Curtis, Dailey to be Honored at Women’s Basketball Game
2/21/2020 10:00:00 AM | General, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Legendary Wake Forest head coaches Charlene Curtis, of women's basketball, and Dianne Dailey, of women's golf, will be honored at the end of the first quarter of the women's basketball game on Sunday, Feb. 23.
The Demon Deacons will face North Carolina at 12 p.m. (ET) Sunday for their annual Pink game, supporting breast cancer research and honoring survivors and fighters of the disease. Women's basketball is partnering with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, with all proceeds being donated to the organization for women's cancer research. #Play4Kay
Curtis and Dailey are being honored as female legends at Wake Forest in conjunction with Black History Month and Women's History month. They both are also cancer fighters and survivors. Both coaches will be escorted to center court by current student-athletes and will receive pink flowers, personalized Deacon statues, and commemorative t-shirts.
A Trailblazer in Basketball
As the former Wake Forest women's basketball coach, Curtis has been a trailblazer in the sport. When she was named the Demon Deacon's head coach in 1997, Curtis became the first African American women's basketball head coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history. During her seven seasons at Wake Forest, the women's basketball team had a 100 percent graduation rate.
Before coming to Winston-Salem, she helped build UConn into a national powerhouse, serving as an assistant under Geno Auriemma for two seasons. Curtis also was a head coach at Radford from 1984-90 and Temple from 1990-95.
After her coaching career, she continued to be involved in the game, working as an analyst covering both the ACC and the SEC, as well as in the studio.
In 2008, she accepted a job as the ACC Supervisor of Women's Basketball Officials serving the conference for 11 years before her retirement prior to the 2019 season. During that time, Curtis was key in expanding and further developing officials through clinics and educational opportunities.
Curtis was also a major moving force in the league's implementation of replay. She also was a member of the NCAA Rules Committee and NCAA Mechanics Committee during the implementation of the four-period format and restricted area arc with the lower defensive box to the women's game that started with the 2016-17 season.
Dailey Leaves Lasting Legacy
Dailey retired as the head coach of the Wake Forest women's golf team in May 2018, after 30 years at the program's helm. During Dailey's three decades of leading the program, the Demon Deacons won 30 team titles, 39 individual titles, won four ACC Championships and qualified for 15 NCAA Championships. She coached 28 All-Americans, 39 All-ACC selections, five ACC Players of the Year, four ACC Freshmen of the Year and 2018 NCAA Champion Jennifer Kupcho.
A 1971 graduate of Salem College, Dailey took over the Wake Forest program in the summer of 1988. She led the Demon Deacons to victory in the third event of her first season with the title at the Lady Seminole Invitational. Wake Forest would win at least one team title in 18 of her 30 seasons at the helm of the program, highlighted by a school-record five victories during the 1994-95 season.
A four-time ACC Coach of the Year, Dailey led the Demon Deacons to conference championships in 1994, 1995, 2009 and 2010. Her four titles rank second in the history of ACC women's golf coaches. In 1993, Wake Forest made its first appearance at the NCAA Championships, finishing seventh. It was the first of four top-10 NCAA finishes for the Demon Deacons, highlighted by a third-place finish in 1995. Since the NCAA established the current system of regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 1993, Dailey has led Wake Forest to a regional berth every year.
In 2001, Dailey was named the LPGA Coach of the Year and was also inducted into the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame. She has served as the president of the NGCA as well as a chairman of the NCAA Golf Committee, heading up the NCAA Championships and setting policies for collegiate golf.
Dailey's 30-year tenure is the second-longest for a Wake Forest coach, trailing only Jesse Haddock's 32-year tenure leading the Demon Deacon men's golf program from 1960 to 1976 and 1978 to 1992. In 2010, she was honored as the Dianne Dailey Learning Center, a state-of-the-art training center for the men's and women's golf programs, was named for her.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Legendary Wake Forest head coaches Charlene Curtis, of women's basketball, and Dianne Dailey, of women's golf, will be honored at the end of the first quarter of the women's basketball game on Sunday, Feb. 23.
The Demon Deacons will face North Carolina at 12 p.m. (ET) Sunday for their annual Pink game, supporting breast cancer research and honoring survivors and fighters of the disease. Women's basketball is partnering with the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, with all proceeds being donated to the organization for women's cancer research. #Play4Kay
Curtis and Dailey are being honored as female legends at Wake Forest in conjunction with Black History Month and Women's History month. They both are also cancer fighters and survivors. Both coaches will be escorted to center court by current student-athletes and will receive pink flowers, personalized Deacon statues, and commemorative t-shirts.
A Trailblazer in Basketball
As the former Wake Forest women's basketball coach, Curtis has been a trailblazer in the sport. When she was named the Demon Deacon's head coach in 1997, Curtis became the first African American women's basketball head coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history. During her seven seasons at Wake Forest, the women's basketball team had a 100 percent graduation rate.
Before coming to Winston-Salem, she helped build UConn into a national powerhouse, serving as an assistant under Geno Auriemma for two seasons. Curtis also was a head coach at Radford from 1984-90 and Temple from 1990-95.
After her coaching career, she continued to be involved in the game, working as an analyst covering both the ACC and the SEC, as well as in the studio.
In 2008, she accepted a job as the ACC Supervisor of Women's Basketball Officials serving the conference for 11 years before her retirement prior to the 2019 season. During that time, Curtis was key in expanding and further developing officials through clinics and educational opportunities.
Curtis was also a major moving force in the league's implementation of replay. She also was a member of the NCAA Rules Committee and NCAA Mechanics Committee during the implementation of the four-period format and restricted area arc with the lower defensive box to the women's game that started with the 2016-17 season.
Dailey Leaves Lasting Legacy
Dailey retired as the head coach of the Wake Forest women's golf team in May 2018, after 30 years at the program's helm. During Dailey's three decades of leading the program, the Demon Deacons won 30 team titles, 39 individual titles, won four ACC Championships and qualified for 15 NCAA Championships. She coached 28 All-Americans, 39 All-ACC selections, five ACC Players of the Year, four ACC Freshmen of the Year and 2018 NCAA Champion Jennifer Kupcho.
A 1971 graduate of Salem College, Dailey took over the Wake Forest program in the summer of 1988. She led the Demon Deacons to victory in the third event of her first season with the title at the Lady Seminole Invitational. Wake Forest would win at least one team title in 18 of her 30 seasons at the helm of the program, highlighted by a school-record five victories during the 1994-95 season.
A four-time ACC Coach of the Year, Dailey led the Demon Deacons to conference championships in 1994, 1995, 2009 and 2010. Her four titles rank second in the history of ACC women's golf coaches. In 1993, Wake Forest made its first appearance at the NCAA Championships, finishing seventh. It was the first of four top-10 NCAA finishes for the Demon Deacons, highlighted by a third-place finish in 1995. Since the NCAA established the current system of regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 1993, Dailey has led Wake Forest to a regional berth every year.
In 2001, Dailey was named the LPGA Coach of the Year and was also inducted into the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame. She has served as the president of the NGCA as well as a chairman of the NCAA Golf Committee, heading up the NCAA Championships and setting policies for collegiate golf.
Dailey's 30-year tenure is the second-longest for a Wake Forest coach, trailing only Jesse Haddock's 32-year tenure leading the Demon Deacon men's golf program from 1960 to 1976 and 1978 to 1992. In 2010, she was honored as the Dianne Dailey Learning Center, a state-of-the-art training center for the men's and women's golf programs, was named for her.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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