Roanoke Sun

Women's Basketball Alums Celebrate Donna Doonan

 A group of Ferrum College women's basketball alumnae and friends gathered today at Swartz Gym to celebrate the life and legacy of Donna Doonan, who spent 29 years as Head Basketball Coach with the Panthers.

Alums and friends on hand today include Shanota Bennett, Quanita Bennett, Kathy Bocock, Kelly Caputo, Melisa Craft, Susan Dunagan, Jessica Gawor, Kelley and Kevin Goins, Karen and Bryan Harvey, Leslie and Gary Holden, Angela Hyler, Shelby Irving, Jamie Jackson, Bobby James, Kat Jennings, Pam Kelley, Monica and Bill Pullen, Melissa Talley, Dr. Bob Pohlad, Gretchen Pugh, Lynn Richmond, John Sutyak, Andra Thomas, Angela Thomas, Michelle Vandergrifth, Angie VonWergers, Cindy Waring Ross and Rusty Ross, and John Zernhelt.

Doonan passed in October 2021 after a private battle with cancer. Today, her players and friends honored her with the hanging of a sign in the Swartz Gym lobby. Those in attendance then moved to Franklin Hall's Blue Ridge Mountains Room for a luncheon and sharing of stories. Following lunch, the group met back in Swartz Gym to cheer the Ferrum women's basketball team as they took on Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival Randolph-Macon College.

A native of Wildwood, New Jersey, Doonan spent 29 seasons as Ferrum's women's basketball coach, served as Senior Woman Administrator and coached four other sports. A pioneer in women's athletics, Doonan joined the Panther coaching staff in the fall of 1976 after earning her bachelor's degree at Lynchburg College. She later went on to earn her master's degree from Lynchburg.

In her first year at Ferrum, Doonan coached women's basketball, volleyball, tennis and softball. She would later coach the men's tennis team.
When the NCAA developed the title of Senior Woman Administrator, Doonan accepted that role, and held it until her retirement in May 2005. She also taught a number of courses during her tenure within the College's Physical Education & Recreation Division. 

Doonan's 1981-82 team won the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women's State Basketball Tournament, and advanced to the round of 16 at the AIAW National Championships. Her 1994-95 team went on to win the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now the USA South Athletic Conference) Tournament, and earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III national championships. Her 2002-03 team earned a share of the Dixie regular season title. 

In Doonan's final season, 2004-05, Ferrum finished 15-12 overall and was runner-up in the USA South regular season standings with an 11-3 league record league. She closed her career with 335 wins in 29 seasons, earning Dixie/USA South Women's Basketball Coach of the Year honors in 1996 and 2003.

Doonan coached six All-Americans at Ferrum, and her players earned 30 All-Conference honors, two Conference Players of the Year and two Conference Rookies of the Year. Her players earned 42 Academic All-Conference honors, and every one of her four-year letter-winners graduated from Ferrum. She was inducted into the Ferrum College Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Doonan served four years as a member of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Committee from 1996-2000, serving as national chair in 2000. After retiring from coaching, she moved to South Florida, where she worked for the Horace Mann Insurance Company. In recent years, Doonan owned and operated Sunshine Teachers Insurance in Pompano Beach, Florida. 

Original source can be found here