Thoughts about Geno from an ex-boss

[VA Huskie]

As we go thru the lull before the NCAAs start, I thought I’d share a story. A few months ago I was at a class for us old foggies that was about UVA sports - past, present and future. One of the speakers was Debbie Ryan, ex UVA women’s bb coach (and Geno’s first college boss). I asked her if she had any idea if he would turn out to be a successful head coach, when he worked for her at UVA. Almost before I could get the question out she said absolutely! She went on to explain that not only did he already have one of the best basketball minds she’d seen, he also really understood people. She explained that she felt that Geno got more out of every single player on his team, from the stars to the last person on the bench, than any coach she has ever seen!

Debbie’s comments certainly confirmed what I thought, but it was nice to hear such praise from someone as well regarded as she is.

 

[RogueDave]

As we go thru the lull before the NCAAs start, I thought I’d share a story. A few months ago I was at a class for us old foggies that was about UVA sports - past, present and future. One of the speakers was Debbie Ryan, ex UVA women’s bb coach (and Geno’s first college boss). I asked her if she had any idea if he would turn out to be a successful head coach, when he worked for her at UVA. Almost before I could get the question out she said absolutely! She went on to explain that not only did he already have one of the best basketball minds she’d seen, he also really understood people. She explained that she felt that Geno got more out of every single player on his team, from the stars to the last person on the bench, than any coach she has ever seen!

Debbie’s comments certainly confirmed what I thought, but it was nice to hear such praise from someone as well regarded as she is.

As we go thru the lull before the NCAAs start, I thought I’d share a story. A few months ago I was at a class for us old foggies that was about UVA sports - past, present and future. One of the speakers was Debbie Ryan, ex UVA women’s bb coach (and Geno’s first college boss). I asked her if she had any idea if he would turn out to be a successful head coach, when he worked for her at UVA. Almost before I could get the question out she said absolutely! She went on to explain that not only did he already have one of the best basketball minds she’d seen, he also really understood people. She explained that she felt that Geno got more out of every single player on his team, from the stars to the last person on the bench, than any coach she has ever seen!

Debbie’s comments certainly confirmed what I thought, but it was nice to hear such praise from someone as well regarded as she is.

Debbie is the real amazing one...She has survived Pancreatic Cancer for coming up on 20 years only person on planet earth I have ever heard of doing that one tuff lady...

 

[BroadwayVa]

As we go thru the lull before the NCAAs start, I thought I’d share a story. A few months ago I was at a class for us old foggies that was about UVA sports - past, present and future. One of the speakers was Debbie Ryan, ex UVA women’s bb coach (and Geno’s first college boss). I asked her if she had any idea if he would turn out to be a successful head coach, when he worked for her at UVA. Almost before I could get the question out she said absolutely! She went on to explain that not only did he already have one of the best basketball minds she’d seen, he also really understood people. She explained that she felt that Geno got more out of every single player on his team, from the stars to the last person on the bench, than any coach she has ever seen!

Debbie’s comments certainly confirmed what I thought, but it was nice to hear such praise from someone as well regarded as she is.

Debbi Ryan is one of the nicest WCBB coaches. In terms of nice/approachable she's right a long side of Sherri Coale

 

[VA Huskie]

Well, if you want to go into Debbie Ryan’s amazing story, consider this: Not only did Geno work for her, but UConn’s first trip to the Final Four was in 1991. The other 3 teams were Tennessee, Stanford and UVA. UVA beat UConn in the semis and lost to Tennessee in the finals. Tonya Cardoza scored 16 points against us. Dawn Staley ended up becoming the only person to win tournament MOP who didn’t play for the national champion. Dawn ended up as coach of Temple and Tonya became a UConn assistant. Later, Dawn was replaced by Tonya after she left for SC. Boy, if that’s not “basketball nepotism”, I don’t know what is. Anyway, Debbie looked great and thrives to this day. She’s left quite a legacy...