J-Speaks: The Passing of an Iconic Basketball Player and Coach

Some of the current stars of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) like Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne to name a few all know and have acknowledge there are not in the position they find themselves in without the hard work, sacrifice and success of their predecessors like Hall of Famers Ann Meyers Drysdale, Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper. Another pioneering person that took the women’s game to the level it stands today is a woman from bornin Ridgewood, NJ who rose to greatness as a player on the collegiate and international hardwood and help to mold players of greatness as a coach at the collegiate, professional, and international level. In the middle of last week, the basketball world suddenly said goodbye to this remarkable legend. 

On Wednesday, Hall of Famer Anne Donovan who won a national title at the University of Old Dominion, two Olympic Gold Medals as both a player and a third as a coach passed away from heart failure in Wilmington, NC. She was just 56 years old. 

In a statement, WNBA President Lisa Borders said in a statement released on Wednesday about the sudden passing of Donovan, “A decorated player and trailblazing coach, Anne Donovan played a seminal role in the growth of women’s basketball. For all she accomplished in college, the WNBA and on the international stage during her Hall of Fame career, Anne will also be remembered as a valued mentor and dear friend to so many in the game. On behalf of the WNBA, we extend our deepest sympathies to the Donovan family during this difficult time.” 

The last know appearance by Donovan according to a story on NBA.com was last weekend at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, TN, where she was part of the inaugural class in 1999. Four years prior to that, Donovan was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2015 was inducted into the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in 2015. 

Donovan’s journey to being immortalized in basketball began at Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus, NJ. The then 6’6” then high schooler led Lady Paladins to consecutive undefeated seasons and helped them win two state titles. As a senior, Donovan averaged 25 points and 17 rebounds. 

When it came time to pick where she was going to college, Donovan, who grew to 6’8” had her pick of the litter receiving offers from more than 250 schools, which included a recruiting pitch from the late head football coach of Penn State Joe Paterno. Donovan decided to continue her education and basketball career at Old Dominion University, the same institution that Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman attended. 

In her first collegiate season, Donovan led the Lady Monarchs to the 1979-80 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championship, there second straight. She averaged that season 17.1 points, 12.9 rebounds and six block shots on 63.0 percent from the field in helping her team to a 37-1 mark that season. 

In her sophomore season on Dec. 11, 1980, Donovan scored a school record 50 points against Norfolk State University. She had the best season of her four years in 1980-81 with averages of 25.1 points, 16.2 boards and 5.7 blocks on 63.8 percent shooting. 

In her senior season of 1982-83, Donovan led the Lady Monarchs to a 29-6 record in the regular season and they advanced to their second straight appearance in the Final Four as the host city at the Scope in Norfolk, VA, but were defeated by their arch rival Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 71-55 in the National Semifinal. The year before, they lost in the East Regional Semifinals to Kansas State.  

When her collegiate career was done, Donovan averaged a double-double of 20.0 points, 14.5 rebounds and 5.9 blocks, on 63.1 percent from the field.

She set ODU career records for points (2,179), rebounds (1,976) and blocks (801), which was also the best in NCAA history.  

As a senior she won the 1983 Honda Sports Award and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Player of the Year Award. 

“Throughout her college and professional career Anne was one of ODU’s best ambassadors both for the institution and Lady Monarch basketball,” the school’s athletic director Wood Selig said on Wednesday. “Anne’s legacy will be permanent and everlasting and will forever remain as the foundation upon which the Lady Monarch brand became national and synonymous with success.” 

With no WNBA yet and very few pro basketball opportunities in the U.S., Donovan continued her basketball career for Chanson V-Magic in Shizuoka, Japan and Modena, Italy from 1984-89. 

After her retirement, she returned to the U.S. and became an assistant coach at her alma mater for the next six years. She then moved on to be the head coach of the East Carolina Lady Pirates from 1995-98. 

During her time, she helped to lead the Lady Pirates the Colonial Athletics Association finals against ODU. 

Donovan then for a brief time coached in the pro ranks with the American Basketball Association’s (ABL) Philadelphia Rage in 1997-98. 

When the league folded, she joined the WNBA, the ABL’s then rival as an assistant coach for the expansion Indian Fever in 2000. 

