Van Chancellor Biography

LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor was born in Louisville, Mississippi on September 27th, 1943. After attending Mississippi State University, Van Chancellor coached the male varsity basketball teams at Noxapater, Horn Lake, and Harrison Central High Schools throughout the 1970s.

In 1978, Van Chancellor was hired to coach the Ole Miss Lady Rebels basketball team. Over nineteen seasons (1978-1997), Chancellor compiled a 439-154 record (.740) and led the Lady Rebels to fourteen NCAA tournaments and thirteen top 20 finishes nationally. Moreover, although he did not win an NCAA title with the Lady Rebels, he did lead the team to the elite eight on four separate occasions.

In 1997, Chancellor, by then already on track for the NCAA Hall of Fame, agreed to coach the Houston Comets of the newly formed WNBA. Using two decades of accumulated basketball acumen, Chancellor led the Comets to four consecutive NCAA titles from 1997-2000. Although Chancellor did not challenge for another title in his next six seasons as the Comets coach, he did add to his sterling legacy by winning the 2004 Olympic Gold medal in Athens.

Nonetheless, by 2007, Chancellor had failed to contend in the WNBA postseason for more than a half decade and it seemed time for a change. As a result, Chancellor decided to move back to the SEC by accepting the job at LSU. His arrival proved an immediate success as he won the NCAA coach of the year award and led LSU to an SEC title game and an NCAA final four appearance. Therefore, while last year’s 20-11 record and fifth place finish was a disappointment, there is still good reason to believe that Chancellor’s tenure at LSU will continue to be successful.

Check out our current preview of LSU Tigers Women's Basketball.

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