The Women's Professional Basketball League was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional women's basketball league in the United States.
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.
Nancy Ilizabeth Lieberman, nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as the head coach of Power, a team in the BIG3 which she led to its 2018 Championship. Lieberman is regarded as one of the greatest figures in American women's basketball.
Yolanda Evette Griffith is an American professional basketball hall of fame player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. A former WNBA MVP, she is considered one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the history of Women's Basketball. She last played in the WNBA as a member of the Indiana Fever. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the top 15 players in WNBA history. She is sometimes called by her nicknames: "Yo" and "Yo-Yo". Since retiring from the professional ranks, Griffith was as assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is currently an assistant coach with the Boston College Eagles. Griffith was inducted into the 2014 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's class on her first year of eligibility.
The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the All–America Teams.
Salvatore Leonard Bando was an American former professional baseball player and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1966 to 1981, most prominently as the team captain for the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974.
Denzel Edwin Crum was an American men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a 675–295 (.696) record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships and six Final Fours. Honored in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 1994, Crum was one of the major figures in the history of sports in Kentucky and in college basketball.
Gary Lynn "Big Hands" Johnson was an American professional football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was a four-time All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He played the majority of his NFL career with the San Diego Chargers, and he was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame.
Joseph Lee Stydahar nicknamed "Jumbo Joe", was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
Lorenzo Dexter White is an American former football running back in the National Football League (NFL).
Percy Lee Snow is an American former football linebacker. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans from 1986 to 1989. As a senior, he was a consensus All-American and won both the Butkus Award and the Lombardi Award. He was a first-round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs and played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
Robert Fredric MacLeod was an American football halfback, most notably at Dartmouth College in the late 1930s. After serving in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, he had a career in magazine publishing.
Kelly Dean Saalfeld is a former center in the National Football League (NFL). Saalfeld was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the ninth round of the 1980 NFL Draft and would play that season with the New York Giants.
Cynthia Jane "Cindy" Brogdon is an American former basketball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Brogdon was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.
Cheryl Elaine Burnett is an American former women's college basketball coach and player. She was the head coach of the Southwest Missouri State women's basketball team from 1987 to 2002. At Southwest Missouri State, she compiled a 319–136 record (.701) and led her teams to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament in 1992 and 2001. She also served as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines women's basketball team from 2003 to 2007, compiling a record of 35–83 (.297). She played college basketball at the University of Kansas from 1976 to 1980.
Anthony Wayne Teachey is a retired American basketball player. He played several years in the top leagues in Italy, Spain, France and Argentina and played college basketball at Wake Forest University.
Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler was an American philanthropist living in Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Morning News wrote that she helped raise tens of millions of dollars for charity. Altshuler was the first woman to serve or chair several boards, including the Salvation Army Dallas Advisory Board, the board of Goodwill Industries, and the chair of the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University. She was also inducted into the Texas Woman's Hall of Fame.
Patty Dowdell is a retired volleyball player who primarily was on the United States women's national volleyball team from 1974 to 1980. With the national team, Dowdell and the United States finished in seventh at the 1977 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup and fifth at the 1978 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship. After playing at the 1979 Pan American Games, Dowdell was part of the American volleyball team that boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics. She resumed playing on the national team in the early 1980s and did not play any games at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Outside of the national team, Dowdell played for the Dallas Belles and Chicago Breeze in the Major League Volleyball during the late 1980s.
Vicki Hall is an assistant coach with the Indiana Fever since 2021. Before joining the WNBA team, Hall served as the head coach of the Indiana State Sycamores women's basketball team from 2018 to 2021. As a basketball player, Hall was the 1988 Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Gatorade High School Basketball Player of the Year after accumulating 1,755 points with Brebeuf High School. With the Texas Longhorns women's basketball team from 1988 to 1993, Hall reached the final eight of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament between 1989 and 1990 and had 1,831 career points. Apart from college basketball, Hall won gold at the 1990 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 1990 Goodwill Games with the American women basketball team.
Margaret Sellers Walker Morris, born Margaret Elizabeth Regular, was an American city and state official, based in Michigan. She was also a professor at Grand Valley State University. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.
