When Nell Fortner became the fifth head coach in Auburn women's basketball history on April 22, 2004, she brought with her a unique blend of experience that she has used to lay a foundation for the Auburn program as she dedicated and achieved her goal of bringing the Tigers back into the national spotlight. As an Olympic and World Championship gold medal coach, a well-respected television analyst and a sought after motivational speaker, and with head coaching experience at all levels, Fortner has one of the most complete resumes in women's basketball. Since arriving at Auburn, Fortner has taken the team from a 16-13 record during her first season to a 30-4 record and a Southeastern Conference championship during the 2008-09 season. She accomplished the feat by focusing on recruiting in-state as all five starters of the 2008-09 team hailed from the state of Alabama, making them the only top-25 team to hold that distinction. During her time at Auburn, Fortner has tallied a 101-57 record for a .639 winning percentage. She has a 35-35 mark in SEC games. For her efforts following the 2008-09 season, she was named the SEC Coach of the Year, Russell Athletic/WBCA Region III Coach of the Year and the Basketball Times National Coach of the Year. Fortner's players have also flourished as DeWanna Bonner was named SEC Player of the Year and a State Farm/WBCA First-Team All-American. Whitney Boddie was named an honorable mention State Farm/WBCA All-American and was an All-SEC First Team selection after leading the nation in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. Both went on to be selected in the 2009 WNBA Draft, Bonner going fifth overall to the Phoenix Mercury. After missing the postseason her first two seasons at Auburn, Fortner took the Tigers to the WNIT quarterfinals in her third season and made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament in the next two seasons. She has coached the Tigers to three-straight 20-win seasons and a 30-win season, Auburn's first in 20 years. During that time she has produced six All-SEC selections, including four on the first team. Fortner's impact at Auburn is much more than just on the court. She is a staple in the Auburn/Opelika area and is well-known through her community service efforts and public speaking. The Jackson, Miss., native also travels around the country for numerous speaking engagements including the Tucson Duramed FUTURES Golf Classic, which was held in May in Tucson, Ariz., and at the USOC in Colorado Springs at the "Women in Coaching" convention in September. In addition to her work in the community, Fortner's reach is global. During her first season on the Plains, she was named as the spokesperson for the Auburn University War on Hunger in conjunction with the World Food Programme and continues in her commitment to the program. Against LSU in 2005, the team worked alongside the campus World Food Programme to host "This One's For The Girls", which raised nearly $3,000 for the WFP and 2,406 pounds of food for the East Alabama Food Bank. In its second season, "This One's For The Girls", versus Florida on Feb. 19, 2006, brought in enough change from fans in attendance to feed more than 2,600 children. On the national scene, Fortner is most frequently recognized by coaching Team USA to the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics. As the USA coach from 1997 to 2000, Fortner led the squad to a 101-14 record (which in addition to the Olympic gold medal included a 1998 World Championship gold medal) during that time, the most wins of any coach in Women's USA Basketball history. For her efforts, Fortner was named the 2000 USA Basketball Coach of the Year. In 1999, Fortner was named the head coach of the WNBA's Indiana Fever and was later appointed the head coach and general manager, a position she held for three years. In order to complete her commitment to USA Basketball, the Fever granted Fortner the time necessary and joined the team for the 2001 season. While with the Fever, Fortner led the team to a 42-56 record and the 2002 WNBA Eastern Conference playoffs. Fortner's tour with USA Basketball did not begin in the 2000 season. Starting in the summer of 1995, Fortner served as an assistant to 1996 Olympic coach Tara VanDerveer, helping lead the team to a 52-0 run. Included in that run was an 8-0 ledger in the Olympic games, which culminated with a gold medal. Fortner's duties as an assistant included overseeing the national team's strength and conditioning program, the development of perimeter players and scouting of opponents and video game analysis. Fortner's resume as a collegiate head coach is just as impressive as she led the Purdue squad to a share of the Big Ten regular season title in 1997 with a team that returned just four players. The first-year coach was named the National Coach of the Year by Basketball Times and was awarded Big Ten Coach of the Year honors for her efforts. That season, the Boilermakers played to a 12-4 conference mark and a 17-11 overall record, as well as a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Fortner served as an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore at Louisiana Tech from 1991-95. During those five seasons, the Lady Techsters went 123-37 and made five consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament and a National Championship game appearance in 1994. Including the 1997 season, collegiate teams associated with Fortner made nine consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament and tallied a 10-year record of 252-66 (.792) during that time. After graduating from Texas, Fortner took on responsibilities as the head girl's basketball coach at Killeen High School in Texas. From there, she served as a graduate assistant at Stephen F. Austin in 1987 while completing her Master's degree in education and was then promoted to a full-time assistant, where she served from 1988-90. While at SFA, the Ladyjacks played to an 87-12 record and attended three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2007, Fortner was honored by Stephen F. Austin with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Fortner graduated from the University of Texas in 1982, playing for mentor, and Hall of Fame coach, Jody Conradt for the 1978-81 seasons. As a player, Fortner helped guide the Longhorns to a 127-26 record during her four seasons and led Texas to its first national ranking in women's basketball and a seventh-place finish at the AIAW National Tournament. While at Texas, Fortner scored 1,466 points, which remains near the top of the scoring leaders list at UT. The multi-sport athlete also played middle hitter for the Texas volleyball team and helped lead the Longhorns to the 1981 AIAW national championship. In 1978, Fortner was a part of the silver medal-winning U.S. Olympic Festival South Team, averaging 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. In November of 2001, Fortner was appointed to the University of Texas Women's Athletics Wall of Honor and the Texas Hall of Fame. Prior to coming to The Plains, Fortner offered her talents to ESPN as a studio analyst, which included covering the NCAA Tournament and was then expanded to WNBA coverage, which she currently contributes to. A native of Jackson, Miss., Fortner is the proud owner of four dogs, Chip, a yorkshire terrier/chihuahua mix, Jena, a yellow lab, Grady, a black lab and Tate, a hound mix. |
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