NORFOLK, Va. – Former Old Dominion women's basketball head coach Marianne Stanley has been named a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame finalist, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.
Hired by ODU at just 23, Stanley compiled a 10-year mark of 269-59 (.820) at ODU and helped put the ODU women's basketball program on the map as ODU captured three national championships during her decade in Norfolk.
The Monarchs won two AIAW national titles, when there was no NCAA Championships for women. In 1978-79 ODU had a 35-1 record and the Monarchs defeated LA Tech, 76-65 for the crown. Again in 1979-80, ODU rolled to a 37-1 mark and defeated Tennessee, 68-53, in the AIAW championship game.
In 1985, the Monarchs defeated Georgia, 70-65 for their first NCAA title. ODU also captured the WNIT crown in 1978.
Overall, the Monarchs reached the national semifinals five times, including 1983 when the NCAA Final Four was held in Norfolk's Scope Arena.
She was the AIAW National Coach of the Year in 1979, and a five-time Virginia Coach of the Year in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984 and 1985.
Stanley was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the year in 1984. Regionally, she was named NCAA District III Coach of the Year in 1983 and was Fast Break Mideast Region Coach of the Year in 1984.
Two of her student-athletes, the late Anne Donovan and Nancy Lieberman, are both in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Lieberman was a two-time Wade Trophy winner and four of Stanley's student athletes (Lieberman, Donovan, Inge Nissen and Medina Dixon) were Kodak All-Americans. Donovan was also the Naismith Player of the Year in 1983.
In 2002, Stanley was also inducted into The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the ODU Sports Hall of Fame.
Following her collegiate coaching career, Stanley has served as an assistant and head coach for several WNBA organizations 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.
To read the full release from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, click here.
Marianne Stanley Named Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Finalist
