Women's Basketball

Juliene Simpson
How to Contact:
Office 13, Koehler Fieldhouse
ESU, East Stroudsburg, Pa. 18301
Phone: (570) 422-3107

John F. Kennedy College '74 - Juliene Simpson heads into her second season at the helm of ESU's women's basketball team. She will lead a young squad that is gaining experience by the day and will provide all Warrior fans with very exciting and competitive action in 2002-03. Simpson improved ESU by two wins in her first season to 7-18 after suffering a 5-21 mark before coming to campus.

Simpson is a very decorated and respected leader in the coaching ranks. She is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and a veteran of 23 years of head coaching experience. Her last coaching stint came at at NCAA Division I at Marshall University where she spent four seasons.

Simpson took over at Marshall in 1997 and faced a daunting task of overseeing the team's transition from the Southern Conference to the more competitive Mid-America Conference. Last year's team posted a 10-18 record. Previously, she was head coach at Bucknell University for six years from 1991-97, leading the Bison to their first Patriot League title in 1996. She was named the league's Coach of the Year.

She coached three years at Whitworth College, an NAIA school in Spokane, Wa. from 1988 to 1991. Her 1990 team finished 20-7 and she was named the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the NAIA National Coach of the Year award. From 1979 to 1987, she was head coach at Arizona State and in eight seasons, compiled a 134-92 record, making her the winningest coach in the school's basketball history. She led her teams to the NCAA 'Sweet 16' in 1982 and 1983 and to the NIT fina ls in 1981.

She started her coaching career in 1977 at Amarillo Junior College at the age of 24. Her team posted a 17-6 record and participated in the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament. She spent one season at the University of Cincinnati before taking over at Arizona State.

As a player, Simpson was a four-time AAU All-America at John F. Kennedy College in Nebraska. She established herself as one of the nation's top players and went on to success at the international level as a member of some of the United States' first national teams.

In 1973, Simpson earned a silver medal at the World University Games in Moscow. She was co-captain of the U.S. team which won a gold medal in the 1975 Pan American Games. Simpson and her 1976 Olympic teammates were inducted into the National Girls and Women in Sport Hall in 1996.

In 2000, Simpson was a member of only the second class to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She joined such notables as Pat Summit and Anne Meyers-Drysdale, two personal friends, among the first 48 persons inducted.

A native of Roselle Park, N.J., Simpson, 49, graduated from John F. Kennedy College in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in Education. She and her husband, Mike, have two daughters, Jennifer, who is redshirting for ESU this season, and Shannon, who is in the 10th grade.

Simpson's Honors

1973 World University Games Silver Medalist for USA National Team
1975 Pan American Games Gold Medalist for USA National Team
1976 Montreal Olympic Games Silver Medalist for USA National Team
1987 NCAA Regional Coach of the Year and Western Collegiate Athletic Conference
1990 Finalist for NAIA National Coach of the Year for Whitworth
1996 Inducted into the National Girls and Women in Sport Hall of Fame
1996 Patriot League Coach of the Year for Bucknell
2000 Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame