2017 Sports Award Honoree: Joan Bonvicini

SpOrtS award - 2017 hOnOree Joan Bonvicini

Joan Bonvicini was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was one of five children born to Gaetano (Thomas) Bonvicini and Jane Casey Bonvicini. Gaetano emigrated from Verona by way of Ellis Island in 1929.

One of the winningest coaches in women’s college basketball history, Joan became just the 17th head coach to reach 700 career wins. She began her head-coaching career with Long Beach State University (1979 – 1991), leading them to back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances in 1987 and 1988. She also led them to ten NCAA tournament appearances, nine Sweet Sixteen appearances, and six Elite Eight appearances, and was named the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 1981. She was inducted into the Long Beach State University Hall of Fame in 1996.

After her tenure at Long Beach State, Joan took over as Head Coach of the University of Arizona (1991 – 2008), where she won the 1996 Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship. In 1998, she was named the PAC-10 Coach of the Year, and in 2005, she was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame. Her most recent head coaching position was with Seattle University (2009 – 2016), where she won the 2013 WAC Conference championship and was also named WAC Coach of the Year.

On four separate occasions, Joan has served as Head Coach of the USA women’s basketball team, including for the 1981 USA Olympic Sports Festival and the 1993 USA World University Games. She served as Assistant Coach twice, including at the 1991 Pan American Games in which the women’s team earned the bronze medal. From 1988 to 1992, Joan was on the USA Olympic Selection Committee.

A former college basketball standout, Joan played guard at Southern Connecticut State University while earning her Bachelor of Science in Health Education. In 1989, she was inducted into the Southern Connecticut State University Hall of Fame, and in 1994, she was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2005, she was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

Joan currently works as a broadcasting/color analyst on the PAC-12 Network/ESPN3 and a supervising agent for American Income Life. She is the proud mother of her daughter, Shea, who is currently a sophomore at University of Arizona.