Revered women's coach Ryan retires

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Debbie Ryan, who built Virginia's women's basketball program into a perennial NCAA Tournament team and overcame pancreatic cancer, has resigned after 34 years and 736 victories.

Ryan's resignation is effective at the end of the season. The Cavaliers (16-15) are not expected to make the NCAA field, but they will host first- and second-round games. Ryan, 58, is hoping to receive a WNIT invitation.

"I am not retiring per se, but I feel we have not lived up to my own standards and expectations this past year and I want to do what is best for our program and the university," Ryan said in a release yesterday.

Ryan, a former point guard, ran a program that produced stars such as Dawn Staley, current Cavaliers assistant coach Wendy Palmer and ACC career assists leader Sharnee Zoll. Her assistant coaches have included Geno Auriemma.

"Debbie has been one of the most influential people in my life," Auriemma said in a statement released by Connecticut. "Without the opportunity that she gave me and the support I received at the University of Virginia, my life would be totally different than it is today."

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said she will miss seeing Ryan on the bench. "Debbie Ryan is a truly remarkable person and someone I consider to be one of my best friends in the coaching profession," Summitt said. "Some of the biggest games in both of our careers were played out on the court when the Lady Vols faced the Cavaliers."

That includes the 1991 national championship game, won by Tennessee in overtime, 70-67.

Former players Staley (South Carolina), Audra Smith (UAB) and Tonya Cardoza (Temple) are college head coaches now, and former assistant Nikki Caldwell is head coach at UCLA.

Ryan, whose career record is 736-323, was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Her teams have been to 24 of the 29 women's NCAA Tournaments, including 20 in a row from 1983-2002, and made the round of 16 11 years in a row. The Cavaliers made consecutive Final Four appearances in 1990, '91 and '92.-- AP