Barbara Stevens to be Inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday

Barbara Stevens
Posted: May 13, 2021

ENSHRINEMENT CEREMONY INFORMATION

Stevens Won 1,058 Games in Her Career.

After waiting for over a year after learning of her election in April 2020, and nearly nine months since the originally scheduled Enshrinement Weekend, Barbara Stevens' induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is only days away.

The retired Bentley women's basketball coach will join basketball immortality this weekend when the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame celebrates its Class of 2020 at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Uncasville, Conn. 

The 2020 Hall of Fame class, called by some as the "most epic ever", also includes NBA legends Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, former NBA player and coach Rudy Tomjanovich, longtime NCAA men's coach Eddie Sutton, LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey, former WNBA star Tamika Catchings and Patrick Baumann, a former Secretary General of FIBA. Bryant, Sutton and Baumann will be enshrined posthumously.

The Enshrinement Tip-Off Celebration and Awards Gala will be held Friday, May 14, and the nationally-televised Enshrinement Ceremony on Saturday, May 15 - which will begin at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN. 

Stevens will be presented for induction into the Hall of Fame by two legendary women's basketball coaches who have previously received the ultimate honor, UConn's Geno Auriemma and former Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw.

"I am so honored, I am so humbled to be included in this unbelievable class of inductees into the Hall of Fame," said Stevens after learning of her election in April 2020. "This is something that is overwhelming. The incredible emotions that I felt after receiving the call from the Hall of Fame, I can't even put into words."

"Pages could be written about Barbara's accomplishments, but simply stated, it's a great award for a great person," praised former Bentley Director of Athletics Bob DeFelice following her selection.

A five-time WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year, Stevens retired in July 2020 after completing her 34th season at Bentley and her 44th as a college coach. Before her arrival in Waltham in 1986, the Bridgewater State College (now University) graduate spent seven years at Clark University (six as head coach) and three as the head coach at Massachusetts.

Stevens finished her career with a record of 1058-291 with her victory total exceeded only by Hall of Famers Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer and Auriemma. She's one of six NCAA women's basketball coaches with at least 1,000 wins with her milestone victory coming January 17, 2018 with a 78-66 win over Adelphi.

Her Bentley record was an amazing 901-200 and she's one of only four women's basketball coaches who have won at least 900 at one institution (Auriemma, Summitt, VanDerveer).

"I have been a fan of Coach Stevens since I arrived at Bentley 27 years ago," commented Andrew Shepardson, Bentley Vice President for Student Affairs, following the announcement just over a year ago. "I am proud to call her a colleague and a friend. She epitomizes Bentley – a commitment to excellence, a championship spirit and a humility to understand that it is team above all else. To say all of us at Bentley are proud is an understatement.  We are thrilled to know that the Bentley name and hers will forever be linked."

A dozen of Stevens' Bentley teams won at least 30, including the 2013-14 team which capped a remarkable 35-0 season with a come-from-behind 73-65 win over West Texas A&M. The Falcons, down 60-54 with just over three minutes to play, closed with a 19-5 run to give Stevens her first national championship.

Stevens won at least 20 games in 30 of her 34 Bentley seasons and 19 games three other times. Her Bentley tenure also included an .818 winning percentage, 31 NCAA tournament berths, 14 NCAA regional championships, ten appearances in the national semifinals, 20 Northeast-10 regular season championships and 17 NE10 tournament titles. As the late Dick Enberg would say, "OH MY!!!"

In addition to being honored as the WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year in 1992, 1999, 2001, 2013 and 2014, Stevens was recognized as the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year an incredible 16 times.

Stevens was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, and is also a member of the Bentley, Clark, Bridgewater State and New England Basketball halls of fame.

"All I want to say is thank you to the committee, thank you to my players, thank you to my assistant coaches," said Stevens. "I am tremendously honored, and honestly, I don't even know how to put all my feelings into words."

"The Class of 2020 is undoubtedly one of the most historic of all time and the talent and social influence of these nine honorees is beyond measure," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in the original announcement.

-Story provided by Bentley athletic communications-

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