Springfield, Mass. – August 7, 2025 – Earlier this summer, women's basketball pioneer Lucille Kyvallos '55 was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Kyvallos, a 1955 graduate of Springfield College, was inducted alongside Alanda Beard, Cappie Pondexter, Danielle Donehew, Mark Campbell, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles inside the historic Tennessee Theater. Kyvallos was also selected for induction into the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2017.

During her time at Springfield, she developed the foundational skills and passion for the game that would later define her groundbreaking coaching career. The college's emphasis on physical education and leadership deeply influenced Kyvallos' lifelong commitment to advancing opportunities for women in sports.

Kyvallos began her career as the head coach at West Chester State College from 1962-1966 producing an incredible record of 52-2 before heading to Queens College in New York. In 1968, Kyvallos, who emerged as a key figure in the Title IX movement, helping to elevate women's basketball onto the national sports media stage, was named the head coach at Queens College (NY) and went on to win 259 games with the Knights spending 13 seasons on the sidelines in New York.

While at Queens College, the Knights were ranked among the top-ten teams nationally and in 1973, Queens hosted the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championship Tournament in front of a packed Fitzgerald Gymnasium, which would earn the sport the popularity it truly needed spreading the attention in New York City, including Madison Square Garden (MSG). Ultimately, Kyvallos' 1972-73 team was the first women's basketball team to be inducted into New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

Two years later, on February 22, 1975, MSG invited Queens College and Immaculata to play the first-ever collegiate women's basketball game at the world's most famous arena, which was attended by nearly 12,000 fans who came out to witness the historic event. 

In 1977, Kyvallos was selected as the head coach of the United States women's basketball team at the World University Games in Sofia, Bulgaria. She would lead Team USA to a silver medal, losing only to the Soviet Union in the gold medal game. Kyvallos also served on the United States Olympic Committee from 1969 to 1972 and from 1974 to 1976.

A trailblazer for women's basketball, she would receive many honors over her career, including Lady Champion's "Coach of the Year" award, Women Sports's "The Coach You Would Want to Play For" title, recognition from the New York State Resolutions and New York City Proclamations for her role in women's basketball at the college level. In 2015, she was awarded the Joe Lapchick Character Award, which recognizes those who have demonstrated honorable character throughout their basketball careers.

Release Courtesy of Queens College Athletics and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

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