William Michael Fennelly (born May 14, 1957) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

Coaching career

Assistant coach (1977–1986)

While a student at

William Penn College William Penn University is a private university in Oskaloosa, Iowa. It was founded by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1873 as Penn College. In 1933, the name was changed to William Penn College, and finally to William P ...

, Fennelly became a volunteer assistant coach with the William Penn women's basketball team in 1977. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration and economics in 1979, Fennelly became a full-time assistant coach with William Penn. Fennelly moved up to the Division I level as an assistant coach at

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

from 1981 to 1986 and Notre Dame from 1986 to 1988.

Toledo (1988–1995)

At the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...

, Fennelly was head coach from 1988 to 1995 and had a cumulative record of 166–53, with a .758 winning percentage that remains the best in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

. He had six seasons with 20 or more wins and six postseason tournament berths. Toledo made the

National Women's Invitational Tournament The National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT) was a post-season tournament for women's intercollegiate basketball programs that was contested from 1969 to 1996. The original sponsorship information appears to have been lost over the ensuin ...

in 1989, 1990, and 1994 and were NWIT runners-up in 1990, and the NCAA tournament in 1991, 1992, and 1995.

Iowa State (1995–present)

On July 10, 1995, Iowa State hired Fennelly as women's basketball head coach. Iowa State had only five winning seasons in the 22 previous seasons. As of the 2016–17 season, Fennelly has led Iowa State to 17 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including Elite Eight qualifications in 1999 and 2009 and the Sweet Sixteen in 2000, 2001, and 2010. Iowa State has spent considerable time in the

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national poll, including 34 weeks in the Top 10. On March 23, 2007, Iowa State extended Fennelly through 2019 in a contract worth $10.6 million. Attendance also grew during Fennelly's tenure from the hundreds prior to his hiring to nearly 10,000 in the 2010s. In 2004, Iowa State had its first-ever sellout in a WNIT and NIT doubleheader against Saint Joseph's. In the 2011–12 season, Iowa State averaged an attendance of 10,125, third in the nation behind Tennessee and Louisville. Fennelly was a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, and 2005. 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 ...

named him the District 5 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2005. In 1998, Fennelly finished as the 1998 runner-up behind Pat Summitt of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

for the

Women’s Coach of the Year award.

USA Basketball

Fennelly served as an assistant coach of the U18 team representing the US at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The USA team won all five of their games, including the championship game against the host team, Argentina. The team won the final game 81–37 to claim the gold medal. Fennelly continued his position as an assistant coach as the U18 team became the U19 team, and competed in the FIBA Women's U19 World Championship. The USA lost the opening round game against Spain 90–86, but then went on to win their next eight games. In the quarterfinals, the USA team faced France, which held an eight-point lead late in the second half, but the USA team took back the lead and won by eleven to advance to the semifinals. After beating Canada in the semifinals, they had a rematch against Spain, for the championship. This time the USA jumped out to an early lead, with a score of 33–16 at the end of the first quarter. The USA went on to win 87–71 to win the gold medal. Fennelly was named the head coach of the USA representative to the 2011 World University Games (also known as the

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

) which were held in Shenzhen, China. The USA team won all six games, behind the scoring leadership of

Elena Delle Donne Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 200 ...

who scored almost 16 points per game. Although the championship game was against Taiwan, the closest contest was the semifinal game against Australia. That game remained close until the fourth quarter, when a 9–0 run extended the margin and helped secure the 79–67 victory.

Personal

Fennelly was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa. He and his wife, Deb, have two sons, Billy and Steven, both of whom also worked for their father's coaching staff at Iowa State. Billy was director of player development from 2010 to 2012 before becoming an assistant coach at Iowa State. Steven was a graduate assistant at Iowa State from 2011 to 2013.

Head coaching record

Source for Toledo: Sources for Iowa State:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fennelly, Bill 1957 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Iowa Fresno State Bulldogs women's basketball coaches Iowa State Cyclones women's basketball coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Davenport, Iowa Toledo Rockets women's basketball coaches William Penn University alumni