Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2012
Joe McKeown is widely recognized as one of the top women's college basketball coaches in the game. A record five-time winner of the Atlantic 10's Coach of the Year Award (1991, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2007) and two-time National Coach of the Year nominee (1995, 1997), McKeown is George Washington's all-time winningest coach in terms of wins (441) and winning percentage (.741), as his teams averaged over 23 wins in his 19 seasons from 1989 to 2008. In 1991-92, he led the Colonials to a national ranking of 6th, the highest ranking for any women's program in the history of GW athletics. From 1991 to 1998, the team posted eight consecutive 20-win seasons, including five A-10 titles. His 1996-97 team, which advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, won 22 consecutive games during the season and finished the Atlantic 10 portion of its schedule with a perfect 16-0 record. In 2007, he led the team to a 28-4 record, with a perfect 14-0 conference mark, and broke the school record with an .875 winning percentage. McKeown is now a successful head coach at Northwestern University.
The 34th coach in NCAA history to win 500 or more games, McKeown led his Colonials to 15 NCAA tournament appearances, where they won their first-round game 13 times. He won the Atlantic 10 regular season or tournament title in 14 of his 19 seasons at GW, and in his career has coached 17 players who went on to play professionally, including five WNBA draft picks.
Equally as impressive as GW's success on the court under McKeown was its outstanding performance in the classroom. During McKeown's tenure, George Washington players received Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference recognition 17 times and eight players were named CoSIDA academic all-district selections, with three Academic All-Americans. McKeown also coached a Rhodes Scholar nominee and a Fulbright Scholarship winner. Other former student-athletes under McKeown's guidance include a GW School of Business Distinguished Scholar Award, an NCAA Woman of the Year representative and two Atlantic 10 Student-Athletes of the Year.
