Nell Fortner
Encyclopedia
Nell Fortner is the current women's college basketball coach at Auburn
. She is most well known for leading the 2000
Olympics team to a gold medal. She has received numerous awards including the 1997 National Coach of the Year, the 2000 USA Basketball Coach of the Year and the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year. In November 2001, she was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
.
Fortner served as a TV analyst for ESPN
since 2001 during the winter offseason through the NCAA Tournament. She ceased serving in that position upon returning to college coaching at Auburn.
where she was an all-state basketball selection and a Parade All-American. She won a dual scholarship in basketball and volleyball to the University of Texas, where she played from 1978-81. As a starter under coach Jody Conradt
, the basketball team compiled a 127-26 record in her 4 seasons. She led Texas to its first national ranking in women’s basketball and a seventh-place finish at the AIAW
national tournament. Her 1,466 career points are among the top scoring leaders in school history, and her 142 games played rank her fourth in Texas history. In addition to playing basketball for the Longhorns, she also played for the Texas volleyball team, where, as a middle hitter, she helped lead the Texas volleyball team to the 1981 AIAW National Championship.
While a freshman at UT, Fortner made her USA Basketball
debut as a member of the 1978 U.S. Olympic Festival South team, winning a silver medal.
Fortner was appointed to the University of Texas Women’s Athletics Wall of Honor in November 2001, and was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
during the same month.
at Stephen F. Austin during the 1986-87 campaign while completing a master’s degree in education. She stayed at SFA for three more seasons as an assistant coach, helping guide the Ladyjacks to a remarkable 87-12 (.879) record and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2007, Fortner was honored by Stephen F. Austin with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Prior to the 1990-91 NCAA season, Fortner was hired by Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore
at Louisiana Tech
, where she spent five years as an assistant coach from 1990-1995. During her tenure at the school, the Lady Techsters compiled a 123-37 (.794) record and made five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the national championship game in 1994.
When Lin Dunn
was fired from Purdue University
, Fortner was hired to replace her as head coach. In her first year, Fortner led a Purdue team that returned just four players to a Big Ten regular-season conference title in 1996-97, going 17-11 overall and 12-4 in conference play. The season ended in an overtime loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to #2 ranked Old Dominion
, the eventual runner-up. Fortner's efforts earned her Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. She was also named the National Coach of the Year by the Basketball Times. Fortner left the Boilermakers
after one season upon being appointed coach of the U.S. women's national team.
, serving as an assistant coach for two seasons under Tara VanDerveer
. Team USA posted an amazing 52-0 run that culminated with a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. On April 1, 1997, Fortner was named to succeed VanDerveer as the U.S. head coach. She led the team to win gold medals at the 1998 FIBA World Championship
and 2000 Olympic Games
. Fortner was named the 2000 USA Basketball Coach of the Year. She led the team to a 101-14 (.878) record, the most wins of any coach in Women's USA Basketball history.
of the Women's National Basketball Association
. However, as she was already committed to her post as the coach of the United States Olympic Team, she continued coaching Team USA through the 2000 Olympic Games. Assistant coach Anne Donovan
served as interim head coach during the 2000 season before Fortner joined the Fever for the 2001 campaign. She lifted the upstart franchise during the 2002 season to a .500 record and a playoff win in the club’s first post-season appearance. She resigned following the 2003 season. During her time in the WNBA, Fortner compiled a 42-56 record.
She replaces Joe Ciampi, who retired after his 25th season with a school-record 568 victories. Fortner was named the SEC Coach of the Year for the 2008-09 regular season, which saw her team start 20-0 before finishing 27-2 overall and 12-2 in the SEC to win the Southeastern Conference
title.
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
. She is most well known for leading the 2000
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
Olympics team to a gold medal. She has received numerous awards including the 1997 National Coach of the Year, the 2000 USA Basketball Coach of the Year and the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year. In November 2001, she was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
Texas Sports Hall of Fame
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction in 1951, Texas became the first U.S...
.
Fortner served as a TV analyst for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
since 2001 during the winter offseason through the NCAA Tournament. She ceased serving in that position upon returning to college coaching at Auburn.
Playing career
Fortner is a graduate of New Braunfels High SchoolNew Braunfels High School
New Braunfels High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in New Braunfels, Texas that was established in 1845. Up until 2008, New Braunfels was one of the largest, 4A, high schools in Texas...
where she was an all-state basketball selection and a Parade All-American. She won a dual scholarship in basketball and volleyball to the University of Texas, where she played from 1978-81. As a starter under coach Jody Conradt
Jody Conradt
Jody Conradt is a retired women's basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's team at University of Texas at Austin . Her coaching career spanned 38 years, with the last 31 years at UT from 1976 to 2007. She also served concurrently as the UT women's athletic director from 1992 to 2001...
