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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Former West Chester University basketball coach and WCU Hall of Fame inductee ('89) Lucille Kyvallos has been selected as one of 12 finalists for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, as announced by the organization on Thursday evening. Kyvallos was also a nominee is 2019.
Kyvallos, who took over as head coach of West Chester's girls' basketball team in 1962, coached the then-Ramettes for four seasons and led the squad to an unblemished 10-0 record during her final season at the helm. Kyvallos is credited with completely overhauling the basketball program at West Chester during her tenure, as she was the first coach in program history to incorporate weight training into her team's regimen and shifted the focus of the sport to a more strategy-based endeavor. Kyvallos keyed in on the intellectual and theoretical parts of the game instead of solely thinking about the physical aspects of the sport, and she challenged each of her players to do the same.
Kyvallos was at the forefront of the Title IX movement and spent her career fighting for women's equality in sports. While at West Chester, Kyvallos made certain that her women's basketball team was given equal court time as their male counterparts and she made sure that every woman on her roster felt empowered and confident.
Following her time at West Chester, Kyvallos went on to have a storied career as the head coach of Queens College from 1968 through 1981. With Kyvallos leading the way, the Knights were consistently ranked among the nation's best, including being slotted inside the top 10 in the country from 1972-1978. Kyvallos' 1972-73 team went 22-5 overall and became the first women's basketball team in the history of New York City to play for a national championship, and the first women's basketball team in history to be inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. Following Queens' success in 1972-73, Kyvallos and the Knights were invited to Madison Square Garden two years later to square off against Immaculata, in what would become the first women's basketball game ever played in the history of the storied venue.
After her time at Queens, Kyvallos was selected to serve as the head coach of the United States women's basketball team at the 1977 World University Games, leading the USA to a 6-2 overall record in the tournament and a silver medal.
Kyvallos ended her collegiate coaching career with an impressive 311-73 (.810) record and she is a member the Springfield College Athletics Hall of Fame, the Queens College Athletics Hall of Fame, the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame, and the West Chester State College Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2020 will be selected from the 12 finalists and announced on February 10 at the Baylor vs. South Carolina game set for 7 p.m. Eastern in Columbia S.C. The announcement will be made during ESPN2's broadcast of the game.
