A Pioneer for Women's Sports and Director of Athletics at ODU for 40 Years, Dr. James Jarrett Passes Away at Age 88

By Harry Minium

and Debbie Harmison White

NORFOLK, Va. – Dr. James Jarrett, Old Dominion’s director of athletics for 40 years, who turned ODU into a women’s basketball and field hockey national powerhouse, guided the University’s rise in men’s basketball and led the athletics program into Division I, passed away peacefully at his Norfolk home Thursday night surrounded by family.

Jarrett, 88, a native of Decatur, Illinois, came to ODU in 1967 as an associate professor in Health and Physical Education and quickly became a force for change at the university. A graduate of Southern Illinois and Florida State, where he received his PhD., he was named ODU’s director of athletics in 1970, replacing long-time AD Bud Metheny.

Under Jarrett’s leadership, ODU became the first college or university in Virginia to offer athletics scholarships to women in 1974 and as a result, the University became a national women’s sports powerhouse.

ODU won women’s basketball national championships in 1979, 1980 and 1985.

Those teams were coached by Marianne Stanley, whom Jarrett hired when she was just 23 after she had served just one season as an assistant coach at Immaculata. He was criticized at the time for hiring such a young person, but Stanley would go on to recruit ODU Hall of Famers Nancy, Lieberman, Anne Donovan and Inge Nissen and win have a record of 268-59 at ODU.

ODU’s women’s basketball success led to the University hosting the first two NCAA Final Fours at Scope in 1982 and 1983.

Stanely was not the only young coach Jarrett hired. Beth Anders was a high school field hockey coach when he hired her as ODU’s field hockey coach. Anders won nine national titles for the Monarchs, the last in 2000.

ODU’s first national title came in 1975, when the men’s basketball team, coached by Sonny Allen, defeated the University of New Orleans for the Division II national title.

After Allen left ODU in 1975, Jarrett hired Paul Webb away from Randolph-Macon and Webb would lead the Monarchs into postseason play in nine of his 10 seasons as head coach, the University’s most successful men’s basketball run.

ODU moved all sports into Division I in Webb’s second season in 1976-77 and the Monarchs were an instant success. ODU finished 25-4, won games at Georgetown and Virginia and lost to Villanova in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

ODU toyed with the idea of starting football in the 1980s and 1990s and finally fielded its first team in 2009 under Jarrett’s leadership. He retired from ODU in 2010.

More than 90 percent of the student-athletes who attended ODU during his 40 years graduated and the Monarchs won 28 team and individual national titles.

Jarrett was married to Frances “Sugie” Scott Jarrett, the daughter of Tommy Scott, the first director of athletics at the College of William and Mary, Norfolk Division, from 1930 through 1940. The Norfolk Division eventually morphed into ODU.

She was a long-time Virginia Beach tennis pro and Jim, who attended Southern Illinois on a tennis scholarship, remained loyal ODU tennis patrons.

They were a close couple who were frequently seen at ODU athletics events, attending nearly every football and men’s and women’s basketball game together.

Dr. Wood Selig, ODU’s director of athletics who succeeded Jarrett in 2010, paid homage not only to Jim Jarrett but also Sugie Jarrett.

“Jim Jarrett was a winner and a pioneer. He literally put ODU athletics on the national stage and helped make ODU a national brand, especially for women’s athletics,” Dr. Selig said.

“Dr Jarrett had an amazing run of 40 years as athletic director at ODU starting at the tender age of 32. That is unheard of these days. Dr Jarrett will leave a legacy that few others will ever achieve at any other institution.

“Dr Jarrett and his amazing wife Sugie stood behind and beside ODU athletics for over 56 years! Think about that. What an amazing run. What an amazing couple. Sugie has been equal parts ODU as well as Dr Jarrett. 

“We are in an enviable position because we occupy exceptional athletic facilities, unwavering fan support, and national prominence due to the passion and vision of Dr Jarrett.”

Those who worked with Jarrett called him a visionary who not only helped with the immense growth of women’s sports at ODU, but around the country.

“I can tell you that no one would know who I am were it not for Jim Jarrett,” said Nancy Lieberman, the former All-American and Wade Trophy winner who may be ODU’s best known athlete.

“None of us at Old Dominion would have had the lives and careers we had. He was a visionary.

