| Sue Gunter | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Women's college basketball | ||||||||||||
| Current position | |||||||||||||
| Title | Head coach | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1962–1964 Middle Tennessee State University 1964–1980 Stephen F. Austin State University 1982–2004 Louisiana State University |
||||||||||||
| Biographical details | |||||||||||||
| Born | May 22, 1939 Walnut Grove, Mississippi |
||||||||||||
| Died | 4 August 2005 (aged 66) | ||||||||||||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |||||||||||||
| 1962–1980,1982–2004 | |||||||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||
| Overall | MTSU 44–0 (1.000) SFA 266–87 (.754) LSU 442–221 (.667) NCAA 708–308 (.697) All 752–308 (.709) |
||||||||||||
| Accomplishments and honors | |||||||||||||
| Championships SEC Tournament Champion (1991,2003) |
|||||||||||||
| Awards SEC Coach of the Year 1997, 1999 Basketball News National Coach of the Year 1983 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Basketball Hall of Fame |
|||||||||||||
| Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2005 |
|||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
|||||||||||||
Sue Gunter (May 22, 1939, Walnut Grove, Mississippi, USA - August 4, 2005, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA) was a women's college basketball coach. She is best known as the head coach of the LSU Lady Tigers basketball team.
Contents |
AAU and USA Basketball player [edit]
A fine player in her own right, Gunter played AAU basketball for Nashville Business College from 1958-1962 earning AAU All-America honors in 1960.[1][2] She attended George Peabody College for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt University), along with Nera White. Gunter obtained both a bachelor's and a master's degree from Peabody in 1962.[3] George Peabody did not have a women's basketball team, so she played for the AAU team in Nashille sponsored by Nashville Business College.[4] She was also a member of the U.S. National Team, which competed against the Soviet Union, from 1960-1962.
College coaching [edit]
Gunter began her coaching career at Middle Tennessee State University where she led the Blue Raiders to undefeated seasons in both of her years there (1962–1964).[5] Gunter then had a very successful coaching stint at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Nacogdoches, Texas. While at SFA, Gunter led the LadyJacks to a 266-87 mark in 16 years as head coach (1964–1980).[5] In addition, she led SFA to four top 10 national rankings, including top 5 final rankings in 1979 and 1980. While at SFA, Gunter coached four sports—women's basketball, softball, tennis and track.[5] Her basketball teams went to five Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) playoffs, won four state titles, and earned a regional crown. In 1980, she stepped down as coach at SFA and moved into the position of Director of Women's Athletics where she served two years before returning to the coaching ranks at LSU.[5]
In Gunter's 22 years as the head coach at LSU (1982–2004), the Lady Tigers played in 14 NCAA Tournaments and two WNITs. Gunter led LSU to one Final Four in 2004 and to the Elite Eight in 1986, 2000 and 2003. She led the Lady Tigers to a championship at the WNIT in 1985 and to SEC Tournament Championships in 1991 and 2003. In addition, Gunter directed LSU to 14 seasons of 20 or more wins, including one 30-win season.
In the middle of the 2003-2004 season, she became ill and took a medical leave of absence in March 2004. She was later diagnosed as having emphysema and pneumonia. Gunter's longtime assistant coach and former player, Dana "Pokey" Chatman, was named acting head coach of LSU for the rest of the season. The Tigers went 15-5 under Chatman's watch and reached the Final Four for the first time in school history. However, LSU credits the entire season to Gunter. By April 2004, it was apparent that Gunter would not be able to return, so she formally announced her retirement and Chatman was named her successor.
Gunter completed her career as the third winningest women's basketball coach in NCAA history with an overall record of 708-308 (behind only Jody Conradt and Pat Summitt). Gunter's LSU record was 442-221, making her the winningest coach in school history. She completed her career among the leaders in several NCAA coaching categories: seasons coached (No. 1 - 40); games coached (No. 3 - 1,016); wins (No. 3 - 708); and 20-win seasons (No. 4 - 22).
