Jane Albright
Albright in 2016.
Biographical details
BornGraham, North Carolina, U.S.
Playing career
1973–1977Appalachian State
Position(s)Forward[1][2]
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1977–1981Spartanburg HS
1981–1983Tennessee (grad. asst.)
1983–1984Cincinnati (asst.)
1984–1994Northern Illinois
1994–2003Wisconsin
2003–2008Wichita State
2008–2017Nevada
Head coaching record
Overall512–477
Tournaments4–9 (NCAA)
10–3 (WNIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards

Jane Gibson Albright[4] is an American women's college basketball coach who was most recently head coach at Nevada from 2008 to 2017. Albright was previously head coach at Northern Illinois from 1984 to 1994, Wisconsin from 1994 to 2003, and Wichita State from 2003 to 2008.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Graham, North Carolina, Albright graduated from Graham High School in 1973 and Appalachian State University in 1977 cum laude with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. At Appalachian State, Albright played basketball and volleyball.[5][6]

Coaching career

Albright began her career as the girls' varsity basketball coach at Spartanburg High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1977. The team went 3–18 in Albright's first year, then improved to 11–10 in 1978–79, 16–13 in 1979–80, and 20–7 in 1980–81 and made the playoffs in 1980 and 1981.[7]

From 1981 to 1983, Albright was a graduate assistant at Tennessee under Pat Summitt. Albright then was an assistant coach at Cincinnati for the 1983–84 season.[8]

From 1984 to 1994, Albright was the head coach at Northern Illinois University and helped the Lady Huskies to become a nationally recognized program. She had a record of 188–110 in her 11 years at NIU as the Lady Huskies made the NCAA tournament four times in five years.

From 1994 to 2003, she coached at the Wisconsin where she compiled a 161–107 record with five NCAA tournament and two WNIT appearances.[9][6] The two WNIT appearances were back to back, in 1999 as runners-up and 2000 as champions.[6] For the first time in program history, Wisconsin reached the top 10 in both the AP and coaches' polls during the 2001–02 season.[8] Following a 7–21 season in 2002–03, Albright resigned on February 25, 2003, with one year remaining on her contract and Wisconsin declining to sign her to a long-term contract extension.[10][11]

After nine seasons at Wisconsin, Albright was head coach at Wichita State from 2003 to 2008, where she went 48–95.[12][9] Her best season was in 2005–06 with a 15–13 record, the only winning season during her five seasons there.[9]

Albright was head coach at Nevada from 2008 to 2017, with a 115–165 overall record with two WNIT appearances in 2010 and 2011.[8][13] Nevada had its first 20-win season in 2010–11 with a 22–11 record that included regular season wins over Power Five opponents NC State and Arizona and the program's first WNIT victory, over Saint Mary's.[8] However, Nevada went only 7–23 in 2011–12, its final season in the Western Athletic Conference.[13]

In 2012, Nevada moved to the Mountain West Conference (MW). Nevada had only one winning season after that, the 2013–14 season with an 18–13 (12–6 MW) record.[13] On March 1, 2017, Albright retired from Nevada, following an 11–19 season.[14][15]

USA Basketball

Albright served as the assistant coach for the team representing the United States at the World University Games held in Buffalo, New York in July 1993. The USA team defeated teams from Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Russia. They were defeated by Cuba 88–80 and by China 75–73. The USA team defeated Lithuania 83–73 to earn the bronze medal.[16]

