Debbie Ryan

Debbie Ryan (born November 4, 1952) She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Ryan was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

The US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) awarded her the Coach of the Year award in 1991. She was also named the Naismith College Coach of the Year. In 1977, Ryan, who had recently completed graduate school in Virginia, was asked to become the head coach of the women's basketball program. She accepted, to become only the third head coach in the program's history. After her resignation, Ryan was a volunteer assistant coach of Seattle Storm for the 2011 WNBA season, reuniting with her former player Jenny Boucek, who is an assistant coach there. In 2014, Ryan was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's "Virginia Women in History" for her contributions to women's basketball and her actions as a cancer treatment advocate.

US basketball Ryan served as the head coach of the US representative to the 1999 World University Games (also known as the Universiade). The event was held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The US team opened with a 134–37 win over South Africa. The second game was against Canada, which the US team lost in a close match 68–67. The US could not afford to lose another game if they wished to win a medal, and won the next game against Japan 106–66. They next faced undefeated Russia, and fell behind by twelve points at halftime, but came back and won 79–68. The US fell behind in their next game against undefeated China, but rallied and went on to win 89–78. They beat Brazil to advance to the semi-final, where they faced Lithuania. The game was not close, with the US winning 70–49. That set up a rematch with China, on their home court with 18,000 spectators. The USA only had a four-point lead at halftime, but did better in the second half, and won 87–69 to claim the gold medal.