Anne Donovan

Anne Donovan, sitting tall. (www.picsearch.com)

Anne Donovan could be anyone's hero. She is devoted and loyal. She is also a very good basketball player and an excellent coach.

Anne Donovan was born on November 1st, 1961. She was the most recruited player in the nation attending college. After attending Paramus Catholic High School, she was 6"8. She was always tall for her age. People liked to tease her about it, and she still gets mad if anyone calls her height anything but normal.

Anne is trying to score. (Sports Illustrated)

During Anne's career in basketball, "she set ODU career marks for points (2,719), rebounds (1,976), and blocked shots (801), and seasonal marks for most games played (38), most minutes played (1,159), most field goals (377), and field goal percentage (.640)." During Anne's amateur career, she played with the Lady Monarchs. She went on to professional basketball for 6 years!

Anne Donovan, congratulating one of her team play (Sports Illustrated)

Since professional women basketball opportunities were thin, only six years of her life was devoted to this feat. Although, she did play ball in Shizuoka, Japan and Modena, Italy from 1983-1989. After this professional career, she retired as a basketball player and went on to coaching basketball for other teams.

Anne was the first female coach to win 100 games. However, before her coaching career, she was assistant coach at ODU for 6 years. (1989-1995) She coached the Indiana Fevers, Charlotte Stings, Seattle Storms, and the New York Liberties. Before she coached all these teams, for most of them, she was assistant coach first, and then she took over as head coach.

Now you know why I chose Anne Donovan. Both of us were teased about our height. I'm short, she's tall, but that's not the only thing that sets us apart from everyone else. Loyalty, devotion. These are all the things that set Anne Donovan and I apart from the world. She is my hero for these reasons.