In 1996, Albright was head coach of a U.S. squad of players chosen after the Olympic team that won the gold medal in the William Jones Cup.[17]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Northern Illinois Huskies (Mid-American Conference) (1984–1986)
1984–85 Northern Illinois 15–13 11–7 4th[18]
1985–86 Northern Illinois 8–19 6–12 8th[18]
Northern Illinois Huskies (NCAA Division I independent) (1986–1987)
1986–87 Northern Illinois 11–16
Northern Illinois Huskies (North Star Conference) (1987–1992)
1987–88 Northern Illinois 14–14 6–4 4th
1988–89 Northern Illinois 23–7 12–2 2nd
1989–90 Northern Illinois 26–5 12–0 1st NCAA second round
1990–91 Northern Illinois 25–10 12–2 2nd
1991–92 Northern Illinois 18–14 8–4 2nd NCAA second round
Northern Illinois Huskies (Mid-Continent Conference) (1992–1994)
1992–93 Northern Illinois 24–6 15–1 1st NCAA first round
1993–94 Northern Illinois 24–6 18–0 1st NCAA first round
Northern Illinois: 188–110
Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (1994–2003)
1994–95 Wisconsin 20–9 11–5 3rd NCAA second round
1995–96 Wisconsin 21–8 12–4 3rd NCAA second round
1996–97 Wisconsin 16–11 8–8 T–6th
1997–98 Wisconsin 21–10 9–7 6th NCAA first round
1998–99 Wisconsin 18–14 9–7 T–4th WNIT Runners-Up
1999–2000 Wisconsin 21–12 8–8 T–5th WNIT Champions
2000–01 Wisconsin 18–10 12–4 T–2nd NCAA first round
2001–02 Wisconsin 19–12 8–8 T–5th NCAA first round
2002–03 Wisconsin 7–21 5–11 8th
Wisconsin: 161–107
Wichita State Shockers (Missouri Valley Conference) (2003–2008)
2003–04 Wichita State 10–18 5–11 T–7th
2004–05 Wichita State 5–22 2–16 9th
2005–06 Wichita State 15–13 8–10 5th
2006–07 Wichita State 9–20 4–14 9th
2007–08 Wichita State 9–22 3–15 10th
Wichita State: 48–95
Nevada Wolf Pack (Western Athletic Conference) (2008–2012)
2008–09 Nevada 18–14 10–6 T–3rd
2009–10 Nevada 17–16 10–6 3rd WNIT First Round
2010–11 Nevada 22–11 9–7 4th WNIT Second Round
2011–12 Nevada 7–23 3–11 T–7th
Nevada Wolf Pack (Mountain West Conference) (2012–present)
2012–13 Nevada 9–23 2–14 9th
2013–14 Nevada 18–13 12–6 T–3rd
2014–15 Nevada 9–21 5–13 T–9th
2015–16 Nevada 5–24 4–14 10th
2016–17 Nevada 11–19 5–13 10th
Nevada: 115–165 60–90
Total: 512–477

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ Thomas, Patrick (1977). "Women's basketball goes big time". The Rhododendron. Vol. 55. p. 164.
  2. ^ Ghant, Pat. "Women's basketball goes big time." The Rhododendron, 1977, vol. 55, p. 164.
  3. ^ "Carol Eckman Award". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. February 17, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  4. ^ The Rhododendron. Appalachian State University, 1977, vol. 55, p. 237.
  5. ^ "News about our local and area students". Burlington Daily Times-News. June 12, 1973. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "Jane Albright". University of Wisconsin-Madison. Archived from the original on March 5, 2003. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  7. ^ "Lady Vikings' Albright Takes Tennessee Post." Spartanburg Herald, May 12, 1981, p. B3.
  8. ^ a b c d "Jane Albright". University of Nevada, Reno. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  10. ^ Masson, Jon (February 26, 2003). "UW WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Albright resigns". Wisconsin State Journal. Archived from the original on April 27, 2003. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  11. ^ Malchow, Steve. "Albright resigns coaching position". Wisconsin Badgers. Archived from the original on April 19, 2003. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  12. ^ "Jane Albright". Wichita State. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006.
  13. ^ a b c "2016-17 Nevada Women's Basketball Media Guide: Record Book" (PDF). University of Nevada, Reno Athletics. pp. 10, 13–14. Retrieved June 29, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ 2016-2017 Stats nevadawolfpack.com Archived July 18, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Murray, Chris (March 1, 2017). "Pack's Jane Albright announces retirement after 33 seasons". Reno Gazette-Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  16. ^ "Sixteenth World University Games – 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on April 29, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  17. ^ "Jane Albright, Head Women's Basketball Coach (Fourth Season)". Wichita State University. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  18. ^ a b 2018-19 MAC Women’s Basketball Media Guide, p. 33
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