“He did something no one else did before, he treated us as equals. From the uniforms to practice time. He was non-apologetic for wanting to treat women as individuals. He was so proud of us. He loved all the programs, but we (the women’s basketball team) stole his heart.”

The ODU’s women’s basketball program quickly created a huge fan base that often sold out the 4,800-seat ODU Fieldhouse.

“I would see him walk into the field house when it sold out religiously and he was like a proud papa,” Lieberman said.

“The people at Tennessee, UConn, Texas, all over the country, he showed them all the path. He radiated excellence.”

Wendy Larry, the former ODU women’s basketball head coach, played basketball for the Monarchs and was the recipient of one of the first six women’s scholarships given to female student-athletes. When Stanley left in 1987, Jarrett hired Larry away from Arizona to replace Stanley.

Larry’s teams went to 20 NCAA Tournaments, including the 1997 Final Four, and set an NCAA record with 17 Colonial Athletic Association titles. Larry won 608 games.

“He was doing things in the 1970s that very few male athletic directors were doing,” Larry said. “He believed that not only males should have scholarship opportunities but females as well.

“He gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to come back to my alma mater and my friends.”

Jarrett implemented a philosophy of “selective excellence” which meant, basically, that, ODU should put resources into those sports where the University could be successful.

“That meant that some programs didn’t get all the money they probably wanted,” Larry said. “But the programs that we did invest in, such as women’s basketball, were very successful and helped give Old Dominion a national name.”

Dave Twardzik, the former ODU men’s basketball All-American, who led the Monarchs to the Division II finals in 1971, said “Jim was at the cutting edge and leading point of women’s athletics. What he did for women’s basketball was way ahead of the curve.

“But he didn’t compromise men’s basketball. We had the resources we needed and we had Jim’s full support.

“He set the bar pretty high for women’s athletics and pretty high for men’s basketball.

“With Jim, what you saw was what you got. There was nothing phony about him. And that’s a rare commodity these days.”

Jarrett also helped revolutionize ODU’s fundraising efforts. The Big Blue Club, the forerunner of the current Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, was raising $5,000 per year in 1970. When he retired, ODU was raising more than $4 million per year.

Jarrett was a charter member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee, serving from 1981-1989. He also served as president of the CAA, the Sun Belt Conference and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, and was instrumental in the creation of the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.

He was named National Association of Athletic Directors Southeast regional Athletic Director of the Year, the Man of the Year by the Norfolk Sports Club, the Collegiate Director of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and he was recognized in 2007 with a Lifetime Achievement award by NACDA.

In 2005, Jarrett was recognized with the Distinguished Service award by VaSID, the Virginia Sports Information Directors' Association. He has been inducted into both the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

ODU’s athletics facilities received a massive overhaul during his tenure, including the construction of Chartway Arena, the overhaul of Foreman Field (now S.B. Ballard Stadium) into a Division I football facility and the construction of the Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center, Bud Metheny Stadium for baseball, the L.R. Hill Sports Center, home of Monarch football, field hockey and lacrosse, and stadiums for ODU’s soccer and field hockey and lacrosse teams and ODU’s sailing and rowing centers.

Speaking in 2010, shortly after his retirement, Jarrett reflected on his time at ODU.

"There have been many successes for our program over my 40 years, but significant ones for me personally include the graduation rate of our student-athletes, national championships, our overall Division I success, and leadership role in women's athletics, the development of our athletic venues and the ODU Sports Hall of Fame, our long standing rivalry in women's basketball with Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Vols and the accomplishments of Beth Anders and our field hockey program," Jarrett said.

Former VCU director of athletics Dick Sander, now the AD at East Tennessee, said he spent many hours with Jarrett in meetings, first in the Sun Belt and then the CAA.

"VCU and ODU were big rivals, but we respected each other," Sander posted on social media. "The rivalry made both programs better.

"Jim built ODU athletics."

Alerted to Jarrett’s declining health, Larry visited him on Sunday.

“I was able to say thank you,” she said. "And I didn’t just say thank you for me.

“I said thank you for a lot of people involved in women’s athletics whose lives he helped enrich.”

Memorial gifts may be directed to the Dr. James Jarrett Athletic Scholarship at the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, 4417 Monarch Way, Norfolk, VA 23529. or CLICK HERE to make a donation online. A elebration of life will be held at a future date.  

Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized. H.D. Oliver Funeral Home in Norfolk is handling arrangements.