Debbie Ryan (born November 4, 1952) is an American former

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

coach who coached at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. Ryan also coached the American women's basketball team at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

. She was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

in 2000 but is currently in remission. She was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2008. Ryan was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. The US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) awarded her the Coach of the Year award in 1991. She was also named the

Naismith College Coach of the Year The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (officially known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year) is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate c ...

. Ryan started as an assistant coach at Virginia under head coach Dan Bonner. In 1977, Ryan, who had recently completed graduate school in Virginia, was asked to become the head coach of the women's basketball program. She accepted, to become only the third head coach in the program's history. Ryan resigned after 34 years of head coaching duties at UVA at the completion the women's 2010–11 basketball season. After her resignation, Ryan was a volunteer assistant coach of

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

for the 2011 WNBA season, reuniting with her former player Jenny Boucek, who is an assistant coach there. In 2014, Ryan was honored as one of the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library is located at 800 East Broad Street, tw ...

's " Virginia Women in History" for her contributions to women's basketball and her actions as a cancer treatment advocate.

US basketball

Ryan served as the head coach of the

US representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

to the 1999 World University Games (also known as the

Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a Blend word, portmanteau of the wor ...

). The event was held in

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

, Spain. The US team opened with a 134–37 win over South Africa. The second game was against Canada, which the US team lost in a close match 68–67. The US could not afford to lose another game if they wished to win a medal, and won the next game against Japan 106–66. They next faced undefeated Russia, and fell behind by twelve points at halftime, but came back and won 79–68. The US fell behind in their next game against undefeated China, but rallied and went on to win 89–78. They beat Brazil to advance to the semi-final, where they faced Lithuania. The game was not close, with the US winning 70–49. That set up a rematch with China, on their home court with 18,000 spectators. The USA only had a four-point lead at halftime, but did better in the second half, and won 87–69 to claim the gold medal.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Bio from the 2003 Pan American Games

Debbie Ryan , Expert Healthcare Articles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Debbie 1952 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from New Jersey College women's basketball players in the United States People from Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Mercer County, New Jersey University of Virginia alumni Ursinus College alumni Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball coaches United States women's national basketball team coaches

US basketball

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links