Debbie Ryan

Last updated
Debbie Ryan
Charlottesville Men's Four Miler 02 (cropped) - Debbie Ryan.jpg
Debbie Ryan in 2014
Biographical details
Born (1952-11-04) November 4, 1952 (age 71)
Titusville, New Jersey, U.S.
Playing career
1971–1975 Ursinus
Position(s) Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1977–2011 Virginia
Head coaching record
Overall739–324 (.695)
Bowls56
Tournaments69
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3× NCAA Regional—Final Four (1990, 1991, 1992)
11× ACC regular season champion (1984, 1986–1988, 1991–1996, 2000)
3× ACC tournament champion (1990, 1992, 1993)
Awards
7× ACC Coach of the Year (1984, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000)
Naismith College Coach of the Year (1991)
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medal record
Women’s Basketball
Head coach for Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
World University Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2001 Beijing Team Competition
Pan American Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2003 Santo Domingo Team Competition

Debbie Ryan (born November 4, 1952) [1] is a former women's basketball coach who coached at the University of Virginia. Ryan also coached the American women's basketball team at the 2003 Pan American Games. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000 but is currently in remission. [2] She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Ryan was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. [3]

Contents

The US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) awarded her the Coach of the Year award in 1991. [4] She was also named the Naismith College Coach of the Year. [5]

Ryan started as an assistant coach at Virginia under head coach Dan Bonner. [5] In 1977, Ryan, who had recently completed graduate school in Virginia, was asked to become the head coach of the women's basketball program. She accepted, to become only the third head coach in the program's history. [2] Ryan resigned after 34 years of head coaching duties at UVA at the completion the women's 2010–11 basketball season. [6] [7] After her resignation, Ryan was a volunteer assistant coach of Seattle Storm for the 2011 WNBA season, reuniting with her former player Jenny Boucek, who is an assistant coach there. [8] In 2014, Ryan was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History" for her contributions to women's basketball and her actions as a cancer treatment advocate. [9]

US basketball

Ryan served as the head coach of the US representative to the 1999 World University Games (also known as the Universiade). The event was held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The US team opened with a 134–37 win over South Africa. The second game was against Canada, which the US team lost in a close match 68–67. The US could not afford to lose another game if they wished to win a medal, and won the next game against Japan 106–66. They next faced undefeated Russia, and fell behind by twelve points at halftime, but came back and won 79–68. The US fell behind in their next game against undefeated China, but rallied and went on to win 89–78. They beat Brazil to advance to the semi-final, where they faced Lithuania. The game was not close, with the US winning 70–49. That set up a rematch with China, on their home court with 18,000 spectators. The USA only had a four-point lead at halftime, but did better in the second half, and won 87–69 to claim the gold medal. [10]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Virginia (ACC)(1977–2011)
1977–78Virginia 8–171–56th
1978–79Virginia 16–122–46th
1979–80Virginia 20–123–56th WNIT Second Round
1980–81Virginia 22–105–24thAIAW First Round
1981–82Virginia 17–112–55th
1982–83Virginia 15–134–96th
1983–84Virginia 22–711–31st NCAA First Round
1984–85Virginia 21–89–53rd NCAA First Round
1985–86Virginia 26–313–11st NCAA First Round
1986–87Virginia 26–512–21st NCAA Sweet 16
1987–88Virginia 27–512–2T-1st NCAA Elite 8
1988–89Virginia 21–108–64th NCAA Sweet 16
1989–90 Virginia 29–611–32nd NCAA Final Four
1990–91 Virginia 31–314–01st NCAA Runner-Up
1991–92 Virginia 32–215–11st NCAA Final Four
1992–93Virginia 26–613–31st NCAA Elite Eight
1993–94Virginia 27–515–11st NCAA Sweet 16
1994–95Virginia 27–516–01st NCAA Elite Eight
1995–96Virginia 26–713–31st NCAA Elite Eight
1996–97Virginia 23–812–42nd NCAA Sweet 16
1997–98Virginia 19–109–75th NCAA Second Round
1998–99Virginia 20–912–42nd NCAA First Round
1999–00Virginia 25–913–31st NCAA Sweet 16
2000–01Virginia 18–148–85th NCAA First Round
2001–02Virginia 17–139–7T-3rd NCAA First Round
2002–03Virginia 17–149–73rd NCAA Second Round
2003–04Virginia 13–166–97th
2004–05Virginia 21–118–65th NCAA Second Round
2005–06Virginia 20–125–99th WNIT Quarterfinals
2006–07Virginia 19–155–98th WNIT Quarterfinals
2007–08Virginia 24–1010–4T-3rd NCAA Second Round
2008–09Virginia 24–108–6T-5th NCAA Second Round
2009–10Virginia 21–109–53rd NCAA First Round
2010–11Virginia 19–165–78th WNIT Quarterfinals
Virginia:739–324 (.694)160–92 (.635)
Total:739–324 (.694)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 23 Sep 2015.
  2. 1 2 Friedman, Vickie (June 2011). "The End of Two Eras". Coaching Women's Basketball (Post-convention issue): 22.
  3. ↑ "WBHOF Inductees". WBHOF. Archived from the original on 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  4. ↑ "USBWA Women's Honors". USBWA. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  5. 1 2 Leung, Brian; Holland, Terry (2016-09-15). 100 Things Virginia Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. Triumph Books. ISBN   9781633196742.
  6. ↑ (2011-03-12) "Virginia coach Ryan to step down after 34 years", Associated Press. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  7. ↑ (2011-03-26 )"Debbie Ryan's career ends as Virginia's late run isn't enough to beat Charlotte", ESPN. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  8. ↑ "News Archive".
  9. ↑ "Virginia Women in History: Deborah A. "Debbie" Ryan". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Twentieth World University Games – 2001". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
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