She was named ACC Player of the Week and claimed MVP honors of the Dartmouth Tournament as a junior and was named MVP of the James Madison Invitational and of the Demon Deacon team as a senior. Stockton earned a spot on the ACC Academic Honor Roll following each of her final two seasons at Wake Forest and graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in health and sports science in 1986.
“The coaching staff at Tulane did an exceptional job of not only making sure I was a phenomenal athlete but a great student as well. Leaving there with my degree and a wonderful opportunity to make a career out of my sport was pretty amazing.” -WNBA Veteran and Tulane Hall of Famer Janell Burse (at Tulane 1996-2000)
She was drafted by the National Women’s Basketball Association following her senior season but chose instead to begin her coaching career as a volunteer assistant at the University of North Carolina for the 1986-87 season where she helped the Tar Heels go 19-10 overall, finish third in the ACC with a 9-5 league record and advance to the secondround of the NCAA Tournament. Stockton also enveloped herself in post-graduate studies and completed her master’s degree in 1987.
“Over the years I developed a tremendous amount of respect for Lisa as a person and as a coach. She is so knowledgeable, and she really individualizes her coaching style to each player to find a way to reach everyone. She takes the time to develop a relationship with each of her players. I consider her a great friend. I became the player that I am because of my years at Tulane.”
From there, Stockton accepted her first collegiate head coaching position at Division III Greensboro College. In three seasons there, she helped guide the Pride to a combined 6327 record. Along the way, six players earned all-conference honors, including first-team selections Lorraine Orr and Susan Gasperson in 1987-88, Gasperson in 1988-89, and Tara Thompson in 1989-90.
“Coach Stockton and the entire staff put me in positions to develop personally and professionally. Her dedication to me as a person is one of the reasons I believe she is a great coach.”
She returned to the Division I level the following year when she accepted the top assistant position at Georgia Tech where she was responsible for coordinating recruiting efforts, monitoring academic progress, supervise scheduling and coaching the offense. In four years with Stockton on the staff in Atlanta, the Ramblin’Wreck combined to go 6352, including a 20-13 mark in 1991-92 when North Carolina won the WNIT. The following season, Georgia Tech went 16-11, finished tied for fourth in the ACC with an 8-8 league record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Along with her Coach of the Year accolades, Stockton was named one of CitiBusiness’ Women of the Year in 2007. She is a member of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Issues Committee and also serves on the Academic Subcommittee for the issues committee. Stockton has also served two terms on the Kodak All-American Committee, twice chaired the C-USA Women’s Basketball Coaches and served four terms as the WBCA Conference Captain. In her 25 seasons, Stockton has built Tulane into a winning program with victories over ranked programs, tournament championships and a succession of All-Americans and future professional players piling wins on top of wins.
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THE WORD ON STOCKTON
-Nine-Year WNBA Veteran and Tulane Hall of Famer Barbara Farris ( at Tulane 1995-98)
-Tulane Hall of Famer Ashley Langford (at Tulane 2005-09)
“Playing for Coach Stockton taught me a lot about myself. I found that I had a lot of untapped resources within myself. Dreaming big means working harder, but it all pays off in the end.” -WNBA Veteran and Tulane Hall of Famer Teana McKiver (at Tulane 2000-03)
“I just think that Lisa Stockton is the epitome of class and consistency. It shows in her overall record at Tulane, it shows in her number of NCAA invites and the number of conference titles. But it also shows in her relationship with her current and former players – who still feel such a part of the program – as well as in her relationship with her current and former staff members who still carry a bit of Lisa with us in everything that we do.” -Miami Head Women’s Basketball Coach Katie Meier (Tulane assistant coach, 1994-2001)
