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Ceal Barry to Serve as Chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Issues Committee in 2010-11

For Immediate Release

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Contact(s)

Rick Nixon
Associate Director for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship
317/917-6539


INDIANAPOLIS---Ceal Barry, associate director of athletics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will serve as chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Issues Committee during the 2010-11 academic year.  The appointment was made by the committee and confirmed by the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet. 

Barry’s term as chair will begin September 1, 2010.  Currently serving her fourth year as a member of the committee, she will succeed Janet Cone, senior administrator for university enterprises and director of athletics at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, who has served as chair of the committee since 2006.

“To have had the opportunity to work alongside Janet for the last three years has been a great opportunity for me personally and professionally,” Barry said.  “I am honored to serve as the committee chair in 2010-11.  We have several challenges ahead and I look forward to our work as a committee in helping to make a difference in the game we all love.”

The all-time winningest coach in any sport in Colorado school history, Barry retired from coaching following the 2004-05 campaign after 22 seasons at the reins of the Buffalo program.  She retired having coached the most games (669) and the sixth most seasons of any sport in Colorado athletic history, while winning the most games by any coach in school history (427).   Her 427-242 record, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including six times in the Sweet 16 and three times in the Elite Eight, 13 20-win seasons, four conference championships and assorted coach of the year honors for five different seasons made her one of the elite coaches in women’s basketball history.

Barry became just the 24th coach in women’s NCAA history to reach 500 career wins, hitting the plateau in February 2004 and her all-time record of 510-284 and .642 winning percentage remain among the all-time best among active coaches.  Off the court, Barry graduated all but two four-year players (well over a 95% graduation rate) and has coached 85 Academic All-Conference student-athletes.

In 1995 she was presented with one of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s highest honors, the Carol Eckman Award.  That honor is presented to a coach who exemplifies sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, integrity, ethical behavior and dedication to the purpose.

Barry’s impressive resume has also given her the chance to see the world, with the highlight being her stint as an assistant coach for the 1996 United States Olympic Basketball team that won the gold medal.

 

About the NCAA and Division I Women’s Basketball

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.

NCAA women’s basketball is characterized by strong fundamentals, high quality of play, sportsmanship, role model student-athletes and family oriented entertainment. The latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate figures show 83 percent of NCAA Division I women’s basketball players graduate. In terms of the NCAA Academic Progress Rate, which measures term-by-term academic success, the overall score is 966, well above the NCAA benchmark of 925.

For the latest news in regard to the Women’s Final Four, visit www.ncaa.com/finalfour.

 

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