, the basketball team compiled a 127-26 record in her 4 seasons. She led Texas to its first national ranking in women’s basketball and a seventh-place finish at the AIAW
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships. It evolved out of the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women . The association was one of the biggest...
national tournament. Her 1,466 career points are among the top scoring leaders in school history, and her 142 games played rank her fourth in Texas history. In addition to playing basketball for the Longhorns, she also played for the Texas volleyball team, where, as a middle hitter, she helped lead the Texas volleyball team to the 1981 AIAW National Championship.
While a freshman at UT, Fortner made her USA Basketball
USA Basketball
USA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee...
debut as a member of the 1978 U.S. Olympic Festival South team, winning a silver medal.
Fortner was appointed to the University of Texas Women’s Athletics Wall of Honor in November 2001, and was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
Texas Sports Hall of Fame
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction in 1951, Texas became the first U.S...
during the same month.
Coaching career
Fortner has over two decades of experience coaching at the high school, college, pro and international levels. She began her coaching career in the 1983-84 season as the girls basketball coach at Killeen High School in Texas. She turned to the college ranks as a graduate assistant under Gary BlairGary Blair
Gary Claude Blair is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team. In his 26 years as a collegiate head coach, Blair has only suffered one losing season, and has reached postseason play 22 times, including 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 2 Final Four appearances in 1998...
at Stephen F. Austin during the 1986-87 campaign while completing a master’s degree in education. She stayed at SFA for three more seasons as an assistant coach, helping guide the Ladyjacks to a remarkable 87-12 (.879) record and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2007, Fortner was honored by Stephen F. Austin with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Prior to the 1990-91 NCAA season, Fortner was hired by Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore
Leon Barmore
Leon Barmore is a college women's basketball coach. He coached at Louisiana Tech University from 1982 to 2002, serving the first three years as co-head coach with Sonja Hogg, who had begun the program in 1974 at the invitation of university president F. Jay Taylor...
at Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
, where she spent five years as an assistant coach from 1990-1995. During her tenure at the school, the Lady Techsters compiled a 123-37 (.794) record and made five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the national championship game in 1994.
When Lin Dunn
Lin Dunn
Lin Dunn is an American longtime women's basketball coach. She is most known for being the first coach and general manager for the Seattle Storm. She has more than 500 wins to her name....
was fired from Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
, Fortner was hired to replace her as head coach. In her first year, Fortner led a Purdue team that returned just four players to a Big Ten regular-season conference title in 1996-97, going 17-11 overall and 12-4 in conference play. The season ended in an overtime loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to #2 ranked Old Dominion
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
, the eventual runner-up. Fortner's efforts earned her Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. She was also named the National Coach of the Year by the Basketball Times. Fortner left the Boilermakers
Purdue Boilermakers
Boilermakers is the official nickname for the intercollegiate athletic teams of Purdue University. As is common with athletic nicknames, it is also used as colloquial designation of Purdue's students and alumni at large....
after one season upon being appointed coach of the U.S. women's national team.
National team
Beginning in summer 1995, Fortner took a position with USA BasketballUSA Basketball
USA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee...
, serving as an assistant coach for two seasons under Tara VanDerveer
Tara Vanderveer
Tara VanDerveer has been the Stanford University women's basketball coach since 1985. She led the Stanford Cardinal to two NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships: in 1990 and 1992. She stepped away from the Stanford program for a year to serve as the U.S. national team head coach at the...
. Team USA posted an amazing 52-0 run that culminated with a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. On April 1, 1997, Fortner was named to succeed VanDerveer as the U.S. head coach. She led the team to win gold medals at the 1998 FIBA World Championship
1998 FIBA World Championship for Women
The 1998 FIBA Women's World Championship was hosted by Germany from May 26 to June 7, 1998. The USA won the tournament, defeating Russia 71-65 in the final.-Final standings:-References:*...
and 2000 Olympic Games
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. Fortner was named the 2000 USA Basketball Coach of the Year. She led the team to a 101-14 (.878) record, the most wins of any coach in Women's USA Basketball history.
WNBA
On August 17, 1999, Fortner was named the first head coach and general manager of the expansion franchise Indiana FeverIndiana Fever
The Indiana Fever is a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the 2000 season began...
of the Women's National Basketball Association
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
. However, as she was already committed to her post as the coach of the United States Olympic Team, she continued coaching Team USA through the 2000 Olympic Games. Assistant coach Anne Donovan
Anne Donovan
Anne Donovan is an American retired basketball player and the current head coach of the women's basketball team at Seton Hall University. She was formerly an assistant coach, then interim head coach of the New York Liberty of the WNBA...
served as interim head coach during the 2000 season before Fortner joined the Fever for the 2001 campaign. She lifted the upstart franchise during the 2002 season to a .500 record and a playoff win in the club’s first post-season appearance. She resigned following the 2003 season. During her time in the WNBA, Fortner compiled a 42-56 record.
Auburn
On April 22, 2004, Nell Fortner was named the fifth head coach in Auburn Tigers women's basketball history.She replaces Joe Ciampi, who retired after his 25th season with a school-record 568 victories. Fortner was named the SEC Coach of the Year for the 2008-09 regular season, which saw her team start 20-0 before finishing 27-2 overall and 12-2 in the SEC to win the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
title.