Van Chancellor

Van Chancellor

Van Chancellor at the 2005 Women's Final Four in Indianapolis.
Sport(s)	Basketball
Current position
Title	Assistant to Athletic Director at LSU, Color Analyst for Southland Conference Television Network
Biographical details
Born	September 27, 1943 Louisville, Mississippi
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1997 WNBA Championship 1998 WNBA Championship 1999 WNBA Championship 2000 WNBA Championship 2004 Olympic Gold Medal 2008 NCAA Final Four
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2007 (profile)
Medal record Coach for Women’s Basketball  United States (head coach) Olympic Games 2004 Athens Team FIBA World Championship for Women 2002 China Team

Van Chancellor (born September 27, 1943) is a former college and professional basketball coach. He coached University of Mississippi women's basketball, Louisiana State University women's basketball, and the professional Houston Comets.^[1] He was named head coach on April 11, 2007, replacing Pokey Chatman. In 2001, Van Chancellor was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee.^[2] He was enshrined as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2007.^[3] Van Chancellor currently serves as an analyst for Southland Conference games on ESPN3.

Early years

Van Chancellor played two years of basketball at East Central Junior College in Decatur, Mississippi, before transferring to Mississippi State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics & physical education in 1965.

During his senior year at Mississippi State, he served as head coach of the boy’s basketball team at Noxapater High School. Chancellor went on to coach boy’s and girl’s basketball at Horn Lake High School and Harrison Central High School in Mississippi. Chancellor received his master’s degree in physical education from the University of Mississippi in 1973.

University of Mississippi

Chancellor spent 19 seasons (1978–1997) as the head coach of the University of Mississippi Lady Rebels, compiling an overall record of 439-154 (.740). As the Ole Miss head coach, Chancellor guided the Lady Rebels to the NCAA Tournament 14 times, including 11 consecutive appearances from 1982 to 1992.

Chancellor’s teams won at least 20 games 15 times, including a school-record 31 wins in 1978–1979. He also led the Lady Rebels to top 20 final rankings 13 times, with top 10 finishes four times (#5 in 1992, #6 in 1985, #8 in 1987, and #10 in 1984).

Chancellor led Ole Miss to the Elite Eight at the NCAA Tournament four times, while his teams made the Sweet 16 on three other occasions. Chancellor was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year three times, including the 1992 season when the Lady Rebels were 29-3 overall and claimed the SEC regular season title with a perfect 11-0 mark. He was also named the 1992 National Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball News Service.

Houston Comets

Chancellor served for 10 years as head coach of the Houston Comets from 1997–2006. During that time, Chancellor was named the WNBA Coach of the Year three times (1997, 1998, 1999) and he led the Comets to the league’s first four titles (1997–2000). Under Chancellor, the Comets were the only team in the WNBA to make the playoffs in each of the first seven seasons of the league. His 1998 Houston Comets team holds the record for highest winning percentage in the history of both the NBA and WNBA basketball (27-3, .900).

In 10 years with the Houston Comets, Chancellors’ teams posted a 211-111 record (.655), making him the winningest coach in the history of the WNBA. Chancellor coached the Western Conference All-Star Team three times during his career and was named the coach of the WNBA’s All-Decade Team in June 2006.

During his time as head coach of the Comets, Chancellor also served as a television analyst for women’s college basketball, working for both ESPN and SEC-TV.

USA Basketball

Chancellor has recorded an unblemished 38-0 record in international competition as head coach of the United States National Team. His teams won first place at the 2002 Opals World Challenge, a gold medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championships, and a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Chancellor served as the head coach to the National team in the 2002 World Championships, held during September in three cities in China, including Nanjing, China. The USA won the opening six preliminary rounds easily, with no contest closer than 30 points. That included the opening round game against Russia, who has played them close at the 1998 Championship final. In the opening game, the USA won 89–55 behind 20 points form Lisa Leslie and 17 from Sheryl Swoopes. The USA wasn't seriously challenged in the quarterfinals, where they beat Spain by 39 points. The semifinal game against Australia was closer, but Leslie had a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds to help the USA team win by 15 points. In the championship game, much like the 1998 finals, the rematch was much closer. This time the USA team did not have to play form behind, and had a ten point lead late ant he game, but the Russians cut the lead to a single point with just over three minutes remaining. The game remained close, and was within three points with just over twelve seconds to go, but Swoopes was fouled and sank the free throws to give the USA a 79–74 win and the gold medal.^[4]

LSU Lady Tigers

In his first year as head coach at LSU, Chancellor led the Lady Tigers to an SEC championship game and to the Final Four. Chancellor was also named 2008 SEC Coach of the Year.^[5] Chancellor resigned on March 16, 2011. He spent the rest of his contract as an assistant to Athletic Director Joe Alleva. Chancellor spent four seasons at LSU.^[6]

Head coaching record

Ole Miss Lady Rebels

Year	Record	Notes
1978–1979	31-9	AIAW State Tournament Champions
1979–1980	23-14
1980–1981	14-12
1981–1982	27-5	NCAA First Round
1982–1983	26-6	NCAA Second Round
1983–1984	24-6	NCAA Second Round
1984–1985	29-3	NCAA Elite Eight
1985–1986	24-8	NCAA Elite Eight
1986–1987	25-5	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1987–1988	24-7	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1988–1989	23-8	NCAA Elite Eight
1989–1990	22-10	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1990–1991	20-9	NCAA First Round
1991–1992	29-3	NCAA Elite Eight
1992–1993	19-10
1993–1994	24-9	NCAA Second Round
1994–1995	21-8	NCAA First Round
1995–1996	18-11	NCAA First Round
1996–1997	16-11

Houston Comets

Year	Record	Playoff Record	Notes
1997	18-10	2-0	WNBA Champions
1998	27-3	4-1	WNBA Champions
1999	26-6	4-2	WNBA Champions
2000	27-5	6-0	WNBA Champions
2001	19-13	0-2
2002	24-8	1-2
2003	20-14	1-2
2004	13-21	-
2005	19-15	2-3
2006	18-16	0-2

USA Basketball

Year	Team	Event	Record	Finish
2002	U.S. National Team	WBCA All Star Challenge	1-0	-
2002	U.S. National Team	Opals World Challenge	4-0	1st Place
2002	U.S. National Team	FIBA World Championships	9-0	Gold Medal
2004	U.S. National Team	Pre-Olympics Exhibition Games	16-0	-
2004	U.S. National Team	Olympics	8-0	Gold Medal

LSU Lady Tigers

Year	Team	Record	Notes
2007–2008	LSU	31-6 (14-0 SEC)	SEC Regular Season Champions; SEC Tournament Runner-Up; NCAA Final Four
2008–2009	LSU	19-11 (10-4 SEC)	SEC Tournament Semifinals; NCAA Second Round
2009–2010	LSU	21-10 (9-7 SEC)	SEC Tournament Quarterfinals; NCAA Second Round
2010–2011	LSU	20-14 (8-8 SEC)	SEC Tournament Quarterfinals; did not make NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

References

1. "Van Chancellor Bio @ LSUSports.net".
2. "WBHOF Inductees". WBHOF. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
3. "Van Chancellor – 2007 Naismith Hall of Fame Inductee".
4. "FOURTEENTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN -- 2002". USA Basketball. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
5. "Chancellor, Fowles Receive SEC's Top Annual Honors".
6. Bill Feig (2011-03-16). "LSU women's basketball coach Van Chancellor steps down, accepts assistant to AD position". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2011-10-29.

External links

• LSU profile