Suzie McConnell-Serio

Suzie McConnell-Serio (born July 29, 1966 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a women's basketball coach and former player in the United States. She is currently the Head Coach for the women's basketball team at Duquesne University.

Career

McConnell-Serio attended Seton-La Salle Catholic High School, leading the Lady Rebels
to the PIAA State Championship in 1984. She graduated from Penn State University in 1988.

Before joining the Lynx, McConnell-Serio served as head coach of the girls basketball team at Oakland Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for 13 years, from 1991-2003. During that time, her teams won 3 PIAA state championships (1993, 2001, 2003), were runners-up twice (2000-2002), and won five consecutive district championships (1999-2003). On December 17, 2002, Suzie reached a coaching milestone with her 300th win. She finished her high school coaching career after the 2002-2003 season with a 321-86 record.

She also played in the WNBA. The former point guard played three seasons with the Cleveland Rockers (1998-2000). As a first-year player in 1998, she earned WNBA Newcomer of the Year and All-WNBA First Team honors after averaging 8.6 ppg and 6.4 apg (second in the league). She was a two-time winner of the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award (1998 and 2000), and finished her professional career with averages of 6.4 ppg and 4.6 apg in 81 contests.

In January 2003, McConnell-Serio returned to the WNBA as head coach of the Minnesota Lynx and took a team that finished 10-22 in the previous season to an 18-16 record and first-ever playoff appearance.

One year later, she took a team picked to finish last in the Western Conference by a number of preseason publications and made a return trip to the playoffs and in the process was named the 2004 WNBA Coach of the Year. The '04 Lynx, who earned a franchise-best #3 seed in the WNBA Western Conference, tied franchise records for wins (18), home victories (11) and road wins (7) all set in McConnell-Serio's first season. In addition, Minnesota enjoyed a franchise record six-game winning streak.

However, the Lynx struggled in the 2005 and 2006 season, and she resigned at mid-season on July 23, 2006.

Prior to her professional playing career, McConnell Serio won two Olympic medals. She was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's basketball team in the 1988 Summer Olympics, and earned a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

She also won a gold medal at the 1991 World University Games. She won the 2004 WNBA Coach of the Year Award. In 1999, "Sports Illustrated" magazine named her one of the Top 50 Athletes of the Century in the state of Pennsylvania.

On April 2007, she was named the Head Coach at Duquesne University.

Married to Pete Serio. Four kids Peter 17, Jordan 13, Mandy 12, and Madison 11. They all play basketball.

McConnell-Serio is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She was inducted into Hall on June 14, 2008, at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Television Appearances

Suzie appeared as a guest in episode #1604 "Fun and Games" of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
In the episode, Mister Rogers demonstrates a game based on the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, then gets a basketball lesson from Olympic gold medalist Suzie McConnell. Suzie also fed Mister Rogers' fish, prompting Mister Rogers to say, "Ok Fish, you got your food from Suzie McConnell today!"

External links

* [http://www.wnba.com/coachfile/suzie_mcconnell_serio/index.html?nav=page WNBA Profile]
* [http://www.wnba.com/lynx/features/mcconnellserio_chat040819.html WNBA chat transcript]
* [http://goduquesne.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/mcconnellserio_suzie00.html Duquesne University coaching profile]
* [http://goduquesne.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/041307aai.html Duquesne University press release on her being named the Head Coach]
* [http://www.wbhof.com Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]