Philly women’s basketball greats Marianne Stanley and Theresa Grentz enshrined in Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Back when Theresa Grentz (nee Shank) was at Immaculata College, she was the dominant women’s collegiate player of her era, winning three national championships, and had Sports Illustrated calling her the female Bill Walton, UCLA’s dominant player.

That was when women’s basketball stories were a rarity in the popular national sports publication.

At dinner one night, Grentz was asked her reaction to the tribute.

“Yeah, well, he’s going to be a millionaire, and l might get a couple of extra SEPTA tokens out of it,” she quipped.

Walton was in Symphony Hall here Saturday night as a past Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honoree.

So was Grentz, reaching full equivalency and joined by her Immaculata teammate Marianne Stanley (nee Crawford) as part of the inductee class of 2022.

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Grentz was the center, while Stanley was the feisty Philly point guard, know for her scrambling and diving all over the hardwood while quarterbacking the offense.

Grentz gained induction a player from the women’s veterans committee, while Stanley came out of the regular women’s committee, cited for coaching three national championships at Old Dominion and being on the sidelines in the WNBA.

Presenters chosen by Grentz were former 76ers star Charles Barkley, her Immaculata coach Cathy Rush, and recently retired Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, opting for a Philly flavor among her picks from past inductees.

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Stanley picked Rush and two of her former players in Southern Cal star and WNBA all-timer Lisa Leslie and Old Dominion’s Nancy Lieberman, who this week recalled the scene when her new coach arrived in Norfolk, Va.

“When she came my sophomore year, all I wanted to do was be a sponge,” Lieberman said. “Because I was playing the point guard position.

“And anybody that won three national championships in college, I wanted to know what she knew.”

Grentz easily could have earned her status as a coach, leading Rutgers to a Top 10 residence in the weekly Associated Press rankings besides leading the Scarlet Knights to the 1982 AIAW national title. Stanley could have been a no-brainer pick as a player.

Rush referred to Grentz as a “transformative player of her generation,” in the introductory video before Grentz’s acceptance speech.

Noting family members in the audience, Grentz said, “My mom, Chris Shank, at 92 years of age, is here tonight. We made it, Mom. I love you, Mom.

“Going into the hall with my college teammate, Marianne Crawford Stanley, is surreal,” Grentz said, adding taht the only other teammates who entered the hall the same night werea guy named Wooden and Purdue star Charles Murphy.

“We are in good company,” Grentz said.

Of her presenters, Grentz called Rush “ahead of her time,” while she called Stringer, a colleague and longtime friend, someone “who shares the same drive for providing equality and opportunities for girls and women in our sport.”

Referring to the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation that boosted women’s sports, Grentz said her presenters had a common theme “promoting opportunities, equality, and advancement for girls and women.”

Barkley, “a Philly guy and 76er” and longtime friend from Nike trips, Grentz praised his TV commercials. She pointed out one where a young girl is selecting the teams from a group of players on an outdoor basketball court.

“Now that is progress. … Thank you Charles,” she said.

She called the sport “the game I loved. I had found my passion.”

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Title IX changed things for her, she said.

“When things do change, you must be ready to meet the challenges of the day,” she said. “Don’t ever sell yourself short.

“There will always be obstacles in your path. You just need to follow your dreams and never allow those impediments to become stumbling blocks but rather make them stepping stones to reach your goals.”

In delving into her thank-yous, she began, saying, “no one gets her alone.”

Among her Rutgers players here were UConn assistant women’s coach Chris Dailey, Sue Wicks, Kristen Foley, the team captain; and the twin sister combo of Mary Klinger (nee Coyle) and Patty Coyle.

“The difficult we do immediately, and the impossible will take a little longer,” she said of her accomplishments with the Mighty Macs.

Stanley got a bit emotional while noting the great stars she coached, looked to the sky, and said, “Anne Donovan, we love you.”

The 6-foot-8 Hall of Famer who played on one of the Lady Monarchs champions passed away in 2018 at the age of 57 following a brilliant career that included gold medals in international competition.

The entire Mighty Macs program earned past Hall of Fame acclaim in the team category for the championship run from 1972-74.

Grentz and Stanley were joined here by two other women’s basketball sensations among the class — New Orleans Pelicans executive Swin Cash, and Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Whalen.

Cash, was an All-star forward on championship teams in Seattle and Detroit who finished her career in New York. As a collegian, the Pittsburgh native was part of one the great UConn runs under Norristown’s Geno Auriemma, a previous Naismith inductee.

Auriemma was one of the presenters for Cash, who also claimed Olympic gold.

Whalen, a point guard, excelled on WNBA Minnesota Lynx championship teams and led the University of Minnesota to a Final Four as a player. She now is the head coach at her alma mater.

Barkley and reigning NCAA champion coach and North Philly native Dawn Staley, two of Whalen’s role models, were chosen by the Minneapolis native as her presenters.

Staley was seated next to retired Villanova coach Jay Wright, who was inducted last year.

Retired Notre Dame coach and former Saint Joseph’s star Muffet McGraw is also a past inductee among inductees from women’s basketball with ties to the City of Brotherly Love.

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Former La Salle star Cheryl Reeve, the coach of the USA National Team and Lynx, made it across the country from an exhibition game Friday night in Las Vegas as Team USA prepares for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup to be here for Whalen, whom she coached to four titles with the Lynx .

Saturday night’s inductees from the men’s game included two-time NBA All-Star and four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili, five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, two-time NCAA National Coach of the Year Bob Huggins, the NBA’s sixth-winningest coach of all-time George Karl, and longtime NBA referee Hugh Evans.

Direct-elect enshrines besides Grentz included Lou Hudson from the Veterans Committee, Larry Costello and Del Harris from the Contributor Committee, Wyatt “Sony” Boswell, Inman Jackson, and Albert “Runt” Pullins from the Early African American Pioneer Committee, and Radivoj Korac from the International Committee.