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