athletics hall of fame Among the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame inductees are 17 women with connections to the JMU basketball program. The inaugural inductions in 1988 included two former players and a former coach.
1988 Mary Lou Carroll (’56), a four-year member of the basketball team, continued to participate as an amateur player in three sports following her graduation from JMU. She played in five AAU National Basketball Championships and in 1967 was named the outstanding basketball player in the Washington, D.C., area. Althea Loose Johnston, an original member of the JMU faculty in 1909, coached JMU basketball teams to a 106-335 (.753) record in a span of 22 years. Six of her teams were undefeated and at one point her teams won 17 straight games over three years. JMU’s Johnston Hall is named in honor of her and her husband, James C. Johnston. Katherine Johnson (’77) was JMU’s first 1,000-point scorer in women’s basketball and the first JMU female athlete to earn All-America honors. She continued her career in athletics as a high school basketball coach.
1989
1992
Christine Shelton (’70), a three-sport athlete and a four-year member of the JMU basketball team, is a past president of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. A recipient of JMU’s 1986 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, she has received federal grants in developing curriculum promoting non-sexist and non-racist teaching behaviors and is a consultant in the area of race and sex equity in education. She is currently an associate professor of exercise and sport studies at Smith College.
A commitment to quality and equality in women’s athletics was the focal point for Dr. Leotus Morrison during her career in athletics as a JMU administrator and field hockey and basketball coach She played an instrumental role in the formation of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), the original governing body for college women’s athletics in the United States. She was a member of the founding board of the AIAW and one of its early presidents, and she and other leaders in the AIAW established the foundation for college women’s athletics as we know it today.
1990 A three-sport athlete and a member of the basketball team while a JMU undergraduate, Dorothy V. Harris (’53) was a pioneer in the field of sport psychology. In 1989 she was awarded the first Fulbright Scholarship in psychology for designated research in sport psychology and became the first woman inducted as a fellow into the International Society of Sports Psychology.
1994
1991
Former player Carol Horton (’68) was a standout two-sport athlete at JMU and as an alumnae has had a distinguished career as a coach, official and educator.
Former JMU basketball and field hockey player Gracie VanDyck (’47) went on to an outstanding high school coaching career and in 1990 became the first woman to be inducted into the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame. She is the winningest female coach in Virginia high school history and the only one with more than 500 basketball victories.
Mendy Childress (’79) continues to rank among JMU’s leaders on a number of career lists, including scoring (1,281 points), scoring average (13.8), rebounding (762) and rebounding average (8.2).
1996
1998 Sydney Beasley (’88), a former member of the prestigious Kodak All-District III team (1987, 1988), was voted Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Decade (1985-1995). Her season scoring totals of 551 (1987-88) and 545 (1986-87) rank first and second, respectively, on JMU’s all time list. Point guard Floretta Jackson (’87) guided the Dukes to a Top 20 national ranking, two CAA championships and two trips to the NCAA “Sweet 16” as she helped put the Dukes’ basketball program on the map. She was named to the CAA’s All-Decade Team (1985-95).
Katherine Johnson is congratulated by then JMU Director of Athletics Dean Ehlers at the inaugural JMU Sports Hall of Fame inductions in 1988. 1998 JMU Athletics Hall of Fame inductees Sydney Beasley (left) and Floretta Jackson flank former JMU basketball coach Shelia Moorman, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.
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