While standing 6 foot 8 inches tall, Anne Donovan dominated the basketball court while Old Dominion University dominated college teams as National Champions. She was a leader on three US Olympic basketball teams, two of which won gold medals.
Anne started 136 games for the ODU Monarchs and rewrote the record books by becoming the all-time leader in scoring (2,719), and rebounding (1,976), as well as setting NCAA and ODU records for career blocked shots (801). She scored 50 points against Norfolk State, a single game record for ODU and the State of Virginia.
During her collegiate career, Donovan was named All-American three years along with being awarded the 1983 Naismith Trophy signifying women’s basketball player of the year. She concluded her senior season by being named a First Team Academic All -American.
After graduation, Donovan played professional basketball in Japan (1983-1988) and in Italy (1988-1989). She represented the United States in the Olympic Games in 1980, 1984, and 1988, in addition to playing for two World Championships in 1983 and 1986. She returned to ODU as an assistant coach, and then took her first head coaching job at East Carolina in 1995 before moving into the WNBA, where from 2000-2015 she would hold head coaching positions with multiple franchises. From 2006-2008, Donovan served as head coach of the the USA Basketball Women’s National Team, leading the team to the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal.
Certainly two highlights in Anne Donovan’s career were being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995, and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.