That position opened up because then head coach Nell Fortner was leading the U.S. Women’s Olympic team. 

Donovan then moved on to coach the then Charlotte Sting from 2001-2002. In her first season, the team lost 10 of their first 11 games, but rallied to finish the season 18-14 to make the playoffs as the No. 4 Seed in the Eastern Conference. 

In the postseason, they upset the No. 1 Seeded Cleveland Rockers in the opening round, followed by the No. 2 Seeded New York Liberty. They won each series 2-1. 

The Sting advanced to the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history but were swept 2-0 by the Los Angeles Sparks. 

The Sting finished the next season under Donovan 18-14, but were swept 2-0 by the Washington Mystics in the First Round. 

In 2003, Donovan was hired as the second coach in the history of the Seattle Storm in 2003, where she inherited a squadron consisting of the last two No. 1 overall draft picks in Australian Lauren Jackson and University of Connecticut star lead guard Sue Bird. 

After narrowly missing the postseason in Donovan’s first year in 2003, in 2004 when she became director of player personnel as well as head coach and the team went 20-14 during the regular season. They swept the Minnesota Lynx in the opening round 2-0. They took down the then mighty Sacramento Monarchs 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals. In the WNBA Finals, the Storm led by Bird, Jackson and eventual Finals MVP Betty Lennox defeated the Connecticut Sun 2-1 to win not just their first title in franchise history, but the city’s first professional sports title since the then Seattle Supersonics defeated the then Washington Bullets in five games to capture their only Larry O’Brien trophy in franchise history in 1979. The victory also made Donovan the first female head coach in the WNBA history at the time to win the league’s ultimate team prize. 

“She was a lot of fun to play for. Very easy to play for,” Bird said of playing for her then head coach. “She really understood what it was like to be a player and I thought that was really valuable.”

Jackson echoed those same sentiments saying of Donovan, “She was definitely one of my good friends and she taught me a lot. She worked really hard on broadening my offensive game. She was a great coach.” 

That great coach the next season became the first female coach in WNBA history to reach 100 wins. On Aug. 6, 2006 Donovan passed former Sparks and Atlanta Dream head coach Michael Cooper for the third most wins in league history, trailing only the 211 of the all-time leader Van Chancellor, who earned all of his with the then Houston Comets, who he led to the first four titles in league history and 134 of former Liberty and Mystics head coach Richie Adubato. 

“Anne Donovan will always be remembered as a championship coach and a championship person,” the Storm, who won their second title in franchise history in the summer of 2010 said in a statement. “Her dedication, passion and winning spirit set the tone for Storm Basketball. We are deeply saddened by her passing and shar our heartfelt condolences with her family.”

On Nov. 30, 2007 Donovan resigned as head coach of the Storm and two years later on Apr. 28, 2009 was appointed as an assistant coach for the Liberty. Three months and three days later, she assumed the position as interim head coach replacing Pat Coyle. 

That stint was brief as in Mar. 2010, she accepted the head coaching job at Seton Hall University. 

Her stay was for just three seasons as she resigned from her position with the Lady Pirates in Jan. 2013 and accepted the same position with the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun where she spent three seasons until her resignation on Oct. 1, 2015. 

Along with her accolades as a player in college and overseas and what she did as a head coach, Donovan made a legendary name for herself as a representative of the Red, White, and Blue of our nation. 

She helped lead Team USA to Gold in the 1984 and 1988 games in Los Angeles, CA and Seoul, South Korea respectably. 

Donovan qualified for the 1980 in the Soviet Union, but due to the American-led boycott did not compete. In 2007 though, she was one of 461 recipients to earn a Congressional Gold Medal that was created particularly for spurned athletes. 

Donovan also helped Team USA earn Gold in the 1983 and 1987 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela, and Indianapolis, IN respectably. She also helped them capture Gold in the 1984 Renato William Jones Cup Taipei, Taiwan in 1984. 

In 1998, Donovan was named assistant coach of the U.S. National team, under Fortner. They captured Gold in the FIBA World Championships in 1998 in Berlin, Germany and in 2002 in China. They took Gold in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. 

In 2006 Donovan took over as head coach of the Women’s National team, coaching the likes of Leslie, Bird, Parker, Taurasi, Fever legend Tamika Catchings, reigning WNBA MVP Sylvia Fowles and current WNBA color analyst for ESPN Kara Lawson. 

