Joanne Boyle, who steered Richmond to three straight postseason appearances, directed Cal to its best season in 13 years during her inaugural campaign in Berkeley.
In 2005-06, Boyle led a freshman-dominated Cal team to an 18-12 overall record, a sixth-place showing in the Pac-10 (10-8) and to the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992-93. The Golden Bears boasted winning overall and conference records for the first time since 1992-93 when they posted a 19-10 mark and tied for fourth in the Pac-10 at 10-8.
This year, Cal notched victories over No. 13 Arizona State (66-64) and Pac-10 Tournament champion UCLA (65-58) at home and No. 23 USC (72-67) on the road. After leading in the first half, the 10th-seed Bears fell to seventh-seeded Saint John’s, 78-68, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Cal established school records for scoring defense (60.4 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (37.8%) this past season, ranking second and third, respectively, in the Pac-10.
Under Boyle’s tutelage, four Cal players received conference postseason honors, highlighted by guard Alexis Gray-Lawson securing the Bears’ first Freshman of the Year award. Center Devanei Hampton became the 10th player in conference history to be named first-team All-Pac-10, and freshman forward/center Ashley Walker joined Gray-Lawson and Hampton on the Pac-10 All-Freshman team. Guard Jené Morris received honorable mention Pac-10 All-Freshman.
After her first season at Cal, Boyle was named an assistant coach for USA Basketball’s 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship for Women Team and a member of the WBCA Board of Directors.
Boyle, who owns a four-year career record of 85-41 (.675), was hired at Cal April 15, 2005, after serving three seasons as head coach at Richmond, where she directed the Spiders to three consecutive 20-plus win seasons, including a 23-8 record and the program’s first NCAA berth in 14 years in 2004-05. The Spiders finished with a 12-4 record in the Atlantic 10 last year, their best mark in the four years since they joined the conference. In January 2005, the program received its first-ever national ranking – No. 25 in the ESPN-USA Today-WBCA Coaches’ Poll.
Last season, Richmond earned the program’s first at-large bid and third overall invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The 11th-seeded Spiders lost to sixth-seeded Florida State, 87-54, in the first round. Also in 2004-05, Boyle coached Richmond to victories over Virginia, Liberty and Dartmouth – all NCAA Tournament qualifiers – and fielded a team that led the Atlantic 10 in three-point field goal percentage (35.1%) and ranked in the top five in the conference in 13 statistical categories. For Boyle’s efforts, the Richmond Times-Dispatch named her the Virginia State Coach of the Year.
The Philadelphia native recorded a 67-29 mark (.698) in three seasons at Richmond. In addition to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, she led the Spiders to the WNIT quarterfinals in 2003 (21-11) and to the WNIT semifinals in 2004 (23-10). Her 2003-04 team paced the conference in six statistical categories, including scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage and assist/TO ratio. At 17.9 assists per game, Richmond ranked 10th in the nation.
Under Boyle’s guidance, six Richmond players were selected All-Atlantic 10, with Kate Flavin receiving first- team honors in 2004 and 2005.
Boyle was hired by the Spiders in April 2002, inheriting a team which posted a 14-16 overall record the previous year and hadn’t enjoyed a postseason appearance since 1990-91. As she did at Richmond, Boyle brought a winner to Berkeley in her inaugural year at the helm, snapping a streak of 12 straight losing seasons.
Boyle also has a proven track record as a recruiter, inking Blue Star Index’s 12th-ranked recruiting class in the country for 2004-05. She signed Crystal Goring, who was rated the No. 6 best player nationally by Blue Star and earned McDonald’s and WBCA All-America honors.
Before accepting her first collegiate head coaching job at Richmond, Boyle was an integral part of Duke’s rise to national prominence as an assistant coach for nine seasons. The season before Boyle's arrival in 1993-94, Duke compiled a 12-15 record and finished last in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Two seasons into her stint in Durham, N.C., the team notched 20-plus wins (22-9) for the first time in 10 years and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
With Boyle on staff, Duke garnered eight straight NCAA Tournament berths, highlighted by appearances in the 1999 national championship game and the 2002 semifinals. The Blue Devils reached the 20-win plateau seven times, twice amassed at least 30 victories, were ranked in the top 10 nationally four straight years, grabbed four regular-season ACC championships and advanced to the 1998 NCAA Elite Eight and to the 2000 and 2001 NCAA Sweet 16.
Kodak All-Americans Michele VanGorp (1999), Georgia Schweitzer (2001), Alana Beard (2002 and 2003) and Iciss Tillis (2003) were among the players who benefited from Boyle’s presence at Duke. Beard was selected the 2003 Kodak Player of the Year.
Fueling Duke’s rise on the national scene were four straight top five recruiting classes from 1999-02.
Duke’s success in 2001-02 was particularly rewarding for Boyle, who faced a unique personal challenge off the court. In late November, Boyle suffered an ateriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain, which resulted in brain surgery and a lengthy hospital stay. The genetic condition is a capillary deficiency that causes an eruption of blood vessels which produces stroke-like symptoms and bleeding within the cerebellum. An AVM differs from a blot clot in that an AVM cannot reappear.
Surrounded by her team, friends and family, Boyle fought valiantly to overcome her illness. Her recovery process was more rapid than her doctors had predicted. Her steely resolve, coupled with intense physical and speech therapy, enabled Boyle to return to her role on the Blue Devils’ bench within a month. Not long after that, she was on her way to San Antonio, Texas, with the team for Duke’s second Final Four appearance in four years.
Prior to coaching at Duke, Boyle played professional basketball overseas for division one teams in Luxembourg and Germany before returning to the United States after three years. During her European stay, she also won three league championships as head coach of two second division clubs – Ettlebrook Luxembourg and Osnabruck Germany.
Boyle, a four-year letterwinner at Duke, graduated in 1985 with a degree in economics and obtained a master’s of science degree in health policy and administration from North Carolina in 1989. She ended her playing career ranked second on the Duke scoring charts and second in assists. Her 75 steals during the 1984-85 campaign remained the highest single-season total until Beard broke the mark in 2000-01.
Boyle graduated from Gateway High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1981 and played three years of basketball there.
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