Athletics Directory
Janice Quinn
Women’s Basketball
Head Coach
Telephone: 998-2033
Email: jq1@nyu.edu
Janice Quinn has spent 20 seasons patrolling the sidelines as New York University's head women's basketball coach. And, in each of those seasons, she has produced nothing but winners.
Last season was no exception, as the Violets finished 27-4 overall, shared the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship with a 12-2 record, and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, the 13th time NYU has qualified for the tournament during the Quinn era.
Individually, sophomore Jessica McEntee became Quinn’s seventh Kodak All-American and her fifth UAA Player of the Year.
Promoted to Associate Director of Athletics prior to the 2001-02 season, Quinn has established herself as one of the top coaches in the country at any level.
In each of her 20 seasons, Quinn's teams have posted winning records. Her Violets have won at least 20 games 15 times, including 13 consecutive seasons from 1992-93 to 2004-05. Quinn’s teams have produced a 439-116 (.791) overall record and a 201-74 (.731) mark in the UAA. She recorded her milestone 400th win on December 6, 2005, vs. Mount St. Mary College (55-49).
After assuming the NYU head coach position in 1987 following four years as a player and two years as an assistant, Quinn immediately stated one simple goal: to win the national championship. In 1997, she made good on that vow.
In a career full of highlights, that 1996-97 championship season stands out among the rest. That year, the Violets capped off a near-perfect 29-1 (.967) season with a thrilling, 72-70, buzzer-beating win in the national title game over the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on the team’s homecourt, the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center. Quinn received Coach of the Year accolades from Women's DIII News, the Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association and the Converse Basketball Coaches’ Association of New York. Quinn and her assistants were also named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
"The road to the national championship will always stand out as a highlight of my journey here at NYU," Quinn revealed.
Quinn's Violets followed up their national championship season with a 22-5 record in '97-98, advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the sixth consecutive season. In
‘98-99, the Violets advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight and set a Division III record in the process with their seventh-consecutive appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. That squad finished with a 24-4 overall record, including a 12-2 UAA mark.
In 2001-02, the Bay Shore, NY, native, led the Violets to a 26-2 record (including 13 straight wins to begin the season), the UAA Co-Championship and another appearance in the Elite Eight. Quinn was again named Division III Women's Coach of the Year by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association and by the Basketball Coaches’ Association of New York. Quinn recorded her 300th career win on February 13, 2001 vs. York College (79-55).
In 2003-04, the Violets went 23-4, won the UAA Co-Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen. Quinn and her assistants were named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year, while she was again awarded Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association Division III Coach of the Year honors.
From the very beginning of her association with NYU, Quinn began leaving an indelible mark. As a junior in 1983-84, she captained her teammates to a 16-10 record (its first winning record since 1961-62). The next year, Quinn was named the team's MVP and Best All-Around Player as the Violets recorded their first-ever 20-win season (20-9).
Before she capped her playing career, Quinn had become the first 1,000-point scorer (1,137) in the history of the women's program. She graduated with honors in economics in 1985, and went on to earn a master's degree in finance from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service and the Stern School of Business.
As an NYU player, assistant coach and head coach for the past 26 seasons, Quinn's teams have won 529 games, accounting for over 72% of the victories since the program's inception in 1923. A 1993 NYU Hall of Fame inductee, Quinn is the winningest coach in NYU women's basketball history. The NYU teams she has been associated with have recorded all 17 of the University’s 20-win seasons and have made all 15 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances.
In Quinn's first year as head coach (1987-88), the team set a then-school record with 21 wins. Her second team was 18-9, advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, and grabbed a three-way share of first-place in the UAA. In 1994-95, Quinn took an inexperienced, injury-riddled team to a 23-5 record. With the women's NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams, the Violets won two tournament games to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive year. The Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association honored her as their 1994-95 Division III Coach of the Year.
The 1995-96 Violets reeled off four NCAA Tournament wins and advanced to the Final Four before losing to eventual national champion University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. That squad was the first NYU women's team to reach the Final Four. Quinn and her assistants were named UAA Co-Coaching Staff of the Year. Quinn was also named Columbus Multimedia East Region Coach of the Year and Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Division III Coach of the Year.
The 1999-00 season marked the first time that Quinn's team did not make the NCAA Tournament in seven years, despite their regular-season record of 20-5. However, the Violets went on to win the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro Tournament Championship.
A six-time Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association Coach of the Year and four-time NY State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year, Quinn was also honored in 1998 as the Metropolitan Basketball Officials’ Association Sportsman of the Year.
Quinn, who has also served as a volunteer in the Children's Storefront mentoring program and the New York Cares community outreach program, is one of six children (she has four brothers and one sister), and resides in Manhattan.