Louise O'Neal

O’Neal was the head women’s basketball coach at Southern Connecticut from 1962-1976. She revolutionized the women’s basketball program there, elevating it from a club sport in the 1960’s to a varsity sport in the 1970’s • O’Neal is the former president of the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
She was the recipient of the 2004 WBCA Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award
O’Neal served in several national leadership positions, including NCAA Long-Range Planning Committee, Women’s Basketball Rules Committee, Sears Cup Selection Committee and NACDA Executive Board
In 1979, she was the Junior Select Team Head Coach for USA Basketball that captured gold
She made eight straight appearances in the National Women’s Collegiate Championships, the only school to qualify for each of the first eight championships
She coached two players (Mary Anne O’Connor and Sue Rojcewicz) who played on the 1976 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team
In 1988, she was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2001, she was inducted into the Southern Connecticut Hall of Fame
In 2011, O’Neal was given the NACWAA Lifetime Achievement Award