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28 CAVALIER CORNER T his upcoming season marks the 50th anniversary of Virginia women's basket- ball. This will be the second of many Wahoo women programs that will reach this incred- ible anniversary milestone over the next five years. The field hockey team will also be celebrating its 50th anniversary in the fall. One person who is synonymous with UVA women's basketball is looking forward to reconnecting with many former players and friends when they come together to honor the 50-year milestones for both programs she was associated with at UVA. Debbie Ryan always knew she was destined to be involved in sports. Growing up in St. Louis, Ryan remembers wanting to play any sport with anyone who would play with her. One of her first memories of loving basket- ball was at age 5 when her dad took her to Kiel Auditorium to watch the St. Louis Hawks play. During the game, Ryan ran onto the court from their front-row seats and grabbed a loose ball before her dad could catch her. While Hawks players Bob Pettit and Cliff Hagan chased her, everyone clapped, delighting Ryan. She also remembers her dad's Anheuser- Busch job providing access to other pro teams in St. Louis, which helped influence her passion for athletics. She once accompa- nied her father to lunch with Cardinals' star player and later Hall of Famer, Stan Musial, who gave young Ryan an autographed ball. As Ryan's dad's job moved their family to New Jersey when she was 10, she continued swimming and began playing other sports com- petitively. By junior high, she played basketball, field hockey, tennis and golf. She continued to participate in every sport she encountered, but basketball stood out as her ultimate favorite. If there was a net, she was shooting into it. Ryan has a younger sister, Karen, and an older brother, Pat. At age 9, Ryan had a Cardinals football uniform and was ready to join in and play with Pat's friends. She used to role-play and alternate jersey numbers using adhesive tape to be John David Crow No. 44 and Bobby Joe Conrad No. 40. Ryan remembers her cousin Louise Corri- gan (Wawner) coming with her family to visit St. Louis from Virginia, and Louise was cry- ing when Ryan greeted them in her football uniform because she wanted Ryan to play with Barbie dolls. Ryan said, "Don't worry, I can do both!" She prided herself on being very versatile. As Ryan developed her athletic talents in high school field hockey and basketball, she ex- celled in tennis as well. There weren't many op- portunities for women in college sports, so Ryan chose to attend the smaller Ursinus College close to home where she became a three-sport athlete in basketball, field hockey and tennis. In November of Ryan's senior year, her un- cle, Gene Corrigan (UVA's athletics director at the time), offered her the opportunity to attend graduate school at UVA and be an assistant coach for field hockey under Linda Southworth and women's basketball under Dan Bonner. Ryan agreed and the decision lifted the weight of not knowing what she was going to do after college — she was going to coach! Ryan was initially overwhelmed by the size of UVA's Grounds. She had a terrific ex- perience, with Southworth and Bonner treat- ing her like an equal and showing her value often asking, "What do you think?" After Ryan finished grad school and Bon- ner accepted another job, she was asked to be the head women's basketball coach. For Ryan, it was an easy decision. Ryan was the lowest-paid head coach in the athletics department, earning $10,000 her first year. She rode her bike everywhere and spent most of her time learning about the game by attending almost all of men's basket- ball head coach Terry Holland's practices and taking notes while watching men's ACC games. Ryan feels she began as a very inexperi- enced coach but learned quickly. She had only one scholarship to give for her first team and split it between Dori Gamble ('81) and Val Ackerman ('81), both from New Jersey. Following the first group Ryan coached, who set the example, the next team with Ackerman, Gamble, Debby Stroman ('82) and Melissa Mahony ('82) were off and running, winning and going to the AIAW Tournament. UVA had arrived and Ryan had started her journey of leading tremendous women who became very accomplished. During the late 1980s era of Donna Holt ('88) and Daphne Hawkins ('88), Ryan's teams were knocking on the door. They were quick and talented, and they helped take the team to a few Elite Eights, laying a foun- dation for the program. In 1990, with second-years Dawn Staley ('92), Tammi Reiss ('92), Audra Smith ('92) and Melanee Wagener ('92), the team faced Tennes- see again after getting blown out by them in the first round of the previous year's tournament. Tonya Cardoza ('92) and Staley assured Ryan after that loss, "This will never happen again." Tennessee was the premier team in the East Regional, but Ryan had a great feeling going CONTINUED SUCCESS: FORMER UVA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH DEBBIE RYAN Ryan was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, and also into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. (Photo by Pete Emerson/courtesy UVA athletics)