Lynette Woodard is a retired American basketball Hall of Fame player and former head women's basketball coach at Winthrop University. Woodard made history by becoming the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters and who, at age 38, began playing as one of the oldest members in the newly formed American women's professional basketball league, the WNBA.
Sandra Kay Yow was an American basketball coach. She was the head coach of the NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team from 1975 to 2009. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, she had more than 700 career wins. She also coached the U.S. women's basketball team to an Olympic gold medal in 1988 despite having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. In 2000, Yow was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2009, she was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Dawn Michelle Staley is an American basketball Hall of Fame player and coach who is currently the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Staley won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and later was head coach of another U.S. gold-medal winning team. Staley was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After playing point guard for the University of Virginia under Debbie Ryan, and winning the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, she went on to play professionally in the American Basketball League and the WNBA. In 2011, fans named Staley one of the top 15 players in WNBA history. Staley was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Jackie Marie Stiles is an American college basketball coach who was formerly an assistant coach for the University of Oklahoma women's basketball team and at Missouri State University. Stiles set several scoring records while playing shooting guard in college and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Cheryl D. Miller is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports, and ESPN. She was also head coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
Natalie Jean Williams is an American basketball executive and former player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Williams was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. She was also an accomplished volleyball player at UCLA. Since 2022, Williams has served as the General Manager of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces
Alice Ruth Bolton, known as Ruthie Bolton, is an American former professional women's basketball player. Born in Lucedale, Mississippi, she played at the collegiate, Olympic and professional levels of women's basketball. Bolton played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 through 2004 with the Sacramento Monarchs. She played collegiately at Auburn University, teaming with her older sister, Mae Ola Bolton. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. Bolton has also served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves as a transportation officer.
Katie Smith is the lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty.
Anne Theresa Donovan was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun.
Denise Curry is an American former basketball player and college and professional basketball coach. Curry was inducted in the inaugural class at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Gail Ann Goestenkors is an American basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team.
Sherri Kay Coale is a retired college basketball coach. She was the head coach of the University of Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team for 25 years, from 1996 to 2021. Coale was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Joan Bonvicini is a former head basketball coach. Most recently, she was the head coach for the Seattle University women's basketball team, the Redhawks, and one of only 18 coaches in Division I women's basketball history with 701 career victories. She was head coach at the University of Arizona for 17 seasons, leading the Wildcats to the Women's National Invitation Tournament championship in 1996. She was fired by Arizona on March 17, 2008, with one year left on her contract, after a disappointing 10–20 record in her final season. Before joining Arizona in 1991, she coached the Long Beach State 49ers to a 325–71 mark over 12 seasons. During her tenure, the 49ers won at least 24 games each season, winning 10 Big West Conference titles and making 10 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including Final Four appearances in 1987 and 1988.
Bonnie Henrickson was the head women's college basketball coach at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Prior to becoming the head coach at UC Santa Barbara, Henrickson was the head coach at the University of Kansas from 2004 to 2015, combining a record of 186–171, and before Kansas, Henrickson was the head coach at Virginia Tech, where she led the Hokies to a 158–62 record, including 7 post-season appearances.
Valerie Still is an American former professional women's basketball player with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA and the Columbus Quest of the American Basketball League (ABL).
Sylvia Rhyne Hatchell is a former American women's basketball coach, who last coached for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and was the fifth with the most career wins in NCAA women's basketball history, behind former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, and UConn coach Geno Auriemma. She competed with USA Basketball as the head coach of the 1994 Jones Cup Team that won the gold in Taipei. Hatchell was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
The Kansas State Wildcats women's basketball program is the intercollegiate basketball program of the Kansas State Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I, and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference.
Marynell Meadors is an American women's basketball coach at the college and professional level. She most recently served as head coach and general manager of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association and was one of the original eight head coaches when the WNBA started in 1997.
The USA Women’s World University Games Team is one of the teams under the auspices of the USA Basketball organization. The Universiade is an international, multi-sport event for university students, generally held every other year since 1959. It is second only to the Olympics in number of participants. The United States has participated in women's basketball since their first participation in 1973 at the VII Summer Universiade. USA Basketball has organized the participation except for 2003 and 2007. In 2003 an All-Star team selected from the Big 12 Conference represented the US in Daegu, South Korea. In 2007, the Charlotte 49ers, the basketball team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, represented the USA in Bangkok, Thailand.
The R. Williams Jones Cup Team is one of the teams under the auspices of the USA Basketball organization. The R. William Jones Cup competition is an international basketball tournament for men's and women's teams held in Taipei, Taiwan almost annually since the inaugural event in 1977. The event is named after Renato William Jones, the founding secretary-general of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation. USA Basketball organized the USA Women's team entry from the time of the inaugural event through the year 2000. In most years, the team was selected from university and high school all stars. In some years, the team was predominantly selected from one university or conference. For example, the 1990 entry was predominantly the North Carolina State team, plus four other players. The 1991 team was composed of all-star players from the Pac-10 Conference.
