Story: DePaul Athletics
Doug Bruno has dedicated most of his adult life to championing the cause of women in sports by coaching a crowd-pleasing style of play to entertain fans and grow the game.
He has given everything he has to elevate the stature of women’s basketball while waging a never-ending battle against gender inequity in all walks of life.
Women’s basketball should thank its lucky stars that an individual like the iconic DePaul coach impacts the sport so profoundly from the thousands of youngsters attending the Doug Bruno Camp to high school, college, professional and Olympian players who have experienced his passion and absolute love of the game.
No matter the countless demands from women’s basketball—Richard Douglas Bruno would simply give and give.
Now, at long last, the game is giving back to him.
On Monday night during the Iowa-Maryland game on ESPN2, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame announced that this lifelong Chicagoan from the South Side who played at Quigley South and DePaul was being honored as part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
Coach, take a 30-second timeout from the grueling rigors of your favorite pastime to enjoy the moment and smell the roses.
You certainly deserve it.
In 36 years at the helm in Lincoln Park, this newest Hall of Famer has led his beloved Blue Demons to 24 NCAA tournament appearances that would have included a sparkling 18-year run of qualifying for the Big Dance until COVID-19 reared its ugly head and canceled the 2020 event.
From the lowest point of reconfiguring a DePaul women’s basketball program that had temporarily lost its way to the heights of coaching in two Summer Olympics, Bruno has never once compromised the morals and values instilled in him by blue-collar parents including a mom who proudly served in the military.
“I am absolutely honored and humbled going into the Hall of Fame,” Bruno said. “But, I never woke up a single day thinking I’ve got to one day be in the Hall of Fame.
“We recruit players who play for the love of the game and the joy of elite completion. Players who strive for that winning feeling of achievement which comes from being the best you can be—every day.
“Celebrity is a by-product.”
There are times when Bruno reflects on his career path and the road not taken. Just one day after accepting a job as the new, young high school boys basketball coach at Francis Parker, noted Chicago Daily News sportswriter Tim Weigel who would go on to become the sports anchor at ABC-TV Channel 7 offered him a job as a newspaper stringer and copy boy.
“I have given my word to coach at Francis Parker and I can’t let the team down,” Bruno told Weigel. Instead of becoming a hard-driving sports reporter, Bruno began his long and illustrious coaching career.
The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 includes Debbie Antonelli (Contributor), Alice “Cookie” Barron (Veteran Player), Doug Bruno (Coach), Becky Hammon (Player), Delisha Milton-Jones (Player), Paul Sanderford (Coach), Bob Schneider (Coach) and Penny Taylor (International Player).
The 2022 Induction will mark the 23rd class of inductees to be honored by the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (WBHOF) which held its grand opening and inaugural induction in 1999. The Class of 2022 will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame—receiving their coveted Eastman Trophy and Baron Championship Induction Ring—on June 11, 2022, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Tickets for the ceremony are on sale now. For more information on the 2022 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Weekend and to purchase tickets, please visit www.wbhof.com.
In addition to the announcement of the Class of 2022, the WBHOF announced its recipient for the “Trailblazers of the Game” award. The 2022 “Trailblazer of the Game” recipient is Title IX.
As Title IX enters its 50th anniversary, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Directors voted to give the award typically designated for teams and organizations to the Title IX legislation that afforded the opportunity for many female athletes to blaze their own trails.
“Without Title IX, our past and future inductees and trailblazers would not have had the opportunity to blaze those trails,” said WBHOF Board of Trustees Chair Carol Stiff. “It is only fitting that we honor Title IX as it has impacted so many female athletes not only in women’s basketball but in all sports.”
Title IX will join eleven other teams and organizations that are recognized as “Trailblazers of the Game” by the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Looking back on his iconic career that features leading DePaul to 24 NCAA tournaments including a stretch of 17 in a row, four appearances in the NCAA Sweet 16, 10 regular-season and seven conference titles, two years coaching the Chicago Hustle pro women’s team highlighted by a Midwest Division title plus two Olympic gold medals on the USA Basketball coaching staff—Bruno wanted to acknowledge those who made it possible.
In adopting Athletic Director DeWayne Peevy‘s five-pillar plan for leading DePaul Athletics to BIG EAST greatness and beyond, Bruno described the four pillars of his coaching career.
“It all starts with amazing administrators who have provided all the support and resources for our success—people like DeWayne Peevy and Senior Associate AD Jill Hollembeak,” Bruno said. “I’m blessed they always have my back.
“And I’m also grateful for my former boss Jean Lenti Ponsetto who is also one of the greatest captains in our program’s history. She was a big reason for our success.
“The second pillar is the terrific assistant coaches who have worked at DePaul down through the years. I would like to take a moment to thank our current staff of associate head coach Jill M. Pizzotti and assistant coaches Lisa Ryckbosch and Candis Blankson for their tireless efforts making us the best we can be.”
The third pillar is one that is near and dear to his heart—the players. Bruno is fond of saying he owes everything to his players.
“I’ve been blessed to coach some very special women basketball players down through the years,” Bruno said. “They played for the love of the game even as individual honors grew into team achievements.
“I’d like to take a moment and thank this year’s 2021-22 edition. They are symbolic of all those who came before them.
“Our final chapter has yet to be written, but I’m excited to see how it all turns out.”
The fourth and final pillar is the cornerstone of the man that Doug Bruno has become.
Family.
“It’s not easy to be the spouse or child of a coach,” Bruno said. “Coaching means you make a decision to spend time with other’s people’s children at the expense of your own.”
Even in the bright spotlight of this lifetime honor, Bruno remained so true to himself.
“I was born a male, and without having the honor to coach women, I would have never experienced the degree and depth of gender bias in our society,” he said. “The blessing of coaching women when I was a young man taught me how much more a woman has to do to achieve in any field of endeavor.
“There is a gross bias and a male dominance that has to be called out and fought every single day. In all walks of life, women still do not earn what a man gets paid for doing the same job.”
Waging a relentless crusade while still working late into the night striving to lead his beloved Blue Demons to the Promised Land doesn’t leave much time for sleep—or anything else.
Doug Bruno wouldn’t have it any other way.
Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022
Debbie Antonelli (Contributor)
• Entering her 34th college basketball season on air as a Basketball Analyst for multiple networks earning two Emmy Awards and one Gracie Award for work in broadcasting basketball
• 2007 Mel Greenberg Media Award Winner
• 2021 Inductee into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
Alice “Cookie” Barron (Veteran Player)
• Played for Wayland Baptist Flying Queens, leading the team to an undefeated record of 104-0 from 1954-1957.
• Helped guide Wayland to three National Championships en route to being named Wayland’s Outstanding Woman Athlete in 1956-57.
• Helped guide USA Basketball to the gold medal in the 1957 FIBA World Championships
Doug Bruno (Coach)
• Head coach for 36 years at DePaul University, guiding them to 24 NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Three-time Big East Coach of the Year (2014, 2016, 2017) and three-time WBCA Regional Coach of the Year (2004, 2005, 2017).
• Six-time Gold Medalist Coach with USA Basketball.
Becky Hammon (Player)
• Six-time WNBA All-Star (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011) and voted WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time in 2011
• Played for Colorado State (1995-1999) finishing her career as their all-time leading scorer with 2,740 points
• Named ESPNW Woman of the Year in 2015
Delisha Milton-Jones (Player)
• Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist (2000, 2008)
• Two-time WNBA Champion with the Los Angeles Sparks (2001, 2002) and a three-time WNBA All-Star (2000, 2004, 2007)
• The 1997 Wade Trophy Recipient
Paul Sanderford (Coach)
• 25 Seasons as a collegiate head coach with a career record of 453-189 (.709).
• Led Western Kentucky to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances including 3 Women’s Final Fours and was the 1992 NCAA Division I National Runner-Up.
• Won a JUCO National Championship, was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2000 and into the Western Kentucky University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
Bob Schneider (Coach)
• All-Time coaching record of 1,045-293 (.781), with only 2 losing seasons in 40 years.
• 3rd All-time in NCAA Division II history with 634 victories.
• During his 12 years at Canyon High School (Canyon, TX), his teams won 5 state championships and finished runner-up 5 times.
Penny Taylor (International Player)
• Three-time WNBA Champion (2007, 2009, 2014) and three-time WNBA All-Star (2002, 2007, 2011)
• Named to the 2007 All-WNBA First Team and 2011 All-WNBA Second Team
• Guided Australia Women’s National Basketball Team to two Olympic silver medals (2004, 2008)
