Lucille Kyvallos, former coach at West Chester University and Queens College, was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame over the weekend, writes Mel Greenberg for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“[Mighty Mac] Tina Krah called me and told me I was getting in,” said 93-year-old Kyvallos. “I had just woken up. … I thought ‘Oh my God, I thought they were going to wait until I was dead.’”
Kyvallos coached the Rams from 1962 to 1966, compiling a 52-2 record before moving to New York. There, she posted a 259-71 mark for an overall record of 311-73 and an 81 percent winning rate.
She is a former chair of the AIAW tournament committee and is considered by many to be the mother of the women’s Final Four. Originally, the AIAW national tournament structure had 16 teams facing off twice a day.
“We need to get this into a Final Four format because the public will understand the tournament competition better,” Kyvallos said at the time.
She was presented by Immaculata’s Cathy Rush. Additionally, many former players attended the coach’s induction, including Donna Orender, second president of the WNBA, and Big East commissioner Val Ackerman.
Read more about Lucille Kyvallos being honored for her extraordinary coaching career at West Chester in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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