Milwaukee's Botham To Be Inducted Into WBCA Hall of Fame

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Feb. 16, 2011) - Sandy Botham, head women's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a player, the WBCA has announced.

Botham, who played her prep career at Madison West High School and collegiately at Notre Dame, will be honored at the hall of fame ceremony in October. She is one of four women's players to be inducted this year and a part of a 28-member class that represents players, coaches, officials and friends of the sport.

"I truly appreciate being recognized and selected into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame," Botham said. "There have been so many outstanding recipients of this award in years past and to be listed among them is truly an honor."

Botham was a three-sport standout at Madison West, leading the basketball team to three-straight state tournaments. As a sophomore, she was a part of a team that won a Wisconsin State Championship. As a senior, she averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. She also excelled in volleyball and softball for West and was inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Botham later starred for four years at Notre Dame, being named all-conference four times with all-conference first-team honors in each of her last three seasons. When she graduated, she was second in school history in scoring and rebounds and was among the top four in five other categories. A member of UND's 1,000-point club, Botham finished with 1,460 career points and 774 rebounds. She remains in the top 10 in all seven of those categories.

"I have been blessed to have had so many wonderful opportunities through the sport of basketball," Botham said. "The education I received, the places I have gone, the people that I have met and the lessons I have learned because of my basketball abilities is something that I will always treasure. The achievements during my playing career are not what I am most proud of - it is the wonderful people that I have become friends and associates with over the years that make me most proud. "

After her playing career, she returned to the floor as a coach, first as an assistant with the Fighting Irish and later as head coach at Beloit College. She guided the Buccaneers to the NCAA Division III Tournament second round in her only season before taking the reins of the Milwaukee program.

In 14-plus season the helm of the Milwaukee women's basketball team, Botham has continually guided the team to the top of the Horizon League and onto the cusp of postseason competition. She has consistently kept UWM in the thick of the league title chase, including second-place-or-better finishes eight times since 1999.

The Horizon League's all-time leader in league wins (148), Botham has led the Panthers to league championships and NCAA Tournament bids in 2001 and 2006. The 2006 squad set school Division I records for wins in a season (22) and consecutive wins (12). She has coached five league players of the year and been named league coach of the year three times. In her first season, UWM won 12 more games than the previous years, one of the most prolific improvements in the nation that season.

Botham has compiled a 233-201 mark at UWM, including a 148-87 mark in league contests.

Courtesy of Kevin Conway, Milwaukee Sports Information