Head coaching record [edit]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders () (1962–1964) | |||||||||
| 1962–1964 | Middle Tennessee | 44–0 | |||||||
| Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks () (1964–1980) | |||||||||
| 1964–1980 | Stephen F. Austin | 266–87 | 5 AIAW Tournament Appearances | ||||||
| LSU Lady Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1982–2004) | |||||||||
| 1982–83 | LSU | 20–7 | 6–2 | ||||||
| 1983–84 | LSU | 23–7 | 5–3 | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | |||||
| 1984–85 | LSU | 20–9 | 4–4 | WNIT Champions | |||||
| 1985–86 | LSU | 27–6 | 6–3 | NCAA Elite Eight | |||||
| 1986–87 | LSU | 20–8 | 6–3 | NCAA 2nd Round | |||||
| 1987–88 | LSU | 18–11 | 6–3 | NCAA 1st Round | |||||
| 1988–89 | LSU | 19–11 | 5–4 | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | |||||
| 1989–90 | LSU | 21–9 | 4–5 | NCAA1st Round | |||||
| 1990–91 | LSU | 24–7 | 4–5 | NCAA 2nd Round | |||||
| 1991–92 | LSU | 16–13 | 4–7 | ||||||
| 1992–93 | LSU | 9–18 | 0–11 | ||||||
| 1993–94 | LSU | 11–16 | 2–9 | ||||||
| 1994–95 | LSU | 7–20 | 1–10 | ||||||
| 1995–96 | LSU | 21–11 | 4–7 | WNIT Third Place | |||||
| 1996–97 | LSU | 25–5 | 9–3 | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | |||||
| 1997–98 | LSU | 19–13 | 7–7 | WNIT Final Four | |||||
| 1998–99 | LSU | 22–8 | 11–3 | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | |||||
| 1999–00 | LSU | 22–8 | 11–3 | NCAA Elite Eight | |||||
| 2000–01 | LSU | 20–11 | 8–6 | NCAA 2nd Round | |||||
| 2001–02 | LSU | 18–12 | 8–6 | NCAA 2nd Round | |||||
| 2002–03 | LSU | 30–4 | 11–3 | NCAA Elite Eight | |||||
| 2003–04 | LSU | 27–8* | 10–4* | NCAA Final Four* | |||||
| Total: | 708-308 | ||||||||
|
National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
|||||||||
* Gunter went on medical leave in the middle of the 2003-04 season. Assistant Pokey Chatman coached the final 20 games of the season, but LSU credits the entire season to Gunter.
USA Basketball coaching [edit]
In 1980, Gunter was selected as the head women's basketball coach for the United States Olympic Team.[5] Gunter guided her team to the title at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament prior to the Games. However, Gunter and her team were denied a chance at a gold medal due to the United States' boycott of the Olympic Games, which were held in Moscow that year. Gunter tasted success at the Olympics, however, as she was an assistant coach on the 1976 U. S. Team which captured the silver medal in Montreal.[6] She has also served as head coach for the U.S. National Team three times, as she led those squads in 1976, 1978 and 1980.[5]
Awards and honors [edit]
While at LSU, Gunter was named the SEC's Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1999.[5] She was also the Converse Region IV Coach of the Year in 1983; the Basketball News National Coach of the Year in 1983; the Louisiana Coach of the Year in 1983, 1997, 2002, and 2003; the Carol Eckman Award recipient in 1994;[5] and the Women’s Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) Regional Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003.
In 2000, she was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee.[7] On April 4, 2005, Gunter was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.[8] She was formally enshrined posthumously in September 2005.
Gunter died at her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on August 4, 2005, due to respiratory problems and emphysema. She was 66.
See also [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ Ikard. p. 96. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ Ikard. p. 210. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ "Sue Gunter". LSU Athletics, Louisiana State University. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Deitsch, Richard. "51. Nera White, Basketball". CNN/Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Porter p. 183
- ^ Grundy. p. 168. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ "WBHOF Inductees". WBHOF. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ "Hall of Famers". b. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
References [edit]
- Grundy, Pamela (2005). Shattering the glass. New Press. ISBN 978-1-56584-822-1.
- Ikard, Robert W. (2005). Just for Fun: The Story of AAU Women's Basketball. The University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-55728-889-9.
- David L. Porter, ed. (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6.
External links [edit]
|
|||||
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
A portion of the proceeds from advertising on Digplanet goes to supporting Wikipedia.
