Ex-ODU women’s coach is Naismith finalist again
Former Old Dominion women’s basketball coach Marianne Stanley again has been named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022, the organization announced Friday.
Hired by ODU at age 23, Stanley compiled a record of 269-59 in her 10 years with the school. She helped put the ODU women’s basketball program on the map as the Lady Monarchs captured three national championships during her tenure.
They won back-to-back AIAW national titles in 1979 and 1980. ODU went 35-1 during the 197879 season and defeated Louisiana Tech 76-65 in the title game. The following year, Old Dominion
rolled to a 37-1 mark and beat Tennessee 68-53 for the championship. In 1985, the Monarchs defeated Georgia 70-65 for their first NCAA title. ODU also won the WNIT in 1978.
Two of her players, the late Anne Donovan and Nancy Lieberman, are in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Lieberman was a two-time Wade Trophy winner, and Donovan was the Naismith Player of the Year in 1983.
Overall, the Monarchs reached the national semifinals five times under Stanley, including 1983, when the NCAA Final Four was held in Norfolk’s Scope Arena.
Stanley was the AIAW National Coach of the Year in 1979 and a five-time Virginia Coach of the
Year (1979-81, 1984-85). Stanley was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 1984.
In 2002, Stanley was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the ODU Sports Hall of Fame.
Stanley has been as an assistant and head coach for several WNBA franchises and is currently the head coach of the Indiana Fever. She won a WNBA championship with the Washington Mystics in 2019 as an assistant coach.
Stanley was also a finalist for the Class of 2021. She joins fellow finalists Leta Andrews, Swin Cash, Michael Cooper, Hugh Evans, Manu Ginobili, Tim Hardaway, Bob Huggins, Marques Johnson, George Karl and Lindsay Whalen.