Jean Dowell
Birthdate: December 18, 1943
Birthplace: Union Grove, North Carolina
High School: Union Grove
College: Western Carolina University (1966)
Year Inducted: 2011
Her record was 342-164, a sparkling .676 winning percentage. Dowell played college basketball at Western Carolina University from 1963-66 and was inducted in that school’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. She helped the University of Georgia get its women’s basketball program started by coaching the first UGA teams in 1967-68 and 1968-69. Basketball had been played for only one season at Mount St. Joseph’s when Dowell became the coach. In her first season, the Mounties won the Ohio Intercollegiate Women’s Championship by defeating Kent State University in the final. Dowell’s Mount St. Joe teams won several Ohio Valley League regular season and tournament championships. In 1992, the Mount advanced to the NAIA Final Four. When she left the College of Mount St. Joseph in 1994, they renamed the gymnasium the Jean Dowell Building.
See Jean Dowell share stories from the book “Playing Ball with the Boys” by Betsy Ross here.
Watch Jean’s acceptance speech:
