Ruley Among Eight Former Boilermakers to be Inducted Into Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame
11/10/2004 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.--North Dakota State University head women's basketball coach Amy Ruley will be among seven former student-athletes and a former football head coach that will be inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame during a dinner Friday, Nov. 12. The eight inductees will also be recognized during halftime of the Purdue-Ohio State football game Saturday, Nov. 13.
Ruley, a 1978 graduate of Purdue, will be inducted with Jim Beirne (football, 1965-67); Dave Butz (football. 1970-72), Casey Fredericks (wrestling, 1940-42); Becky (Cotta) Kirsininkas (cross country/track & field, 1980-84); Darryl Stingley (football, 1970-72); Harry Szulborski (football, 1946-49) and Jim Young (football coach, 1977-81). This group will join 72 former athletes, coaches and administratiors previously inducted into the Hall of Fame since 1994.
"I am honored to be included in the 2004 HOF class at Purdue. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent at the University as a student and as an athlete. It was a time of tremendous personal growth. Some of my best friends today are teammates from Purdue," said Ruley
A native of Lowell, Ind., Ruley helped make history at Purdue as a member of the first Boilermaker women's basketball and field hockey teams, earning a total of six varsity letters (1976-77-78) for head coach Ruth Jones in both sports. She scored the first basket ever in women's intercollegiate basketball during an overtime victory against Illinois in 1976 and helped win Purdue's first Big Ten field hockey title in 1977.
Had her greatest accomplishments after graduating from Purdue and after earning her masters from Western Illinois University, when she became the head women's basketball coach at North Dakota State University in 1980.
Ruley is recognized as one of the most successful coaches in all of basketball. She has a current record of 605-158 (.793) with 24 consecutive winning seasons, 10 conference championships, nine NCAA Division II Final Four appearances, eight NCAA championship game appearances and five NCAA titles, including four straight championships in the mid-1990's -- highlighted by a perfect 32-0 season in 1995.
Ruley, who has won 28 separate coach of the year awards, was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame this past June after being selected for the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
She has coached 48 all-conference players and 12 All-Americans, while three of her student-athletes have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America status, three have been NCAA Woman of the Year finalists and two have been Honda Division II Players of the Year. NDSU holds the NCAA Division II record of 49 consecutive wins.
Ruley ranks seventh on Sports Illustrated's list of the 50 Greatest Sports Figures from North Dakota -- and the top-ranked woman -- a list that includes coaching legends Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers and Lute Olsen of the University of Arizona. She served on the USA Basketball Select Team Committee and the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee.
