 181-160 capturing the 2012 WNBA Championship
• Dunn was the 1998 American Basketball League (ABL) Coach of the Year and was the runner-up for the 2009 WNBA Coach of the Year
• She was the 1992 assistant coach for the USA Olympic team that captured the bronze medal in Barcelona
• Dunn spent eight years on the USA Basketball Team Selection Committee
• In 25 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Dunn compiled a 447-257 record
• She has guided her teams to seven NCAA tournaments including four Sweet Sixteen appearances and one Final Four appearance in 1994
• Dunn led Purdue University to three Big Ten Conference titles, being named Big Ten Coach of the Year twice
• She has coached three Kodak All-American, three Big Ten Players of the Year, and two Big Ten Athletes of the Year
• Dunn was the 1984-85 President of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)
• She has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame, UT-Martin Hall of Fame, Austin Peay Athletic Hall of Fame, and the University of Miami Athletic Hall of Fame.
Lin Dunn
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2014. All rights reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
