DePaul women’s basketball head coach Doug Bruno will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on June 11, the committee announced during the Iowa-Maryland game Monday night. 

In his 36th season with DePaul, Bruno shows his love for the sport in everything he does, both on and off the court. And the team’s success stems from that. The Blue Demons have reached the NCAA tournament 24 times with him at the helm. 

“I am absolutely honored and humbled [about] going into the Hall of Fame,” Bruno told DePaul athletics. “But, I never woke up a single day thinking I’ve got to one day be in the Hall of Fame.”

Bruno is Chicago born and raised. He attended Quigley South High School before playing at DePaul under former head coach Ray Meyer. Bruno began coaching at the high school level before returning to DePaul to coach the women’s team from 1976-78. 

He left the program to be the head coach of the Chicago Hustle of the Women’s Professional Basketball League for two seasons before going on to serve as the associate head coach for the Loyola men’s basketball team. He then rejoined the Blue Demons in 1988 and has not looked back since. 

Bruno also has coaching experience at the USA level. He served as an assistant coach for the USA women’s national basketball team, and helped lead them to gold medal victories in the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. 

He has worked to grow women’s basketball through his Doug Bruno Girls Basketball camp and is a large advocate for the WNBA and the Chicago Sky, which his former player Allie Quigley currently plays for. 

“I’ve been blessed to coach some very special women basketball players down through the years,” Bruno said. “They played for the love of the game even as individual honors grew into team achievements.” 

This season, the Blue Demons, under Bruno’s leadership, are 20-7 overall and 12-4 in conference play. The team is coming off a 105-104 win over Georgetown on Sunday that came down to the wire in double overtime. 

“I’ve been blessed to coach some very special women basketball players down through the years,” Bruno told DePaul athletics. “They played for the love of the game even as individual honors grew into team achievements.”