Jill Hutchison

Jill Hutchison (born March 8, 1945)[1] is an American retired women's basketball coach, having served as head coach for 28 seasons at Illinois State. Hutchison also served as the first president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. She was active in USA Basketball, serving as the head coach of the gold-medal winning team representing the USA at the World University Games in 1983.[2] Hutchison was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Jill Hutchison

Biographical details
Born	March 8, 1945
Playing career
1964–1967	New Mexico
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1971–1999	Illinois State
Head coaching record
Overall	428–304 (.585)
Tournaments	NCAA 1–3 (.250)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
3× MVC Coach of the Year Award (1985, 1988, 1996) Carol Eckman Award
Medal record Women’s Basketball Head Coach for  United States World University Games 1983 Edmonton Team Competition

Early years

Although the University of New Mexico (UNM) had a women's basketball team as early as 1898, formal intercollegiate play did not start until the 1974-75 season. Hutchison attended New Mexico, graduating in 1967, and played basketball for intramural teams during her time at the school. Occasionally, the teams would play at "sports days" at area schools in Arizona and Utah.[3]

Illinois State

After graduating from UNM, Hutchison was admitted to the master's program at Illinois State University. Her master's thesis involved study of female basketball players to determine whether their hearts could play the a full court game. Her research concluded that they could. She went on to become the head coach of the women's basketball team in 1970, and she remained in that position for 28 years.[4]

USA Basketball

Hutchison was named head coach of the team that went to the World University Games in 1983. The team had a record of 5–1, losing only to Romania in an early round. After losing to Romania, the USA team faced a highly regarded Yugoslavia. A win was needed to advance to the medal round. The USA narrowly prevailed, winning 86–85, with Carol Menken-Schaudt contributing 25 points. That set up a rematch with Romania for the gold medal. The Romanians started out strong, and held a 42–36 lead at halftime, but the USA team took the lead back and ended up with a 22-point margin 83–61, to clinch the gold medal.[5] The leading scorer on the team with just under 14 points per game was Joyce Walker,[5] who went on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Awards and honors

• 1984 – Illinois State Athletics Hall of Fame[6]
• 1985 – MVC Coach of the Year[6]
• 1988 – MVC Coach of the Year[6]
• 1992 – Carol Eckman Award
• 1996 – MVC Coach of the Year[6]
• 2009 – Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Head coaching record

Source[6]

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Illinois State Redbirds (Independent) (1971–1982)
1971-72	Illinois State	11-6			AIAW Tournament
1972-73	Illinois State	17-5
1974-75	Illinois State	14-9			AIAW Tournament
1975-76	Illinois State	18-12
1976-77	Illinois State	20-6
1977-78	Illinois State	11-12
1978-79	Illinois State	10-17
1979-80	Illinois State	23-10
1980-81	Illinois State	28-8			AIAW Tournament
1981-82	Illinois State	19-15
Illinois State:		171–100 (.631)
Illinois State Redbirds (Gateway Conference (women)) (1982–1992)
1982-83	Illinois State	20-10			NCAA First Round
1983-84	Illinois State	23-8	15-3	T-2nd
1984-85	Illinois State	23-6	17-1	1st	NCAA First Round
1985-86	Illinois State	16-12	12-6	3rd
1986-87	Illinois State	12-15	10-8	T-4th
1987-88	Illinois State	20-11	14-4	T-1st
1988-89	Illinois State	23-8	16-2	1st
1989-90	Illinois State	21-11	14-4	T-1st	NCAA Second Round
1990-91	Illinois State	18-10	13-5	T-2nd
1991-92	Illinois State	14-14	11-7	T-3rd
Illinois State:		170–95 (.642)	122–40 (.753)
Illinois State Redbirds (Missouri Valley Conference) (1992–1999)
1992-93	Illinois State	11-16	6-10	6th
1993-94	Illinois State	10-17	5-11	7th
1994-95	Illinois State	11-16	7-11	T-7th
1995-96	Illinois State	19-13	14-4	3rd
1996-97	Illinois State	17-11	13-5	T-2nd
1997-98	Illinois State	11-16	9-9	T-5th
1998-99	Illinois State	8-20	4-14	9th
Illinois State:		87–109 (.444)	58–64 (.475)
Total:		428–304 (.585)
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

Publications

Hutchison, Jill (1989). Coaching Girls' Basketball Successfully. Champaign, Ill: Leisure Press. ISBN 978-0880113434.

References

1. "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 23 Sep 2015.
2. "Jill Hutchison". Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
3. "New Mexico Athletics". University of New Mexico. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
4. "Jill Hutchison". Illinois State University. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
5. "Twelvth [sic] World University Games -- 1983". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
6. "Virtual Guide". Illinois State. Retrieved 4 May 2013.