Doug Bruno
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Richard Douglas Bruno (born November 7, 1950) is the Special Assistant to the Vice President/Director of Athletics for Women’s Basketball and the former head coach of the
DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball The DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball program is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate women's basketball program of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. The team competes in the Big East Conference. The Blue Demons play home games at Wintru ...
team. In
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, he completed his 30th season as head coach. Under his tenure, the Blue Demons have qualified for post-season competition play in 24 of his 33 completed seasons, including the last 17 seasons. In 2007, Bruno completed a two-year term as President of the
Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...
, a position to which he was elected by his peers.


High school and college

Born Douglas Bruno in
Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal cities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and is I ...
. Doug Bruno played high school basketball at Quigley Preparatory Seminary South. Bruno played college basketball at
DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...
under
Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
coach
Ray Meyer Raymond Joseph Meyer (December 18, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Care ...
, earning a letter three years, and starting two seasons.


Coaching career


High school

Bruno started his coaching career in 1973–74 at the high school level, first as an assistant coach for the boys' team at Francis Parker High School in Chicago, then as a head coach in 1974–75 for the boys' team at St. Vincent DePaul High School.


DePaul

Bruno was named the head coach of the DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball program in 1976. In the first season, the team achieved an 11–10 record,. In the second season the team achieved a 16–6 record, the most wins in the program's history.


Chicago Hustle

Bruno left DePaul to become the head coach of the Chicago Hustle, a women's basketball team in the
Women's Professional Basketball League The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional w ...
. They were originally going to be called the Hustlers, but that name reminded some of hookers. Bruno suggested changing the name to simply the Hustle. On December 9, 1978, the Chicago Hustle played the Milwaukee Does in what was not just the inaugural game of the Women's Professional Basketball League, but the first professional women's basketball game in the United States. The game was played in the MECCA Arena (now UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena) in
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. Bruno was 27 years old, younger than some of his players, trying to keep them calm while waiting to start their first professional game in front of national press services. When an English radio announcer interrupted him with advice, he lessened the tension with a mashup of some famous speeches, invoking the Duke of Wellington and Knute Rockne. He implored his teams, "remember girls, the battle of Dunkirk was won on the playing fields of Eton. Now, go out there and win one for the Gipper." There were 7,824 people in the stands. Milwaukee scored the first points, but Chicago went on to take the lead. Poor free throw shooting by Milwaukee would prove critical, and Chicago would go on to win the first professional women's basketball game by a score of 92–87. In their first year, the Hustle tied for the Midwest Division crown. The league lasted three years, but Bruno left the Hustle after his second year. Bruno was involved in what has been called " e WBL's most serious officiating dispute." Bruno thought his point guard was getting roughed up, and had responded by kicking a folding chair in one game, although it was reported that he tossed the folding chair "30 feet across the floor at an official". In a subsequent game, he thought his point guard was fouled with no call, so he went after the referee. Three security guards pulled Bruno off the referee, but not before the fans got involved. The fights included 70 people, requiring a call to the police to restore order. After a delay, the Chicago team won 128–123 in overtime.


Loyola Chicago

Bruno then left coaching women to become the associate men's head coach at
Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...
under Gene Sullivan. He spent eight years at Loyola, during which the team had two 20 win seasons, and reached the Sweet Sixteen once, in 1984–85.


DePaul

Bruno returned to DePaul and women's basketball in 1988, returning to the head coaching position of the Blue Demons. His first season, the team achieved a 23–10 record, tying for first place in the North Star conference, and qualifying for post-season play. The team finished seventh in the WNIT. His team has qualified for post-season play all but three of the seasons since his return to DePaul. The team was a member of the North Star conference until the 1990–91 season, then was a member of the
Great Midwest Conference The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995. History It was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Be ...
for four years. That conference then merged to become part of
Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...
, where DePaul remained until joining the
Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
in 2005. In his first year as a member of the Big East, Bruno's Blue Demons achieved a 23–7 record, and made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Div ...
. DePaul announced in 2009 that the basketball court at McGrath-Phillips Arena will be named the Doug Bruno Court in his honor. The decision was kept a surprise, and announced at the annual Doug Bruno Challenge Dinner. Doug was told the dinner attendance wasn't meeting expectations, and asked if his six sons could help bolster the attendance by showing up and bringing friends.


