Nancy Fahey (born November 3, 1958) is an American retired head

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

coach. She coached at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, and she also served as head coach at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. She is a graduate of the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, where she played college basketball. Fahey 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 2012.

Coaching career

Johnsburg High School

Fahey began her coaching career shortly after graduating from Wisconsin. She was hired as the girls' basketball coach at Johnsburg High School in 1982. Her final two years at the program, she led the Lady Skyhawks to 20-win seasons and regional championships both years.

Washington University

In 1986, Fahey was named as head women's basketball coach at Washington University. She found some success in her first season, going 16-5. The school joined in the newly-created

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illinois, Mis ...

and competition started in the 1987-1988 season. Washington won the first three and seven of the first eight UAA championships, making the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament seven of eight years as well. In 1991, despite finishing second in the UAA, Fahey made her first NCAA Tournament run, finishing in fourth place after losing in the Final Four to St. Thomas and the third-place game to

Eastern Connecticut Eastern Connecticut State University (Eastern, Eastern Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State, or ECSU) is a public liberal arts university in Willimantic, Connecticut. Founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest campus in the Connecticut State Univ ...

. In 1994, the Bears made another deep run into the tournament, this time making the championship game before losing to

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830, and later was associated with that synod's successor, the Ame ...

. The 1997-98 season began a new era for Fahey. The Bears went 28-2, winning the national championship over

Southern Maine Southern Maine Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Maine. It commonly includes the coastal areas of York County and Cumberland County. Some notable towns are Biddeford, Kittery, York, Wells, Ogunquit, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Saco, Old Or ...

77-69. The next season, they went an undefeated 30-0, winning the national championship over

Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

74-65. The next year was much of the same, going 30-0 once again and winning a third straight national championship, this time once again over Southern Maine 79-33. In 2000-01, the team failed to go undefeated, but finished at 28-2 and won their fourth straight national championship over Messiah College 67-45. Washington won the UAA conference every year from 1997-98 to 2006-07, again going to the national championship game in 2007. However, they lost to

DePauw Pauw (Dutch for "peacock"), de Pauw or DePauw are variants of a Dutch or Flemish surname and may refer to: People ;Pauw * Adriaan Pauw (1585–1653), Dutch Grand Pensionary of Holland *Jacques Pauw, South African investigative journalist * Michiel ...

55-52. The 2007-08 season was the first time the Bears failed to win 20 games in a season since the national championship run, going 19-8 and finishing second in the conference. However, they rebounded the next year, going 26-5 and losing the national championship game to George Fox University 60-53. In 2009-10, the Bears made their fifth national championship run, this time finishing the season at 29-2 and defeating Hope College 65-59 to take home the title. The following year, despite finishing second in the UAA, the team went to the national championship game for the third consecutive year, losing to

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

64-55. Over the next seven seasons, Fahey would lead Washington University to another four conference championships and advance to the quarterfinals twice (in 2015-16 and 2016–17). After winning her fifth national championship, Fahey became the first

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

coach to be admitted to the

in the Class of 2012.

University of Illinois

On March 22, 2017, Fahey was named as head women's basketball coach at the University of Illinois, following former Washington University athletic director

Josh Whitman Josh Whitman (born August 5, 1978) is a university administrator, a lawyer, and a former American football player. He is currently the athletic director at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Whitman served as the athletic director ...

to the school after he left for Illinois the previous year. After five seasons at Illinois, Fahey announced her retirement on March 4, 2022. She stated, "I want to thank all the coaches and staff members I've worked with for the past 40 years, from Johnsburg High School and Washington University to the University of Illinois. A special thanks to all my players who will always have a special place in my heart. I wish Illinois women's basketball the very best in the future. I'm ready for the next chapter in my life."

Head coaching record

Sources:All–time Division III women's basketball champions
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahey, Nancy 1958 births Living people Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin High school basketball coaches in Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball coaches People from Belleville, Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball players University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Washington University Bears women's basketball coaches