Drexel Director of Athletics Dr. Eric Zillmer has announced that Denise Dillon, the Dragons’ head women’s basketball coach, has agreed to a multi-year contract extension which will keep her at the school through 2023. Full terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Dillon, currently in her 14th season at the helm of the Dragons, is the winningest coach in the program’s NCAA Division I history and is closing in on her 250th career victory. She led the Dragons to a Colonial Athletic Association championship in 2009 and the WNIT title in 2013. Overall, her teams have advanced to postseason play seven times in the last eight seasons.
“Denise is an outstanding coach as well as a great ambassador for college basketball and for our University. We are extremely fortunate to have her,” said Drexel President John A. Fry. “Denise continually recruits quality student-athletes to our University who achieve both in the classroom and on the basketball court. Her accomplishments – which include a CAA championship, seven postseason appearances and a WNIT title – speak for themselves. We look forward to Denise leading our women’s basketball program for many years to come.”
“I am so appreciative of the trust that has been put in me by President Fry, Dr. Zillmer and [Deputy Director of Athletics] Nick Gannon,” Dillon said. “This has been a special place to come to work every day over the past 14 years, and that is thanks to people like them. My staff and I are proud of what the program has achieved over that time, and I am thrilled to get the opportunity to reach even greater heights moving forward.”
Dillon currently has 238 victories in her 14 seasons with the Dragons. This year’s team is off to a 5-2 start, including a 62-61 win over then-No. 11 Syracuse. It was the highest-ranked team that Drexel has ever beaten, and the second win over a ranked team in program history. Both came under her watch.
The Broomall, Pa. native has won two CAA Coach of the Year awards, once in 2005 and again in 2009. She is one of just four coaches in CAA history to win 150 regular season league games. In addition to guiding the Dragons to success on the court, Dillon has mentored four Dean Ehlers Leadership Award winners, twice the amount produced by any other women’s coach in the CAA’s history. Dillon was also a standout in her own right during her playing days at Villanova, and is a member of the Philadelphia Big Five, Delaware County Athletics and Villanova Athletics Halls of Fame.
Tagged with: CAA Denise Dillon Drexel Extension
