Fifty years ago, a young Mel Greenberg was approached by his boss to start a women’s basketball poll. Then, women’s games were almost never televised on the national platform, and the internet was but a twinkle in Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf’s eye, making scores and statistics challenging to gather.
Greenberg found a way and is celebrating his 50th anniversary of women’s basketball sports-writing which has led to the current rise in interest in women's basketball that we have seen in the past five years.
In 1976, Mel sought support for the poll. He knew that he needed the greenlight from the Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, a precursor to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) which would take over in 1982. The blessing did not come right away.
The AIAW sent Greenberg a position paper with a line that stated: “Women should not get involved in newspaper games and things like polls because it will lead to the evils of men’s athletics.”
After some time, Greenberg circled back to the AIAW after talking to coaches. The organization would go on to say that they “were encouraged by what he was doing.”
That was all Mel needed to get the poll up and running. He would set up a network of coaches across the country who would call in their votes every Sunday night.
After the success of his poll, Mel became known as the ‘Guru’ of women’s basketball.
For his contributions in women’s basketball, Mel Greenberg was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame as a Contributor in 2007. Greenberg was the first writer to be Inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
For more information about Mel Greenberg or the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, visit www.wbhof.com.
