Marian Elizabeth Washington (born August 26, 1946) is a former women's basketball coach, mostly known for her career at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, a post she held for over 30 years. Throughout her career, Washington achieved multiple awards and accomplishments which include achieving membership in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, leading KU to extensive victories, coaching her team in a number of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Tournaments, and receiving the

Black Coaches Association The Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) is a non-profit organization whose primary purpose is "to foster the growth and development of ethnic minorities at all levels of sports both nationally and internationally". It currently is focused on athl ...

Lifetime Achievement Award. Washington 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 ...

in 2004.

Early years

Raised on a farm near

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighb ...

, Washington played seven sports at Henderson High School in West Chester.

College

Washington attended

West Chester State College West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

, where she played basketball on the team that won the first national women's tournament in 1969. That tournament was held under the auspices of the CIAW, a predecessor to the

AIAW women's basketball tournament The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national c ...

Coaching

After one year as an assistant coach, Washington served as head coach for the Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball team at the

from 1973 to 2004. Washington was also women's athletic director at Kansas from 1974 to 1979.

USA Basketball

Washington was chosen as the head coach of the team representing the USA in 1982 at the

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promoter ...

competition 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 team started out strongly, winning their first four games by 16 or more points. In the fifth game, they were matched against Australia. The game was close until the end. With a half-minute remaining, the USA held a one-point margin. The USA extended the lead to three points on two free throws, the Aussies brought it back to one with two free throws of their own, and the USA hit two free throws with two second left in the game to secure the 65–62 victory. The next two games were easy victories, then the USA faced unbeaten Canada in the final game. The game was very close, but the USA fell to Canada 70–67 to finish with a single loss and the silver medal. USA players

Lea Henry Ludi "Lea" Henry (born November 22, 1961, in Colquitt, Georgia) is an American former basketball player who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics. USA Basketball Henry was chosen to represent the USA on the USA Basketball team at the 1981 Worl ...

and

Paula McGee Paula McGee (born December 1, 1962) is an American preacher, writer, inspirational speaker and former basketball player. She played college basketball for the University of Southern California where she won the NCAA championship in 1983 and 1984 ...

were named to the All-Tournament Team. In 1996, Washington served as an assistant coach on the USA National Team, which went on to win the gold medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Head coaching record

Source:Kansas Women's Basketball 2016-17 Media Guide
, p. 152 *Washington resigned with three games remaining in the 2003–04 season; assistant Lynette Woodard served as head coach for the remainder of the season and went 0–3 for a cumulative season record of 9–19 (2–14 Big 12) and 11th place finish.

Awards and honors

* 1991 —

Carol Eckman Award The Carol Eckman Award is an award given annually since 1986 to the women's college basketball coach that "best demonstrates the character of the late Carol Eckman, the mother of the collegiate women's basketball national championship". Given by th ...

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Marian 1946 births Living people African-American basketball coaches American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball coaches People from West Chester, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania West Chester University alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople