Hall of Famer Anne Donovan to be named new Seton Hall women's basketball coach

Anne Donovan cropped head shot fileAnne Donovan has been one of the monumental figures in women's basketball.

Sometime tonight, Seton Hall figured it already nailed down its new men’s basketball coach, so why not get its new women’s coach, too?

At a joint press conference on Wednesday afternoon with

new men’s coach Kevin Willard

, Seton Hall will introduce its new women’s coach: basketball Hall of Famer Anne Donovan.

“We’re bringing one of the iconic figures of women’s basketball to Seton Hall,” Patrick Hobbs, Dean of the Seton Hall Law School told The Star-Ledger tonight. “We’re excited and hopeful for the future of our women’s basketball program.”

The news of Donovan’s hiring was first reported by

The Record of Hackensack on its website

this evening.

Donovan, who was born in Ridgewood and played at Paramus Catholic, has been one of the monumental figures in women’s basketball. She won two Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988. She was the first female Naismith College Player of the Year in 1983, as a senior at Old Dominion.

At Old Dominion, Donovan — who averaged a double-double for her entire career — won back-to-back AIAW National Championships.

After a successful professional career overseas, Donovan returned to coaching first at Old Dominion and then in the WNBA for the past 10 years. She has been head coach for the Indiana Fever, Charlotte Sting, Seattle Storm and, most recently, the New York Liberty. Donovan will still coach the Liberty this summer and before taking over at Seton Hall.

Donovan takes over for longtime Pirates coach

Phyllis Mangina, who stepped down on March 15

to pursue other opportunities within the athletic department. This past season was Mangina’s worst in her 25 years on the Seton Hall bench, as the Pirates languished with a 9-21 overall record and 1-15 mark in the Big East.


Brendan Prunty may be reached at bprunty@starledger.com

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