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Hall of Fame

Theresa Grentz

Theresa Grentz

  • Class
  • Induction
    2025
  • Sport(s)
    Women's Basketball

Theresa Grentz joins the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame after building a career record of 681-362 during her 35 years as head coach at St. Joseph’s, Rutgers, Illinois, and Lafayette. Her record during 12 seasons at Illinois was 210-156, including the only Big Ten Championship in school history in 1997. Grentz took Illinois to two Sweet Sixteen appearances and five NCAA Tournaments. She was the U.S. Olympic head coach in 1992, when the team captured a bronze medal. As a star player, she led her college team, Immaculata, to back-to-back-to-back Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships from 1972 to 1974. That team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. Grentz is also a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in the class of 2022, a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (Class of 2001), and the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame (Class of 2001). At Rutgers, Grentz became the first full-time women’s basketball coach in the nation. She led Rutgers to nine straight postseason appearances and a 434-150 (.743) record during her tenure and won the 1982 AIAW National Championship. Grentz was named the Converse National Coach of the Year in 1987.

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