Betty Jaynes (2024) - JMU Athletics Hall of Fame - James Madison University Athletics

Betty Jaynes

Induction:
2024

James Madison women's basketball's history has been intertwined with the history of the sport itself as one of the top five winningest program's all-time, and Betty Jaynes was a key piece of that growth at JMU. Jaynes took the reins as Madison College transitioned to James Madison University and men's varsity sports began competition. As JMU Athletics became diversified and grew, Jaynes ensured that women's basketball remained a foundational sport for the university, even as the oversight of the sport was transitioned to the NCAA from the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) upon her exit in 1982. The game of women's basketball evolved to become a five-player, full court competition and added the 30-second shot clock early in her tenure, and Title IX was signed into national law in 1972. Amid such evolution in so many facets, Jaynes led JMU to a 144-114 mark in 12 seasons and compiled the first 20-win campaign in 1978-79, finishing second in the Virginia Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (VAIAW) to eventual national champion Old Dominion. In 1975 she was tournament director as JMU hosted the AIAW Large College National Basketball Championships in Godwin Hall, placing 16^th. In her final year at JMU in 1981-82, Jaynes and a group of coaches formed the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) with Jaynes selected as the organization's first executive director. She held that title for 15 years before being named CEO of the WBCA in 1996. During her tenure, the organization grew from 212 members to over 5,000 as it influenced the growth and exposure for women's basketball as a major sport in American culture. Jaynes is already a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (2000), the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame (2008) and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (2007). Jaynes will be inducted posthumously after passing away in 2014.