One of the most influential figures in the history of University of Kansas athletics — who referred to herself as “a private person” during three-plus decades at KU — has decided to tell her story in a much-awaited book that celebrated its release Tuesday. Marian E. Washington, the individual most responsible for the founding of, and building of, the entire women’s athletic program at KU, is author of the 303-page “FIERCE: My Fight for Nothing Less.
” Washington, 77, who led her “Lady Jayhawks” to a 560-363 record, including 11 NCAA Tournament and two Sweet 16 appearances in 31 seasons as women’s basketball coach at KU (1973 to 2004), perhaps more importantly is recognized as the one most responsible for the blossoming of women’s sports at KU. She was KU’s first women’s AD, serving in that role from 1973-78, when the women’s and men’s athletic departments merged. The “fight” referred to in the book title refers to her relentless pursuit of putting women’s sports on the map at KU — with limited funds available in the athletic department despite the arrival of Title IX in 1974.
Washington instituted women’s track and field at KU and, in fact, served as the school’s first women’s track coach at the same time she coached women’s basketball and ran the entire women’s athletic department. She hired coaches for several women’s sports, yearly stating the case for budget increases in women’s sports that ultimately led to the building of a locker room in Allen Fieldhouse. That much-needed facility allowed the women’s basketball team to hold its pregame and halftime talks somewhere besides a roped off area in a public women’s restroom in the building.
Washington in her book has chronicled her days growing up in her hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania, where she spent the first 12 years of her life living in a bus. She also describes her days as a nationally acclaimed high school and college competitor in basketball, track and handball. Washington would have been a member of the 1972 Olympic women’s basketball team had a last-minute decision not delayed the start of women’s hoops in the games four years to 1976.
In 1996 Washington became the first Black woman to coach at the Olympic level as an assistant on the gold-medal-winning women’s hoops team. Washington relates stories in the book involving her professional and personal life, including the close bond she has shared with her daughter, Josie, who helped talk her mom into sharing her life story in book format. “I was a private person during my three decades coaching basketball at Kansas.
In my book I open up about that experience as well as the five years I spent laying the foundation for intercollegiate athletics at KU,” Washington said, adding, “I hope my story will both educate people about history from someone who was there and inspire women and men to achieve their dreams at the highest level.” Starting the women’s athletic program at KU Washington in the book does not hold back in describing the difficulties she had in bringing women’s sports to KU. “I knew my budget would be slim, but I grew impatient waiting for our simplest needs to be met.
What I didn’t anticipate was that everything, from the small decisions to the big ones, would be a fight,” Washington wrote. Washington was the AD who first secured scholarships for women’s athletes at KU. She helped raise money for the scholarships through camps.
The first women’s scholarships at KU were presented in 1975. Of her accomplishments in her five years as women’s AD, Washington wrote: “All of the sports had excellent coaches and each had assistants. We had a trainer and a strength training room.
We had uniforms that weren’t hand me downs and warmups. We were giving women scholarships. We had a locker room so our players didn’t have to leave Allen Fieldhouse covered in sweat to shower in their dorms.
We traveled by vans, not cars, and every so often we flew. During overnight trips we went from cramming four into a small motel room to two players sharing the space. Coaches could fill out a form estimating the money they needed to make a trip and get an advance.
No more having to use your own funds. We had a lot to be proud of.” are touched upon, but not overstated in the book, which was co-written by Vicki L.
Friedman. It is available for purchase at bookstores and other retailers, including and BarnesandNoble.com.
will be available at . Marian Washington’s accomplishments: • The winningest women’s hoops coach in KU history was inducted in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. She is a two-time finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
• She led KU to two WNIT appearances and three AIAW Sectional finishes while claiming seven league titles and six conference tournament championships. • She was named conference Coach of the Year in 1992, 1996 and 1997. • Washington received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Black Coaches Association in 2003 and she was named the BCA Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1996.
She was the first woman to serve as president of the BCA as well as the first individual to serve consecutive terms as president of the organization. • A standout basketball player at West Chester State University, known for tenacious rebounding, Washington was a member of the first women’s national championship team. Her West Chester State team finished unbeaten and won the National Women’s Invitational Tournament in 1969, defeating Western Carolina for the title.
