Women's Basketball Hires Van Chancellor

Third Season at LSU, 22nd season overall

Few coaches could have been the perfect fit for a tradition-rich program that had advanced to four straight NCAA Final Fours. LSU found that person when Hall of Famer Van Chancellor became the fifth women’s basketball coach in school history in 2007.

Chancellor, a veteran head coach of 30 years at both the collegiate and professional levels, brought an impeccable resume to LSU, one that included leading the United States to a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics Games, four WNBA titles with the Houston Comets and 14 NCAA Tournament appearances at Ole Miss.

Chancellor enhanced his legacy in his first season in Baton Rouge, leading the Lady Tigers back to the Final Four for the fifth straight season and guiding the program to its third Southeastern Conference regular season title in four seasons.

For his efforts, Chancellor was named 2008 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year by both the coaches and the media and was one of four finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year award.  He became the third coach of LSU to earn SEC Coach of the Year honors.

Chancellor led the Lady Tigers to a perfect 14-0 SEC record and the school’s third outright regular season league title. During the team’s 2007-08 run, he coached his 600th career game on Nov. 29 at Houston.

“It is nice for this program to receive these honors,” Chancellor said. “The coaches and players worked so hard all season to accomplish the goal of becoming SEC Champions and these honors reflect the hard work. I am personally honored to be named coach of the year, but all of the credit goes to my assistant coaches and players.”

In his first season back at the collegiate level, Chancellor helped LSU become only the second school in the history of NCAA women’s basketball to advance to five straight Final Fours. It was also the first Final Four appearance for him as a head coach.

One year later, Chancellor delivered what might have been his finest coaching performance to date. LSU lost all five starters and eight letterwinners from its 2008 Final Four team, yet the Lady Tigers still managed to finish in a second-place tie in the 2009 SEC final standings.

Chancellor and the Lady Tigers reeled off five straight wins to close the regular season and punctuated that with an 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament despite boasting one of the three youngest teams in America. LSU advanced to the second round and nearly knocked off eventual national championship game participant Louisville in the Maravich Center. 

Today, Chancellor sits at 489 wins -- 11 shy of 500 -- in 21 collegiate seasons. His winning percentage of .741 ranks among the game’s elites. Chancellor was officially hired on April 11, 2007 by then Athletic Director Skip Bertman.

"It's a rare occasion that an athletic director has the opportunity to hire a person with the credentials that Van Chancellor brings to our women's basketball program," Bertman said. "Van has experienced tremendous success at all levels of women's basketball.

In addition to his 2007 induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, along with the likes of Roy Williams, Phil Jackson and Mendy Rudolph, Chancellor is also a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Success has followed Chancellor at every turn, as he posted a 38-0 mark in international competition as head coach of the United States Olympic Team.

Chancellor served for 10 years as head coach of the Houston Comets from 1997-2006. During that time, Chancellor was named the WNBA Coach of the Year three times (1997, 1998, 1999) and he led the franchise to the league's first four titles. Under Chancellor's direction, the Comets were the only team in the WNBA to make the playoffs in each of the first seven seasons of the league.

The 1998 Comets still hold the record for highest winning percentage in the history of NBA and WNBA basketball with a 27-3 mark (.900).

Chancellor’s teams posted a 211-111 record in 10 seasons, which today still makes him the winningest coach in league history. Chancellor had the distinction of coaching the Western Conference All-Star Team three times during his career and he was also named the coach of the WNBA's All-Decade Team in June of 2006. He never lost an All-Star Game.

As head coach of the Comets, Chancellor produced the WNBA Most Valuable Player five times, the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year three times and the league's most improved player twice.

Before his jump to the professional ranks, Chancellor spent 19 seasons at Ole Miss, developing the Lady Rebels into one of the nation's premier women's basketball programs. As the Ole Miss head coach, Chancellor guided the Lady Rebels to the NCAA Tournament 14 times, which included 11 consecutive appearances from 1982 to 1992.

In 19 years at Ole Miss, Chancellor's teams won at least 20 games 15 times, including a school-record 31 wins in 1978-79. He also led the Lady Rebels to top 20 final rankings 13 times and top 10 finishes four times (No. 5 in 1992, No. 6 in 1985, No. 8 in 1987 and No. 10 in 1984).

Chancellor led Ole Miss to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament four times, while his teams made the Sweet 16 on three other occasions.

