Debbie Ryan (born November 4, 1952) is an American former women's basketball coach who coached at the University of Virginia. Ryan also coached the American women's basketball team at the 2003 Pan American Games. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000 but is currently in remission. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame 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.

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 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'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 to the 1999 World University Games (also known as the Universiade). The event was held in Palma de Mallorca, 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

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Virginia (ACC) (1977–2011)
1977–78Virginia8–171–56th
1978–79Virginia16–122–46th
1979–80Virginia20–123–56thWNIT Second Round
1980–81Virginia22–105–24thAIAW First Round
1981–82Virginia17–112–55th
1982–83Virginia15–134–96th
1983–84Virginia22–711–31stNCAA First Round
1984–85Virginia21–89–53rdNCAA First Round
1985–86Virginia26–313–11stNCAA First Round
1986–87Virginia26–512–21stNCAA Sweet 16
1987–88Virginia27–512–2T-1stNCAA Elite 8
1988–89Virginia21–108–64thNCAA Sweet 16
1989–90Virginia29–611–32ndNCAA Final Four
1990–91Virginia31–314–01stNCAA Runner-Up
1991–92Virginia32–215–11stNCAA Final Four
1992–93Virginia26–613–31stNCAA Elite Eight
1993–94Virginia27–515–11stNCAA Sweet 16
1994–95Virginia27–516–01stNCAA Elite Eight
1995–96Virginia26–713–31stNCAA Elite Eight
1996–97Virginia23–812–42ndNCAA Sweet 16
1997–98Virginia19–109–75thNCAA Second Round
1998–99Virginia20–912–42ndNCAA First Round
1999–00Virginia25–913–31stNCAA Sweet 16
2000–01Virginia18–148–85thNCAA First Round
2001–02Virginia17–139–7T-3rdNCAA First Round
2002–03Virginia17–149–73rdNCAA Second Round
2003–04Virginia13–166–97th
2004–05Virginia21–118–65thNCAA Second Round
2005–06Virginia20–125–99thWNIT Quarterfinals
2006–07Virginia19–155–98thWNIT Quarterfinals
2007–08Virginia24–1010–4T-3rdNCAA Second Round
2008–09Virginia24–108–6T-5thNCAA Second Round
2009–10Virginia21–109–53rdNCAA First Round
2010–11Virginia19–165–78thWNIT Quarterfinals
Virginia:739–324 (.694)160–92 (.635)
Total:739–324 (.694)
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

See also

External links