Florida alumni Mary Scovel, has been named to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Scovel played for the Gators from 1980-84 before starting her coaching career.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mary Scovel played at the University of Florida from 1980-1984 and was a key player for the Gators. In her freshman season, Scovel led in free throws with a 89.3 percent. Her sophomore year, Roonie found herself in the top 5 for free throws (79.2) and second in assists (164). Under coach Debbie Yow, Scovel was the team captain for the 1983-84 season. Following her career at Florida, Mary Scovel had a desire to remain true to the game of women’s basketball and began a successful career in coaching.
Her NJCAA coaching career took off when she was named head women’s basketball coach at Gulf Coast State in 1996. Scovel saw her first NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship with the Lady Commodores in 2003. Scovel would return to the championship in 2008 and 2010, winning the title in both appearances.
Mary took a year break and returned to the sidelines for the Lady Commodores in 2014 winning the championship three more times in 2016, 2017, and 2019. In addition to the six NCJAA Women’s Basketball Championships, Scovel also won 18 Panhandle Conference championships, 13 region championships, six NJCAA National Coach of the Year honors, and has a historic overall winning record of 646-91.
Other accolades from Scovel include being named to the 2019 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), receiving the Two-Year College National Coach of the Year award, and was presented the Pat Summit Trophy. With a natural eye for talent, Mary Scovel coached six NJCAA Women’s Basketball Championship MVP’s and eight NJCAA Women’s Basketball All-Americans.
Scovel officially retired from coaching basketball in December of 2022 after 25 seasons with the Lady Commodores.
Scovel will join WNBA legends Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus, former Minnesota Lynx Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Rita Gail Easterling, Violet Palmer, and fellow coach Sue Phillips.
The induction ceremony for the 2023 Hall of Fame class will take place on April 27th at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more information on the event and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame click here.<https://wbhof.com/>
