Former Virginia women’s basketball coach Debbie Ryan, who led Virginia for 34 years before retiring last year, will be inducted to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame April 28. Photo by Grant Mathews

The longtime face of Virginia women’s basketball will now join the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Former Cavalier coach Debbie Ryan will be inducted as part of its class of 2012, the organization announced Monday.

Ryan coached at Virginia from 1978 to 2011 and posted a 739-324 record during her 34-year tenure with the Cavaliers. She is one of only nine female coaches to notch at least 700 wins, and her Cavalier teams captured three ACC Tournament championships and 11 ACC regular season titles. Under Ryan, Virginia played in 24 of 29 NCAA tournaments, including 20 straight from 1984 to 2003 and three consecutive Final Four appearances.

Individually, Ryan earned the 1991 Naismith Coach of the Year and seven ACC Coach the Year honors. This is not Ryan’s first Hall of Fame bid — the coach joined the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Ryan announced she would resign as Virginia’s coach last March and retired at the end of the season. That year, the Cavaliers missed the NCAA Tournament but advanced to the WNIT quarterfinals.
Her induction ceremony will be held April 28.

—compiled by Ashley Robertson