• She became one of the first two African-American women to compete in basketball internationally at the 1971 World Championships and was the first Black woman to coach a United States team in international competition in the 1982 R. William Jones Cup. • She served as an assistant coach for Team USA’s gold medal-winning squad in the 1996 Olympics, becoming the first Black person to coach on a U.
S. Olympic women’s basketball staff. KU has honored Washington in recent years Kansas Athletics in January of 2020 announced the creation of the Marian E.
Washington Trailblazer Series, which according to KU, “recognizes the notable achievements and accomplishments of African Americans who have helped shape the Jayhawk program. Each February, in conjunction with Black History Month, the endeavor chronicles several prominent African Americans and their impact on Kansas Athletics.” KU hosted the Marian E.
Washington Legacy Reunion in November 2022. The weekend celebrated Washington’s accomplishments during her tenure with at KU and her impact on women’s athletics overall, most notably women’s hoops. The Marian E.
Washington Women’s Basketball Suite in Allen Fieldhouse . “I am forever a Jayhawk,” Washington said. “In sharing my story I was especially proud to talk about my players and the sisterhood they have with one another.
” Washington in a second appendix acknowledges each of the Jayhawks to play for her in 31 seasons. “When I look at the women’s facility, it’s second to none. I’m so proud of what this department has done for our women,” Washington said of the current regime.
“This is an honor and truly a blessing. I just pray that the efforts of our past will be the spirit which inspires us to achieve excellence in the future.” The foreword was written by Kathleen Sebelius, the 44th governor of Kansas and 21st United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
KU hoops legend Lynette Woodard wrote the afterword. Testimonials abound for Washington Several testimonials are in the book, including one by Dawn Staley, three time NCAA title coach at South Carolina. “The lessons unpacked in this book are incredible,” Staley wrote.
“We have a tendency to forget where things started and who opened doors for us. And we must not do that. We need to educate ourselves because the more you know the more you can impact others and share knowledge.
That’s why this is an important book.” Of Washington, current KU coach Brandon Schneider said in 2021: “As I think about Coach, terms that are commonly used have been trailblazer, pioneer, incredible leader and mentor of many. All are appropriate and very accurate, but as I’ve gotten to know her even better, a word that kept coming to my mind that I think really describes her is fighter.
I think about the courage that it had to take in her time to fight the necessary battles that were unpopular to fight, and it’s that courage that I tremendously respect and admire.” He told Washington at the dedication of the players’ basketball suite: “We could not be more proud to be able to walk into a facility that has your name on it. That is going to be something that we treat with tremendous respect.
” Noted AD Travis Goff: “I was able to watch coach Washington from afar and glean some of those things she did early in my career. What I noticed is that she served young people every step of the way. She provided opportunities that otherwise would have not been there and mentorship that was truly unprecedented during the course of her time.
Since she’s left KU, she’s continued to do just that and we are so proud to be able to unveil this tribute to her.” Washington, players have bond Washington says she feels most welcome at KU. She especially relishes every moment visiting with former players.
“The bonds I established with my players continue,” Washington wrote. “I can pick up the phone and talk to many who played for me and feel if no time has passed. The sisterhood they share with one another is beautiful.
It makes me happy that they love each other and work hard to keep the sisterhood strong.” An example of bond between player and coach took place Tuesday. Woodard, who wasn’t about to skip launch day of her coach’s life story, was pictured on social media site X holding Washington’s book in Paris, where Woodard is for the 2024 Olympics.
“Good to see Lynette catching up on her reading,” Washington wrote on X above a picture of Woodard Eiffel Tower in the backdrop. “Whether the world calls your name,” Woodard wrote in the book, “if you’ve got belief inside, nobody can stop you. That’s the inner strength coach Washington gave her players.
She’s walked it, lived it and earned a legacy that will never be matched.” “I’m not alone in believing she was the greatest to ever play college basketball,” Washington wrote of her most famous pupil, Woodard, in the book..
