Catherine "Cathy" Parson (born May 4, 1961) is a women's basketball coach and a former collegiate basketball player.

Early life

Parson is a native of

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's List of municipalities in Maryland, sixth-most popu ...

College career

Parson played basketball at

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, where she was the first female athlete to receive an athletic scholarship there. She became one of the school's best players, scoring a school record 2,128 points in four seasons. She was the school's first female athlete to have her jersey retired, and the first women to be a member of the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

Parson was an assistant coach at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

from 1985 to 1988. From 1988 to 1998, she coached at

Christopher Newport University Christopher Newport University (CNU) is a public university in Newport News, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1960 as Christopher Newport College, an extension school of the College of William and Mary for mid-career working professiona ...

, where she compiled a 183–83 record. While at CNU, she won two

Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina ...

coach of the year awards. She served as the interim head coach of the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

in 1998. From 2000 to 2008, she was the head coach at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, where she compiled a 96–127 record. She led the Lady Bison to two regular season

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the Nation ...

titles. The 2001 team won the MEAC tournament title. In both 2000 and 2001, she was named the MEAC coach of the year. She coached the MEAC player of the year in Andrea Gardner, who was also drafted in the WNBA. From 2013 to 2014, Parson was the head coach of

Frostburg State University Frostburg State University (FSU) is a public university in Frostburg, Maryland. The university is the only four-year institution of the University System of Maryland west of the Baltimore-Washington passageway in the state's Appalachian highlan ...

's women's basketball team. She next coached at Stratford University from 2018 to 2019. In 2020, she became the head women's basketball coach at

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-y ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parson, Cathy 1961 births American women's basketball coaches Howard Bison women's basketball coaches West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball players Christopher Newport University Living people Providence Friars women's basketball coaches Washington Mystics head coaches