Long-time James Madison athletics administrator and former head women’s basketball coach Shelia A. Moorman will retire from JMU in June 2012, Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne announced today.

A member of JMU’s Athletic Hall of Fame, Moorman has spent the last 30 years at JMU, with 15 of them as an athletic administrator and 15 as the head women’s basketball coach. Currently an Associate Athletics Director and the Senior Woman Administrator, Moorman has oversight over the women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, field hockey, swimming and diving and softball programs as well as the facilities and events area of the department, a position she has held since 2004. She has also been a member of the Colonial Athletic Association’s women’s basketball committee.

 “It has been my great honor and pleasure to be a part of the JMU Athletics family for the past 30 years,” Moorman said. “I've had incredible opportunities as a coach and an administrator and I'm grateful to the wonderful people who have been a part of the memories I take with me. In particular, I want to thank Lee Morrison, Dean Ehlers, Ron Carrier and Jeff Bourne for believing in me. I also cherish the student-athletes, coaches and JMU colleagues with whom I've had the pleasure of working.”

 "I want to thank Shelia Moorman for her 30 years of outstanding service to JMU,” Bourne said. “Her success on the court will be forever recognized in her recognition as a member of our Athletics Hall of Fame. Shelia took her success in competition and moved to important roles in our administration, helping us meet the needs of our coaches and student-athletes. This announcement is bitter-sweet for me. I am happy for Shelia in that she is able to look forward to a well-deserved retirement; however, I will miss her passion and total commitment to our program and the University as a whole."

 Moorman started her administrative career in 1997, working as the facilities and events coordinator in the athletics department. As facilities and events coordinator, Moorman directed planning and preparations for home athletics events and for other activities in JMU athletics facilities. She directed game operations and facilities scheduling, supervised JMU's athletics facilities staff, and was the division's liaison for summer sports camp directors.

 From 1982-97, Moorman served as the head women’s basketball coach for JMU, guiding the Dukes to unprecedented success in 15 seasons. Her teams won more than 300 games, played in six NCAA Tournaments and won four conference titles. She engineered two of the bigger upsets in NCAA Tournament history -- a 1991 victory at top-ranked Penn State and a 1986 win at regionally top-seeded Virginia -- and her teams were the first JMU basketball squads to be ranked in the national Top 25 polls.

 The Jacksonville, Fla., native and 1968 Brigham Young graduate built a successful program by teaching basic fundamentals and emphasizing team play. Four of Moorman's six NCAA Tournament teams (1986-89, 91, 96) advanced to the "Sweet 16" (1986-88, 91), and the Dukes won four straight Colonial Athletic Association Tournament titles (1986-89) while also posting 13 straight winning seasons. Under Moorman, JMU averaged more than 20 wins per year and set school records for season wins (28), consecutive wins (21), best season winning percentage (28-4, .875), consecutive home wins (39), consecutive conference wins (46) and consecutive home conference wins (32). JMU achieved its first Associated Press national ranking in 1986, and its number 12 national ranking the following year still stood as an all-time best for the program at the time of her induction. Moorman’s players also had a 100-percent graduation rate during her tenure.

 The winningest coach in JMU basketball history (302-134 record), Moorman was the overwhelming choice as "CAA Coach of the Decade" in 1995 in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the CAA's founding. She was CAA Coach of the Year five times (1986-89, 91), Virginia Division I Coach of the year four times (1986, 88, 89, 91) and Mideast Region Coach of the Year in 1986. In 1990 she was named to coach the West Team at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

 Prior to coming to Harrisonburg, Moorman was the Francis Marion University volleyball coach for four seasons (1978-1981) and posted a 108-52 mark. She started the women’s softball program at FMU, and recorded a 62-19 record in three seasons. She also served as an assistant coach under current North Carolina head women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell on the Patriot women’s basketball staff for four years, helping lead the team to the 1982 AIAW Small College National Championship.

 Moorman was a player on the U.S. National Team in 1970, 1973 and 1974, an AAU All-American in 1971, 1973 and 1974, and a two-time member of a national runner-up AAU team. She was a member of the committee that chose coaching staffs for all U.S. competitions leading up to the 1996 Olympics, a three-term secretary of the Women's Basketball Coaches