Woodard Selected For Naismith Hall of Fame Induction
April 5, 2004
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – University of Kansas four-time Kodak All-American and former assistant coach Lynette Woodard has been selected as one of six new members to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as announced at a news conference Monday in San Antonio.
Woodard joins Clyde Drexler, Jerry Colangelo, Bill Sharman, Maurice Stokes and Drazen Dalipagic in the Class of 2004, which will be enshrined on Sept. 10, 2004, in Springfield, Mass.
Woodard, a native of Wichita, Kan., enjoyed a phenomenal basketball career at the scholastic, collegiate, professional and international level. She was a three-time All-State selection at Wichita Norah HS, and led her school to state championships in 1975 and 1977. A national high school All-America in 1977, Woodard went on to play at KU from 1978-81, and ended her career as a four-time Kodak All-America and the leading scorer in the history of women’s basketball with 3,649 points (26 ppg, 12 rpg). In fact, her career scoring total still ranks second only to Pete Maravich (3,667 points) for the most points ever scored by a college athlete, male or female.
A four-time All-Big Eight selection, Woodard dominated the women’s game, leading the nation in scoring in 1979, rebounding in 1978 and steals in 1979, 1980 and 1981. Woodard was MVP of the Big Eight Tournament in 1979, 1980 and 1981, and was later named the conference Player of the Decade. She scored in double-figures in 138 of 139 career games at Kansas and became the first female member of KU’s athletics Hall of Fame.
On the international level, Woodard was a member of the 1980 Olympic Team and co-captained the Gold Medal Olympic team in 1984. She also earned a Gold Medal at the World University Games in 1979. Woodard played international basketball in the Italian League where she led the league in scoring in 1982 and 1989 and led Eni-Chem of Priolo to the Italian national championship in 1989. Woodard earned notoriety in 1985 when she became the first female ever to play for the Harlem Globetrotters. She played two professional seasons with the WNBA’s Cleveland Rockers and Detroit Shock.
Woodard also served as interim head coach for the Jayhawks this past season after five years as assistant coach. She assumed the role on Jan. 29 and guided the team through the end of the season after the departure of Marian Washington.
The Class of 2004 was selected from a group of 16 finalists. The Honors Committee elected Drexler and Woodard on their first year of eligibility. Colangelo and Sharman had been finalists the previous two years; Dalipagic was a finalist last year and Stokes was a first-time finalist after being reactivated by the Veterans Committee in 2003.
Woodard becomes the 15th former Jayhawk to be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame joining Dr. James Naismith, Dr. F.C. “Phog” Allen, E.C. Quigley, John Bunn, Adolph Rupp, Paul Endacott, Arthur Lonborg, William C. Johnson, John McClendon, Wilt Chamberlain, Dean Smith, Ralph Miller, Clyde Lovellette and Larry Brown. Kansas has more inductees than any other Division I school.