That team would capture Gold in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, which gave Donovan her third Olympic Gold Medal overall. 

“She used to say she bled red, white and blue,” USA Basketball said in a statement on Wednesday. “As much as we remember her accomplishments in the game, we mourn a great friend who will be greatly missed.” 

There are a lot of things that can be said about Anne Donovan. She was a Hall of Famer as a player, who dedicated herself to the game and was a legendary on the hardwood and made her team, her school of Old Dominion and the community better. As a coach she made the players she coached individually and collectively better. Every player if you heard them over the past few days have high admiration, appreciation, and unwavering respect for her. 

During her postgame press conference, Hall of Famer and Liberty (3-6) head coach Katie Smith, who played for Donovan on several of those Olympic teams and saw her at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame at her induction as a part of this year’s class, which also included Donovan’s high school coach Dr. Rose Marie Battaglia said of tragic loss after the team’s 78-63 setback to the expansion Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday night, “it’s tough, it’s tough.” 

“Anne was a giant in very sense of the word, and I know the women’s basketball community is saddened beyond words by this tragic news,” were the words of the first president of the WNBA Val Ackerman. “She was a pioneer and icon in the women’s game and made a profound and lasting impact at all levels as a player, coach, colleague and friend.” 

Along with having an impact on the players she coached, Donovan had an even bigger impact on some of her peers in the coaching ranks like current Texas Christian University (TCU) Lady Horned Frogs head coach Jennifer Raegan Pebley, who too expressed what Donovan meant to her during intermission of the FOX Sports Southwest broadcast of the Dallas Wings (5-4) 77-67 win versus the Aces (3-8) on Friday night. 

“When you talk of Anne Donovan, every significant mark of women’s basketball’s timeline, she’s been a part of,” she said. “Some of the best that have played our game have been coached by her Dawn Staley, Tina Thompson, Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson.” 

Pebley also said while holding back tears said that Donovan was the first woman she saw that provided her what she said the “a-ha moment” of what she can do with the game of basketball, and the work ethic and her height of 6’4”.  

That girl, who grew up in Orem, UT and whose father during her formative years took her to gyms where she played against boys as well as just watched boys play basketball went on to play at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1993-97 and graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism. She was drafted by the then Utah Starzz in the third round. After playing just one season for them, followed another with the Rockers, she was an assistant at George Mason University from 1997-99 and then at Colorado State from 1999-01. She then was the head coach at Utah State for nine seasons (2003-12) and then at Fresno State from 2012-14 and as mentioned is currently the women’s head coach at TCU and since the summer of 2016 serves as the color analyst of Wings games alongside longtime sportscaster Ron Thulin.

On Wednesday the basketball world as a whole, not just the women’s basketball community lost one of its great pillars in Anne Theresa Donovan. She was a giant in every sense of the word as previously mentioned as a player and coach. More than that she was a friend, a leader, who worked hard at her craft on the hardwood and as a leader of women on the sidelines. Her career was one of making everyone around her better not just as basketball players, but as people. She was someone who respected the game and in turn earned the respect of all those that played with her and watched her. 

“Anne Donovan changed the game,” Lieberman said. “She was intelligent. She was a team player. She was a factor on both offense, defense, unselfish. Really a great teammate to have. She was one of the best to every play and she proved it. She’s the ultimate winner.” 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 6/13/18 www.nba.com story via “The Associated Press,” “Hall of Famer, former WNBA Coach Anne Donovan Dies,” by Doug Feinberg; 6/14/18 6 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Ro Parrish and Steve Smith; 6/15/18 8 p.m. NBATV broadcast of Las Vegas Aces versus Dallas Wings on FOX Sports Southwest with Ron Thulin and Raegan Pebley and Alexa Shaw; www.wnba.com/standings/#?seasons=2018; www.liberty.wnba.com/schedule/#?seasons=2018&seasontype=02; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Sting; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramus_Catholic_High_School; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Intercollegiate_Athletics_for_Women; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBCA_Player_of_the_Year; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Scope; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Carolina_University; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Storm; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Chancellor; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Adubato; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Summer_Olympics_boycott; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Smith; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_Pebley; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Donovan.