Dianne Nolan HOF

Nowadays in college basketball, Mid-Majors are used as a stepping stone for a coach to land a job at a basketball powerhouse. Fairfield women's head coach Dianne Nolan has defied that trend. After five years at St. Francis (NY), she moved to Fairfield and has been there ever since.

For 28 years, she has led the Stags, racking up 449 wins. She holds a career record of 510-410. In five of those 28 years, the Stags have qualified for a postseason berth: four NCAA Tournaments and one WNIT. Six times Fairfield has had over 20 wins under Nolan's direction. The Stags have also won three MAAC regular season crowns along with three more MAAC Tournament titles.

Five times she has been named the MAAC Coach of the Year, most recently in 2000. The Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association awarded her Coach of the Year in 2001, and the Distinguished Service Award in 2006. She was also named the 1984 New England Coach of the Year along with these other honors.

Perhaps the most glaring example of her merit is that her 28-year tenure at Fairfield is the fifth longest among active coaches at one school in Division I. She is one of only 28 coaches in Division I history to win 500 games.

Nolan has been the only Divison I women's basketball coach the school has ever known; the Stags were a D-II school when she took over and two years into her tenure, the Stags moved up a division.

However, her sucess has not only been limited to the court. She is currently serving a three-year term as Treasurer of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, a culmination of service dating back to 1981.

Not only that, but she is active in the community as well; one look at her bio on fairfieldstags.com has a laundry list of how she has given back.

But, the one fact that struck me the most was this: every senior that she has coached at Fairfield has graduated on time, with a degree. Some coaches are too concerned with winning. While winning is important, Nolan has tried to stress doing the right things on and off the court.

A school like Fairfield is usually a springboard for sucess at a bigger school. However, Dianne Nolan has stayed on board, and will be recognized for her achievements with her induction in the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame.

-Chris Simmons