University of Illinois introduces new head basketball coach Shauna Green
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — For Shauna Green, coming to the University of Illinois to coach the women’s basketball team this season fits right in with her passion for the game.
“I love to compete and seeing young women grow as people and as players,” she says.
After six amazing seasons at the University of Dayton as the head coach of the women’s team there, Shauna is bringing her sense of sportsmanship and team play to the Fighting Illini women. She led the Lady Flyers in Ohio to five Atlantic 10 regular season championships. Illini fans are hoping she can work the same magic here in the CU area, and Shauna says anything is possible.
“I believe in our system, culture and how we recruit elite student athletes, so I truly believe when you put all of these things together you will get the outcome you desire,” she says.
On the court herself since the age of 5, Shauna started playing in leagues for the YMCA and her local rec center back in Clinton, Iowa, as well as the Amateur Athletic Union.
In her own career in college basketball, Shauna is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Canisius College. As the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2012 points and second in career rebounding, Shauna was the Canisius Female Athlete of the year in 2002. The college inducted her into its College Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Canisius and a master’s degree in physical education with an emphasis on athletic administration from Loras College where she also began her coaching career as the head coach for two seasons. After short stints at Providence College and Northwestern as an assistant coach, Shauna moved to Dayton.
She follows former coach Nancy Fahey who spent 36 years with the Lady Illini. After Coach Fahey’s retirement, the University of Illinois began an enthusiastic search for a new head coach and extended the offer to Shauna.
Now she’s excited about what she can do at the U of I, not only on the court but off.
“Being able to help young women grow and prepare them to be successful people is what drives me daily,” Shauna says.
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