Oct. 16, 2007
Anne Donovan TO RECEIVE NCAA 25-YEAR AWARD
INDIANAPOLIS, IN--Anne Donovan ('83) who graced the sport of women's basketball from 1979 to 83, helping the Old Dominion University Lady Monarchs to a national championship in 1980 and two more "Final Four" appearances during her four years will receive an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. The award will presented to her on Sunday, January 13, 2008 at the NCAA Honors Celebration at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Nashville, Tenn.
The honors celebration is held during the annual NCAA Convention. The Silver Anniversary Awards are presented to former student-athletes whohave made significant professional and civic contributions since they completed theirIntercollegiate eligibility 25 years ago.
A native of Ridgewood, NJ, Anne was one of the most highly recruited high school players in the nation. A graduate of Paramus Catholic, the 6-8 center earned Parade Player-of-the-Year honors in 1979 before signing with ODU.
As the tallest player in the women's game, Anne quickly made her presence known both on and off the court. She was recognized by virtually every post season andAll-American squad in the nation during her ODU career, earning Kodak All-Americanhonors for three years and Academic All-American honors for two straight seasons. Herhonors culminated in 1983 with her selection as the Naismith Trophy winner as the national Player-of-the-Year which was selected by coaches and awarded an NCAA post-graduate scholarship for her academic achievements. Anne became the all-time leadingscorer and rebounder in ODU history with 2,719 points and 1,976. She is still the NCAA's all-time shot blocker with 801.
As an ambassador for her sport, Anne achieved international notoriety as a member of the gold medal United States basketball team in the 1984 Olympics and she continued to play with the national team through the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Anne returned to her alma mater in 1987 as a part-time assistant basketball coach,following five years of competition in Japan. She was later elevated to full-time assistantand remained at ODU until 1997. Donovan also served as head coach at East CarolinaUniversity, the Philadelphia Rage of the ABL, interim head coach with the Indiana Fever of the WNBA and in 2001 became the head coach of the Charlotte Sting. In 2001, Donovan led the Sting to the WNBA finals and in 2002 won the WNBA Eastern Conference title. In 2003, Donovan moved west to Seattle as its head coach, leading the Storm to the WNBA title in 2004.
On Jan. 12, 2006 Donovan was named head coach of the USA Basketball SeniorNational team. The squad qualified for the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing, Chinawith a 101-71 win over Cuba last month in Chile. Donovan has served as an assistant coach for USA Basketball during its gold medal wins in the FIBA World Championships in 1998 and 2002 as well as the Olympic games in 2004.
Donovan is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's BasketballHall of Fame, The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the Old Dominion University SportsHall of Fame, and the CoSIDA Academic All-American Hall of Fame.
On Oct. 24, 2004, she was named by the Sun Belt Conference as its All-Time Women's basketball Player.