June 3, 2013

Marynell Meadors honored as Title IX Pioneer at OVC Honors Luncheon

The Ohio Valley Conference held a luncheon recently to cap off a year-long celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Title IX, and former Tennessee Tech women's basketball coach Marynell Meadors was one of the women recognized at the event.

Shown in photo, TTU Director of Athletics Mark Wilson presents Marynell Meadors with a commemorative plaque at the OVC Honors Luncheon.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Ohio Valley Conference held a luncheon recently to cap off a year-long celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Title IX, and former Tennessee Tech women's basketball coach and Sports Hall of Fame inductee Marynell Meadors was one of the women recognized at the event.

Each of the OVC's 12-member institutions identified a pioneer in women's athletics from their school to be honored during the year and celebrated at a home athletic event on their campus.

Nine of those honorees were in attendance at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Nashville to be honored as part of the OVC Spring Meetings.

“The OVC has a rich history of women’s athletics along with a bright future thanks to the commitment, passion and contribution of the trailblazers the conference is honoring as part of its Title IX celebration.” said Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. “It is important to take time to appreciate the progress that has been made on the playing fields and in the classrooms as a result of the adoption of Title IX and commit to ensuring students of either gender are not subject to any sort of discrimination under any education program or activity.”

Meadors established the tradition-rich women's basketball program at Tech and led her team to more than 350 wins in 16 seasons. She has been inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the OVC Hall of Fame and the TTU Sports Hall of Fame.

Raised in Nashville and a graduate of Hillsboro High School, Meadors decided in the seventh grade her future was coaching women’s basketball. Following graduation from high school, she attended Middle Tennessee State University and there began coaching women’s basketball before it became a varsity sport and prior to Title IX. In 1970 following the passage of Title IX, she moved to Cookeville and became the women’s head basketball coach at Tennessee Tech University. She coached the Golden Eagles for twenty seasons, compiling a 363-138 (.724) lifetime record. While coaching at Tech, she won six consecutive Tennessee state championships and four Ohio Valley Conference championships. She was twice named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the year and became the first major women’s college coach to win 350 games at one institution.

In 1986, Meadors accepted the head coaching position at Florida State University where she led the program for 10 years. In 1991, the Seminoles won the Metro Conference Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA.

Meadors also served as head coach and general manager of the Atlanta Dream of the Women’s National Basketball Association and was one of the original eight head coaches when the WNBA was formed in 1997.