Marynell Meadors
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | August 27, 1943|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College | Middle Tennessee State | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 1970–2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career history | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As coach: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1970–1986 | Tennessee Tech | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1986–1996 | Florida State | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1997–1999 | Charlotte Sting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2003–2005 | Pittsburgh (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2005–2007 | Washington Mystics (assistant) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008–2012 | Atlanta Dream | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As coach:
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Medals
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Marynell Meadors (born August 27, 1943)[1] is an American women's basketball coach at the college and professional level. She most recently served as head coach and general manager of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association and was one of the original eight head coaches when the WNBA started in 1997.
Biography
Meadors grew up in
College coaching
Meadors was allowed by MTSU to begin coaching women's sports, and coached basketball at MTSU before it was a varsity sport and before Title IX was passed. In 1970, women's basketball became a varsity sport. Her total budget (not salary) for her first year was $100.00[4] She would coach sixteen seasons at Tennessee Tech, finishing with a 363-138 (.724) lifetime record.[5] Meadors would win six consecutive Tennessee state championships, four Ohio Valley Conference championships and two Metro Conference championships.[6]
Looking for opportunities on a larger stage, she coached at Florida State University from 1986 to 1996 where she led the Seminoles to two NCAA tournament appearances and the 1991 Metro Conference Championship.[7] She left Florida State after the 1995–96 season to take over coaching duties of the Charlotte Sting.[5]
Meadors also served as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball from 2003 to 2005.
Professional coaching
In 1997, Meadors was hired as the head coach and general manager of the Charlotte Sting. It was the first year of the WNBA's existence, and she led the Sting to a 15-13 record, and a spot in the playoffs. In 1998, the Sting finished 18-12, and again were in the WNBA playoffs. However, during a 5–7 start in 1999, Meadors was fired after an 82–56 loss to the Cleveland Rockers.[8]
Between coaching jobs, Meadors would become director of scouting for the Miami Sol in 1999, before the team began play in 2000. She would keep the job until the team folded in 2002. Meadors was then hired as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball[6] and coach there between 2003 and 2005.
In April 2005, Meadors was hired as an assistant coach by former Washington Mystics head coach Michael Adams. Adams resigned from the Mystics in the same month to join the coaching staff at the University of Maryland, and new Mystics head coach Richie Adubato kept Meadors on the coaching staff. Meadors remained with the Mystics during Adubato's stint with the Mystics, and finished 2007 with Tree Rollins as head coach. (The Mystics went 50–52 while Meadors was on the coaching staff.) [9][10]
In December 2017, Meadors was hired as Coach of a new addition to the Women's Blue Chip Basketball League, the Atlanta Monarchs.[11]
Atlanta Dream
On November 27, 2007, Marynell Meadors was hired by owner Ron Terwilliger to become the coach of the new, Atlanta Dream WNBA franchise in Atlanta. Meadors presented detailed plans for the new franchise in an interview, and had a master list of WNBA players and college players, with notations as to which players might be protected and which college players might be worth acquiring. "I wouldn't give them the list until they hired me," said Meadors.[12]
With the new team forced to acquire much of its talent from an expansion draft, and with key players being injured or not signing, the Dream endured an 0–17 start to the season and only won four games during their inaugural season.
The next year, the Dream went 18–16, finishing second in the Eastern Conference, and making the playoffs. This tied for the largest win turnaround in WNBA history of 14 game win total from the previous year (Detroit Shock 9 wins in 2002; 25 wins in 2003).
As general manager, Meadors was responsible for convincing veteran Chamique Holdsclaw to return from retirement,[13] drafting rookies Angel McCoughtry (forward) from Louisville and Shalee Lehning (guard) from Kansas State, and getting Michelle Snow and Sancho Little in the supplemental draft from the folding of the Houston Comets.
Meadors was named WNBA Coach of the Year receiving 30 votes, finishing ahead of Lin Dunn of the Indiana Fever who received 6 votes.[14]
In 2010, the Dream went 19–15, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference, and making the playoffs despite new ownership. Likewise, they lost Snow and Holdsclaw to the San Antonio Silver Stars. In the playoffs, the swept through No. 1 seed Washington and No. 2 seed New York to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time in their history. Despite the odds, they played three close games with the Seattle Storm which featured Swin Cash, Sue Bird, and Finals MVP Lauren Jackson.
The next year, the Dream went 20–14, finishing third in the Eastern Conference, and making the playoffs despite another ownership change. They added Lindsay Harding from a trade with the Washington Mystics as well as adding players in Courtney Paris and Sandora Irvin. Angel McCoughtry made her first All-Star debut with an outstanding season as well as contributions from Sancho Lyttle, Iziane Castro-Marques and Erika DeSouza. In the playoffs, the swept through No. 2 seed Connecticut and beat No. 1 seed Indiana 2–1 to advance to the WNBA Finals despite losing star player Erika DeSouza to the Brazilian team. In the Finals the Dream were swept again this time by the Minnesota Lynx with MVP Seimone Augustus taking stage. Still, the Dream are the only pro-basketball team in Atlanta to make it to a championship final.
In 2012, with the Dream at 12-12 and some unstated issues related to McCoughtry,[15][16] Meadors was fired on August 27, 2012.[17]
USA Basketball
Meadors was selected as the assistant coach of the team representing the US in 1992 at the
Meadors moved up from assistant to head coach of the team representing the US in 1993 at the
Meadors was named assistant coach of the USA National team in preparation for competition in the 2010 World Championships and 2012 Olympics. Because many team members were still playing in the
References
- ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ^ Voepel, Mechelle (28 August 2012). "Sad time for Meadors, Dream". espn.go.com/. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
- ISBN 0-313-30912-4.
- ^ Organ, Mike; Bliss, Jessica (April 4, 2014). "Legendary Ladies: Middle Tennessee's Elite Eight". The Tennessean. A Gannett Company. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-30912-4.
- ^ a b "Agnus Berenato Announces Women's Basketball Staff Appointments". Pittsburgh Panthers.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ WNBA.com: COACHES: Marynell Meadors, access-date=1-03-2009 Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sting Fire Coach". New York Times. 1999-07-12. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ Orton, Kathy (2005-04-22). "Adubato Hired by Mystics". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ "Adams Resigns as Mystics Head Coach". WNBA.com. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ "Marynell Meadors to Coach New WBCBL Team in Atlanta". PR.com. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ^ "Meadors named first coach, GM of WNBA Atlanta Dream". USA Today. 2007-11-28. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ "Holdsclaw returns to WNBA, signs multiyear deal with Dream". USA Today. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ "Atlanta Dream's Marynell Meadors Named 2009 WNBA Coach of the Year". WNBA.COM. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ Voepel, Mechelle (2012-08-27). "Sad time for Meadors, Dream". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
- ^ Voepel, Mechelle (2012-08-24). "McCoughtry's absence is puzzling". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
- ^ Couret, Jacques (2012-08-27). "Dream names Williams head coach and GM". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
- ^ "1992 WOMEN'S R. WILLIAM JONES CUP". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ "1993 WOMEN'S R. WILLIAM JONES CUP". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ "SIXTEENTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN -- 2010". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013.