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 became head coach at East Carolina in 1995 before moving into the WNBA.
Certainly two highlights in Anne Donovan’s career were being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and her induction into the CoSIDA/GTE Academic Hall of Fame in 1994.