USA Basketball


2006 USA U18 and U19 National Team

Bruno was selected to be the head coach of the
USA Women's U18 and U19 teams The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
in 2006 and 2007. The U18 team competed for the FIBA Americas Championship, held in Colorado Springs, Colorado from June 28 – July 2, 2006. The USA team defeated Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Canada to win the Gold Medal, and qualify for the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship, in Bratislava, Slovakia. The following year, Bruno coached the team to a perfect 9–0 record and a Gold Medal at the U19 World Championship. USA would play a close game against Spain in an early round, winning only by eight points 74–66, but in the medal round rematch, USA defeated Spain easily, 69–46. The USA team faced undefeated Sweden in the championship game, but won easily 99–57.


USA Women's National Team

Bruno was named to an assistant coaching position for the
USA women's national basketball team The USA Basketball Women's National Team, commonly known as Team USA, is governed by USA Basketball and competes in FIBA Americas. The team is by far the most successful in international women's basketball, having won 10 out of the 12 Olympic to ...
. The team begins training in 2009 in preparation for the 2010 World Championships. Training camp was held in Washington, D.C., after which the team visited wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Following completion of the training camp, the team will head to Ekaterinburg, Russia, to compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational. Bruno served as an assistant coach for the
USA National Basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as Team USA and the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. It is the most successful men's team in international competition, ...
at the 2010 World Championships. He will continue as an assistant at the 2012 Olympic games. Bruno was named assistant coach of the USA National team in preparation for competition at the 2010 World Championships and the
2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London. Because many team members were still playing in the WNBA until just prior to the event, the team had only one day of practice with the entire team before leaving for
Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...
and
Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...
,
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. Even with limited practice, the team managed to win their first game against Greece by 26 points. The team continued to dominate with victory margins exceeding 20 points in the first five games. Several players shared scoring honors, with
Swin Cash Swintayla Marie Cash Canal (born September 22, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. She played in college for the University of Connecticut and professionally for 15 years in the Women's National Basketball Association (WN ...
,
Angel McCoughtry Angel Lajuane McCoughtry (born September 10, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. McCoughtry complet ...
,
Maya Moore Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American social justice advocate and former professional basketball player. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the "greatest winner in the hist ...
,
Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for 20 seasons, spending her entire career with the Phoenix Mercury. Taurasi is widely ...
,
Lindsay Whalen Lindsay Marie Whalen (born May 9, 1982) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Whalen played college basketball at the ...
, and
Sylvia Fowles Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles (born October 6, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Fowles played for the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx during her WNBA career. She won the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award, WNBA MVP Award in 2017 ...
all ending as high scorer in the first few games. The sixth game was against undefeated Australia—the USA jumped out to a 24-point lead, but the Australian team cut the lead back to single digits late in the game. The USA prevailed 83–75. The USA won their next two games by over thirty points, then faced the host team, the Czech Republic, in the championship game. The USA team had only a five-point lead at halftime, which was cut to three points, but the Czechs never got closer, and went on to win the championship and gold medal. Bruno was an assistant coach for the
USA women's national basketball team The USA Basketball Women's National Team, commonly known as Team USA, is governed by USA Basketball and competes in FIBA Americas. The team is by far the most successful in international women's basketball, having won 10 out of the 12 Olympic to ...
at the
2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
.


WBCA

Bruno served as a member of the Board of Directors of the
Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBC ...
in 2003 and 2004. Bruno was then elected President of the organization for a two-year team, starting September 1, 2005. His term officially ended in 2007, but he acted as President at the 2009 convention. The organization has a President and a past President—if the President is the coach of a team in the Final Four (occurring the same time as the annual convention), the Past President presides. However, in 2009, both Past President
Sherri Coale Sherri Kay Coale (; Born on January 19, 1965) is a retired college basketball coach. She was the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball, University of Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team for 25 years, from 1996 to 2021. Coale ...
of Oklahoma, and President
Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...
of Connecticut had teams in the Final Four, so Bruno stepped in as acting President at the annual convention.


Awards and honors

* 2008— Carol Eckman Award


Head coaching record (college)


See also

* List of college women's basketball career coaching wins leaders


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruno, Doug 1950 births Living people American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball players DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball coaches Guards (basketball) High school basketball coaches in Illinois Loyola Ramblers men's basketball coaches Place of birth missing (living people) Women's Professional Basketball League coaches 20th-century American sportsmen