Marian Elizabeth Washington (born August 26, 1946) is a former women's basketball coach, mostly known for her career at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, a post she held for over 30 years. Throughout her career, Washington achieved multiple awards and accomplishments which include achieving membership in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, leading KU to extensive victories, coaching her team in a number of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Tournaments, and receiving the Black Coaches Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Washington 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 2004.

Early years

Raised on a farm near

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...

, Washington played seven sports at Henderson High School in West Chester.

College

Washington attended

West Chester State College West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university located in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the ...

(now known as West Chester University), where she played basketball on the team that won the first national women's tournament in 1969. That tournament was held under the auspices of the CIAW, a predecessor to the

AIAW women's basketball tournament The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national ...

Coaching

After one year as an assistant coach, Washington served as head coach for the

Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball The Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball team represents the University of Kansas and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are coached by Brandon Schneider. The Jayhawks have failed to match the success of the men's ...

team at the

from 1973 to 2004. Washington was also women's athletic director at Kansas from 1974 to 1979.

USA Basketball

Washington was chosen as the head coach of the team representing the USA in 1982 at the

William Jones Cup The William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament (), also known as the William Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in sports, 1977 ...

competition in

Taipei, Taiwan , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. The team started out strongly, winning their first four games by 16 or more points. In the fifth game, they were matched against Australia. The game was close until the end. With a half-minute remaining, the USA held a one-point margin. The USA extended the lead to three points on two free throws, the Aussies brought it back to one with two free throws of their own, and the USA hit two free throws with two second left in the game to secure the 65–62 victory. The next two games were easy victories, then the USA faced unbeaten Canada in the final game. The game was very close, but the USA fell to Canada 70–67 to finish with a single loss and the silver medal. USA players Lea Henry and

Paula McGee Paula McGee (born December 1, 1962) is an American preacher, writer, inspirational speaker and former basketball player. She played college basketball for the University of Southern California where she won the NCAA championship in 1983 and 198 ...

were named to the All-Tournament Team. In 1996, Washington served as an assistant coach on the USA National Team, which went on to win the gold medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Head coaching record

Basketball

*Washington resigned with three games remaining in the 2003–04 season; assistant

Lynette Woodard Lynette Woodard (born August 12, 1959) is an American basketball player and former head women's basketball coach at Winthrop University. Woodward played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. She became the first female member of the Harle ...

served as head coach for the remainder of the season and went 0–3 for a cumulative season record of 9–19 (2–14 Big 12) and 11th place finish.Kansas Women's Basketball 2016-17 Media Guide
, p. 152

Awards and honors

* 1991 — Carol Eckman Award

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Marian 1946 births Living people African-American basketball coaches American women's basketball coaches Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball coaches Kansas Jayhawks track and field coaches West Chester University alumni People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen