American Athletic Conference Associate Commissioner Danielle Donehew named WBCA Executive Director
From the WBCA:
American Athletic Conference Associate Commissioner Danielle Donehew has been named Executive Director of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, WBCA President Sue Semrau announced today.
Donehew becomes only the third person to lead the association since it was founded in 1981. Donehew fills the vacancy created by the resignation of WBCA CEO Beth Bass in April. She will assume her duties full time on Aug. 1.
The change in title from CEO to Executive Director, which it was from 1981 to 1996, better reflects the position’s role as a leader of a nonprofit association rather than a for-profit company.
“On behalf of the entire WBCA Executive Committee, I am excited to announce Danielle Donehew as the next Executive Director of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association,” said Semrau, who is head coach at Florida State University. “We are very fortunate to have an individual with Danielle’s administrative experience, as well as her knowledge of and passion for the sport, as our new leader.”
Donehew has been the Associate Commissioner for Women’s Basketball in the American Athletic Conference since 2013, serving as the primary conference leader for women’s basketball initiatives. Her responsibilities include managing the Conference’s regular season scheduling and television processes for women’s basketball; representing and promoting the interests of American women’s basketball programs at the national level with NCAA, corporate, and television partners; and administering the annual American Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament.
Donehew is also vice chair and a founding board member on the NCAA Women’s Collegiate Basketball Officiating, LLC, with the purpose to improve college basketball officiating, increase the level of accountability, and enhance the level of consistency during the regular season and postseason competition.
Prior to her position at the American, Donehew served as Associate Commissioner for Women’s Basketball for the Big East Conference from 2009 to 2013.
“I am honored and extremely excited to be selected as the new Executive Director of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association,” said Donehew. “I have been a supporter of and advocate for the WBCA since learning of the association by participating in its camps while in high school.
“I am deeply grateful to WBCA President Sue Semrau, Vice President Coquese Washington, the entire WBCA Executive Committee, and the members of the search committee for the confidence and trust they are placing in me to lead this wonderful organization.”
“We had many outstanding applicants and the screening process was extremely difficult,” said Washington, who chaired the search committee that recommended Donehew “but we are confident in our decision that Danielle is uniquely qualified to lead the association.”
Donehew has worked at multiple levels in the game including the WNBA. In 2007, she served as consultant to a private investment group of community leaders in Atlanta to build the business case to bring a WNBA franchise to the city and later named Executive Vice President for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream expansion team.
Prior to joining the Atlanta Dream, Donehew spent seven years (2001-2008) working directly with legendary head coach Pat Summitt and the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball program, serving as a graduate assistant and later as Assistant Athletics Director for Basketball Operations, where she continued her mastery of operational duties with a larger role in the area of donor relations.
In 2013, Donehew was named an ACC Legend for her contributions to Georgia Tech and the Atlantic Coast Conference during her collegiate basketball career from 1996–2001. In 2009, Georgia Tech recognized her with the Woman Out Front Award.
Donehew continues to give back to athletics and the community through her service on non-profit boards. She is a co-founder and Advisory Board Member of the Pat Summitt Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing awareness and funding to the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Donehew also serves on the Board of Directors for Athletes for a Better World, which selects the John Wooden Citizenship Cup winners annually.
Donehew is a native of Atlanta, where she played in four Georgia High School Association final fours and won two state championships for Sequoyah High School in Cherokee County.
Donehew holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech and a master’s degree in Sport Management from the University of Tennessee.
Betty F. Jaynes was named the WBCA’s first executive director on Sept. 1, 1981. Her title was changed to CEO in September 1996. Bass succeeded Jaynes as CEO on Nov. 1, 2001. Jaynes died on Feb. 10, 2014.
