Jill Rankin Schneider Named A Finalist For 2011 U.S. Olympic Committee Developmental Coach Of The Year

April 4, 2012 • Colorado Springs, Colo. 

USA Basketball’s 2011 co-Developmental Coach of the Year Jill Rankin Schneider (Monterey H.S., Texas) was today announced as a finalist by the U.S. Olympic Committee for its 2011 USOC Developmental Coach of the Year Award. Three finalists were selected for each category, including National Coach of the Year, Paralympic Coach of the Year, Developmental Coach of the Year, Volunteer Coach of the Year and the Doc Councilman Science Award.

“I am so very flattered to be considered as one of the three finalists for the USOC Developmental Coach of the Year but I feel like I am the beneficiary of the talent and hard work of so many other people,” said Rankin Schneider. “I was privileged to coach an extremely talented and coachable group of young athletes who were handpicked by an experienced USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee. I was truly very fortunate to have the assistance of Coach Gail Hook and Coach Leteia Hughley, both of whom provided invaluable insight and perspective to our team. We had the support and hard work of the entire USA Basketball women’s staff who videotaped opponents, broke down game film, continually provided statistics, and arranged for any and all of our needs. My job was made so easy by all of these people and I feel that my selection as one of the finalists as the USOC Developmental Coach of the Year is a tribute to all of these special individuals that I have been blessed to be associated with.”

In addition to Rankin Schneider, finalists for Developmental Coach of the Year include Chris Haslock from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and James Hrbek from USA Judo.

All five recipients will be announced during a welcome reception on Tuesday, June 19, as part of the 2012 National Coaching Conference at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis, Ind.

Rankin Schneider was honored as the 2011 USA Basketball Co-Developmental Coach of the Year following the USA Basketball U16 National Team’s impressive 5-0, gold-medal performance at the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Merida, Mexico. The first-place finish also qualified the U.S. for the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship. Under Rankin Schneider’s direction, the 2011 team set five U.S. U16 women’s single-game records, including field goals attempted (95), free throws attempted (32), rebounds (83), assists (32) and blocked shots (12).

An Olympian (1980), four-time USA Basketball gold medalist and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Rankin Schneider has evolved her impressive list of accomplishments as a basketball player into a coaching career that takes advantage of her wealth of experience and knowledge. In a short amount of time, she prepared the 2011 USA Women’s U16 National Team for its international competition, as well as the international rules it was to face in the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Her success in that task was obvious in the tournament’s results, with the USA dominating the competition. The U.S. won by an average of 43.2 points per game, scoring 87.7 points a game and holding opponents to 44.6 points per contest. As a high school head coach, Schneider’s list of honors is equally impressive. Three times she has been selected by her peers as the Texas District 2-5A Coach of the Year (2000, 2002, 2004), and in 2000 and 2011 she was chosen All-South Plains 4A/5A Coach of the Year by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and as a Texas All-Star Game coach by the Texas Girls Coaches Association.

U.S. Olympic and Pan American sports organizations selected their 2011 Coaches of the Year as part of the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Program. The finalists in each category were chosen by a panel of coaching and sport education professionals. Information on all finalists can be found at teamusa.org.