Dr. Maryalyce Jeremiah

	Position: Head Coach (13th Season at CSF, 29th Overall)
	Alma Mater: Cedarville University '65

A fixture on the Cal State Fullerton campus as a coach, administrator, teacher and mentor for student-athletes for the past quarter century, Head Coach Dr. Maryalyce Jeremiah enters her 13th and final season at the helm of the Titans' women's basketball program in 2008-09.

Stepping aside at the end of the season after 29 years as a head coach, the winningest women's basketball coach in the history of Cal State Fullerton has accomplished a lot during her tenure, bringing the Titans' program into the national spotlight during her first seven seasons as head coach and then authoring its rebirth over the last five seasons after an 11-year hiatus.

Dr. Jeremiah was hired in 2003 for her second term as Cal State Fullerton's head coach, returning to the bench after serving as the athletic department's Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator, responsible for overseeing the athletic department's academics program, assisting with departmental planning and financial forecasting and supervising volleyball, gymnastics, women's basketball and softball.

Her return to the sidelines has re-energized the program as the Titans improved from just seven wins the season prior to her return to 16 wins in 2006-07 - the most for the Cal State Fullerton program since Dr. Jeremiah guided the Titans to a school-record 25-8 overall record and a berth in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1991. She has led Fullerton to three consecutive seasons of double-digit wins and 55 victories overall (an average of 11 wins per season) in the last five seasons after Fullerton amassed just 72 combined wins in the 11 years without her prowling the sidelines.

In the process of rebuilding the Titans, Dr. Jeremiah experienced a couple of personal milestones, becoming the winningest coach in Cal State Fullerton women's basketball history on Nov. 11, 2006. She surpassed legendary Hall of Fame Head Coach Billie Moore's total with the 141st victory of her Fullerton career against San Jose State in the season opener.

In 2008, the Toledo, Ohio, native was also honored as one of 22 inductees into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame & Museum, joining such notables as Jim Cleamons, Frank Howard, Bob Huggins, Neil Johnston, Semeka Randall, and Larry Siegfried among others.

"It is an extra special honor to be selected for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame of the State of Ohio where I was born and raised," Dr. Jeremiah said upon the announcement of her induction.

"To be included in such a famous group of athletes and coaches simply for doing what I have loved all my life is as exciting as it gets for me. Words cannot express the pride and gratitude that I feel being a part of Ohio's great basketball tradition in this way."

It was the second hall of fame honor she has received in her storied career as she was also one of four charter members inducted into her alma mater's (Cedarville) athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 19, 1984.

One of the winningest active coaches in the nation entering the 2008-09 season (No. 32 with 430 career victories), Dr. Jeremiah has twice (1988 and 1991) been named the Big West Conference's Coach of the Year while also earning the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's District 8 Coach of the Year Award in 1991.

During her tenure, Jeremiah has coached 11 players to 17 All-Big West awards (nine of those first-team selections), eight Big West All-Freshman Team selections, four Big West Freshmen of the Year, six Big West All-Tournament Team selections, a Big West Tournament MVP, a Big West Player of the Year, and one Kodak All-American.

Cal State Fullerton continued its steady improvement under Dr. Jeremiah's direction in 2007-08, posting an 11-19 overall record and its third consecutive .500 season in Big West play at 8-8.

Fullerton advanced past the first round of the conference tournament for the second straight year, defeating Long Beach State in the opening round before falling to two-time defending tournament champion UC Riverside in the quarterfinals.

Toni Thomas was the league's leading scorer for the second straight season and was named to the All-Big West First Team for the second time. Freshmen Lauren Chow and Ashley Richie also earned all-conference honors after being named to the league's honorable mention and all-freshman squads. In addition, Chow was named the league's Freshman of the Year.

In 2006-07, Dr. Jeremiah guided a very experienced Fullerton roster to the program's most wins in over a decade and double-digit win totals in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1996-98.

In the process, Toni Thomas (First Team) and Charlee Underwood (Second Team) were both named to the All-Big West squads and advanced her squad to the Big West Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1995.

In her first season back on the sidelines, the Titans posted a 9-20 overall record and an 8-10 mark in Big West play in 2003-04 - the most overall victories since 1997-98 and the most Big West wins in nine years. That season, senior Tamara Quinn earned second-team all-conference honors (the first Titan to make the first or second team since 1996-97) and Underwood was named to the league's All-Freshman team (the third Titan in the last four years to earn a spot on the team).

After a steady 8-20 season (6-12 in the Big West) in 2004-05, Fullerton experienced its best season in 11 years, going 11-17 overall in 2005-06 and finishing in a four-way tie for third place (after being selected by both the media and coaches to finish sixth at the league's annual preseason media day) in the Big West Conference. The 11 overall victories were the most since the 1994-95 squad won 14 games and the third-place finish was the highest non-divisional conference finish since the NCAA Tournament team of 1990-91 also finished third. A pair of Titans earned all-conference honors for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign as senior Amber Pruitt and freshman Toni Thomas were voted to the second team while Thomas capped a stellar rookie season by becoming only the third Cal State Fullerton player to be named the Big West Freshman of the Year.

Dr. Jeremiah also reached a significant coaching milestone in 2005-06, earning her 400th career coaching victory thanks to a one-point, 62-61, win over arch-rival Long Beach State at Titan Gym on Feb. 4, 2006.

Prior to leaving the bench for her administrative position, Dr. Jeremiah was head coach of the Titans from 1985-92, posting a 112-93 (.546) overall record and a 70-52 (.574) record in Big West play. She led Cal State Fullerton to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in 1989 and 1991 with All-American center and Big West Player of the Year Eugenia Miller-Rycraw leading the way.

Dr. Jeremiah led Fullerton to its best season ever in 1991 as the Titans posted a school-record 25 wins and a trip into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. That season, Cal State Fullerton upset national powerhouse Louisiana Tech, 84-80, at Titan Gym before falling to Stanford, 91-67, in Palo Alto. The Titans finished ranked 29th nationally in the final USA Today poll and finished 14-4 (third place) in the Big West Conference.

Two years prior to that, Dr. Jeremiah guided the Titans to a 21-9 mark (12-6 in the Big West) and the school's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1989, eventually falling to Montana, 82-67, in the first round.

Following that season, Dr. Jeremiah signed a three-year contract to continue coaching the Titans - the first head coach of a women's sport at Cal State Fullerton to sign a multi-year contract.

Dr. Jeremiah's administrative career began in 1991-92 when she served as Fullerton's interim senior woman administrator while coaching her final season. She served as chairperson of the NCAA Div. I Women's Basketball Committee for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons after serving on the committee the previous two years. She has been a member of the Big West Conference Athletics Council and served on Cal State Fullerton's Academic Senate executive committee and university planning committee.

Prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, Dr. Jeremiah began a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Issues Committee.

Dr. Jeremiah brought a wealth of coaching experience and knowledge to the Titan program after serving as head coach at Indiana for five seasons from 1980-85. She opened her career with the Hoosiers with a 21-16 record in 1980-81 and was named the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year and District 5 Coach of the Year following the 1982-83 season after guiding the Hoosiers to a 19-11 overall record and the only regular season conference championship in school history with a 15-3 record (shared with Ohio State). The Hoosiers advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen that season, defeating Kentucky in the first round before falling to Georgia. Indiana finished tied for third and fourth in the Big Ten in her final two seasons.

Dr. Jeremiah averaged 18 wins a season with Indiana, compiling a 90-63 overall record and a 37-17 mark in Big Ten play. She coached seven First-team All-Big Ten selections during her career with the Hoosiers, including the 1983 Big Ten Freshman of the Year (Linda Cunningham).

Prior to Indiana, Dr. Jeremiah spent two standout seasons at the University of Dayton, posting a stellar 69-5 overall record and helping lead the Flyers to the AIAW Division II National Championship in 1980 and a national runner-up finish in 1979. Dayton was also two-time MAIAW Regional and OAISW State Champions under Dr. Jeremiah, who was also named the AIAW National Coach of the Year in 1980.

Her head coaching career at the college level began in 1970 at her alma mater, Cedarville University in Ohio, where she posted a 104-77 record in nine seasons. Dr. Jeremiah led the Yellow Jackets to the AIAW National Tournament in 1970 and a state championship in 1973. Cedarville was state runner-up in 1972 and advanced to the MAIAW Regional Tournament in 1972 and 1973.

Among the many honors Jeremiah has won is the Carol Eckman Award in 1990, presented annually by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to the coach who best represents sportsmanship and ethics in the coaching profession. She was selected Big West Conference and District 8 Coach of the Year after her 25-8 season in 1990-91.

Jeremiah coached the North team at the National Sports Festival in 1983 and has authored two books: "Coaching Basketball: Ten Winning Concepts" and "Basketball: The Women's Game."

Dr. Jeremiah has earned several academic achievements over her lifetime including undergraduate degrees from Cedarville University (1965), where she played basketball for three seasons, and from nearby Central State University (1965). She then went on to earn her master's degree (1967) and a Ph.D. (1973) in physical education from The Ohio State University.