Chancellor was named the SEC Coach of the Year three times at Ole Miss, including the 1992 season when the Lady Rebels were 29-3 overall and claimed the league's regular season title with a perfect 11-0 mark. That year, the Lady Rebels reached the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight before falling to Southwest Missouri State.

Chancellor played two years of basketball at East Central Junior College in Decatur, Miss., before transferring to Mississippi State, where he earned a bachelor's degree in math and physical education in 1965.

He entered the coaching ranks during his senior year at Mississippi State, serving as head coach of the boy's basketball team at Noxapater High School. Chancellor went on to coach boy's and girl's basketball at Horn Lake High School and Harrison Central High School in Mississippi. Chancellor received his master's degree in physical education from Ole Miss in 1973.

Born September 27, 1943, in Louisville, Miss., Chancellor and his wife, Betty, have two children, John and Renee, and four grandsons, Nicholas, Jacob, Joseph and Zachary. John followed in his father’s footsteps and is the current head women’s basketball head coach at Barber’s Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, just east of Houston.

Since his arrival in Baton Rouge, Van Chancellor has been a constant in the community with his various speaking engagements and contributions. In the summer of 2008, Chancellor addressed the principals of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System about the values of education. The Hall of Famer also laid out plans of a partnership between the LSU women’s basketball program and elementary and middle schools in the area to honor education.

A book published in the fall of 1999, "Nothin' But a Champion," chronicles Chancellor's life from his childhood roots in Mississippi through his third WNBA Championship with the Houston Comets. In addition to his coaching duties, Chancellor has spent time serving as a television analyst for women's college basketball, working for both ESPN and SEC-TV.

The Van Chancellor File

Birthdate: September 27, 1943
Age: 66
Hometown: Louisville, Miss.
Alma Mater: Mississippi State, 1965 
Wife: Betty
Children: John and Renee
Grandchildren: Nicholas, Jacob, Joseph and Zachary

Education
Undergraduate: Mississippi State, 1965 (Bachelor’s in Math and Physical Education)
Graduate: Ole Miss, 1973 (Master’s in Physical Education)

Coaching Experience:
Head coach at LSU, 2007-present; Head coach at Ole Miss, 1978-97; Head coach of the Houston Comets (WNBA), 1997-2006; Head coach U.S. Olympic Team, 2004; Head coach USA Basketball Women’s World Championship Team, 2002

Coaching Highlights:
Selected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007; Head coach of the United States’ gold medal women’s basketball team in the 2004 Olympics; Head coach of four WNBA titles with the Houston Comets; Winningest coach in WNBA history with 211 wins; Winningest coach in Ole Miss history with 439 victories; Coached U.S. Women’s Basketball team to a 38-0 mark in International competition in 2004; Named WNBA Coach of the Year three times; Named SEC Coach of the Year four times (Ole Miss three times, LSU once); Named 2002 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year; Led Ole Miss to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including four Elite Eights and three Sweet 16s; Inducted into Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001; Named 1992 National Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball News Service; Led LSU to 2008 Final Four and two straight NCAA Tournament appearances

Van Chancellor’s Head Coaching Record

College

Professional

USA Basketball

What They’re Saying About LSU coach Van Chancellor....

“I am delighted Van Chancellor is staying in the game. He has been a pioneer with success at every level – in college, in the WNBA with the world titles at Houston, with USA Basketball and the gold medal in Athens and now with the crowning jewel with the Naismith Hall of Fame. This shows his intense knowledge of the game. I am sure he will do great things at LSU and is back in his old stomping grounds of the SEC.”
- Beth Bass, CEO Women’s Basketball Coaches Association

"Van has been good for women's basketball on all levels, but I think he established himself as an outstanding coach in the Southeastern Conference. Personally, I'm glad that he's back."
- Andy Landers, Head Coach University of Georgia

“What a great hire by LSU! I’m excited to have Van Chancellor back in the Southeastern Conference. He brings a great deal of expertise and personality to the court. Van is a coach who has won at every level – he was a winner in the high school ranks...he was very successful during his time at Ole Miss...he goes to the WNBA and wins championships with the Houston Comets...he coaches the USA team to an Olympic gold medal. I can’t think of another individual in the coaching ranks who has proven himself on every level. Welcome back to the SEC, Van.”
- Pat Summitt, Head Coach University of Tennessee