Lin Dunn (born May 10, 1947) is an American women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach, currently general manager with the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

. She is most known for being the first coach and general manager for the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

. She has more than 500 wins to her name. A native of

Dresden, Tennessee Dresden is a town in and the county seat of Weakley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,005 at the 2010 census. Geography Dresden is located at (36.283805, -88.698296). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town ...

, Dunn graduated from the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis ...

in 1969. She coached for decades in the college ranks, amassing a 447-257 record in 25 seasons as a college head coach. In her tenure at

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 and named for then-sitt ...

(1970–1976), the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

(1977–1978), the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

(1978–1987) and

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

(1987–1996), she made the

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...

seven times, and the Final Four once, in 1994 with Purdue. She is in the Athletics

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

at both Austin Peay and Miami. Dunn also was president of the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

in 1984-85. Dunn was abruptly fired at Purdue after the 1995-96 season, but resurfaced in the pros with the American Basketball League's Portland Power in 1996. She was ABL's coach of the year in 1998, right before that league folded. Dunn then became the first coach and GM of the expansion

in the ABL's rival, the WNBA. Her folksy southern personality was a hit in Urbane,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, with fans often wearing Dunn masks and quoting her rustic aphorisms. The team started with a dismal 6-26 season. Dunn left the Storm just as it was starting to have success. New superstars Lauren Jackson and

Sue Bird Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association ( WNBA) Bird was drafted by the Storm first over ...

led the team to the 2002 playoffs, where they were swept by the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. Dunn then resigned, leaving the path open for

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

to build a

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

team just two seasons later. Dunn is a former head coach of the

. Dunn won the WNBA championship with the Fever on October 21, 2012. On May 6, 2014, Dunn announced her retirement from coaching at the end of the year. On June 14, 2014, Dunn was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

. On May 24, 2016, she was introduced as an assistant coach for Matthew Mitchell at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. On May 26, 2017, UK Athletics announced that Coach Dunn had signed a one-year contract extension. In 2018, her role at Kentucky changed to special assistant to the head coach. On February 14, 2022, Dunn left her role at Kentucky to become Interim General Manager of the

. In explaining her decision, she stated, "I wouldn't come back to another franchise. This would be the only place that I would consider coming out of retirement for." Dunn was named the permanent General Manager on January 20, 2023.

USA Basketball

In 1990, Dunn was the assistant coach for the USA National team at the World Championships in

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. The team, behind the 22 point per game scoring of

Teresa Edwards Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964) is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist. In 2000, ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century". She ...

, won all eight contests, with only the win over Cuba decided by single digits. The USA team faced Yugoslavia in the gold medal game, and won 88–78. In 1995, Dunn served as the head coach to the R. William Jones Cup Team. The competition was held in

Taipei, Taiwan Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. The USA team won its first six games, but four of the six were won by single-digit margins. Their seventh game was against Russia, and they fell 100–84. The final game was against South Korea, and a victory would assure the gold medal, but the South Korean team won 80–76 to win the gold medal. The USA team won the bronze medal.

Head coaching record

College

Professional

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WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

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2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Lin 1947 births Living people People from Dresden, Tennessee University of Tennessee at Martin alumni American Basketball League (1996–1998) coaches American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Tennessee Indiana Fever coaches Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball coaches Miami Hurricanes women's basketball coaches Ole Miss Rebels women's basketball coaches Ole Miss Rebels women's volleyball coaches Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball coaches Seattle Storm coaches Women's National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches Women's National Basketball Association general managers Austin Peay Governors women's basketball coaches