Congratulations to Coach Barbara Stevens

Dear Bentley Community,

I hope that you and your families continue to stay healthy and safe as the spring semester moves forward. I continue to be so proud of the way that our community has persevered during these challenging times.

I’m writing to share the truly exciting and wonderful news that earlier this afternoon, women’s basketball coach Barbara Stevens was announced as a Class of 2020 inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame! 

Coach Stevens stands alone in so many ways, but she has some impressive company in the 2020 Hall of Fame Class, including NBA legends Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, former WNBA star Tamika Catchings, and Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey.

After beginning her coaching career with Clark University and then the University of Massachusetts, Coach Stevens has amassed an impressive record of 901-200 at Bentley since arriving as head coach in 1986. She is one of six coaches in NCAA women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career wins. With a career record of 1,058-291, her lifetime victory total is exceeded only by Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer and Geno Auriemma, a trio Coach Stevens now joins in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Having just completed her 34th season at Bentley, Coach Stevens has long been a respected role model for our student-athletes and entire community. In 2002, she was presented with the prestigious Carol Eckman Award, which recognizes coaches for their sportsmanship and dedication to promoting honest and ethical behavior in student-athletes.

Coach Stevens has been named the Division II National Coach of the year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association five times and Northeast-10 Coach of the Year an impressive 16 times. In 2014, she led her team to a 35-0 record and a national championship. Barbara’s commitment to student-athletes is consistent with Bentley regularly being named among the top universities in the country in the NCAA Academic Success Rate reports. 

Last winter we celebrated Coach Stevens’ success by dedicating the Dana Center basketball court in her honor. I’m so glad that the court where she and her student-athletes have accomplished so much will forever bear her name. Coach Stevens is scheduled to be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in August.  

Please join me in congratulating her on this well-deserved honor. We are so lucky to have Coach Stevens as a member of our community.  

President Davis-Blake