Mary Wise is in the midst of her 33 year as head volleyball coach at Florida where she’s established numerous records not the least of which is winning 25 SEC titles and appearing in 8 final fours. She credits the university for giving her the resources to help recruit the best athletes in the country while also crediting her staff.

And to think back in 1981 Wise became the youngest ever coach in NCAA history when she was hired to run Iowa State’s program. She was 21. “How in over my head was I? The seniors were just a year younger than me! When I started there was no NCAA championships for women.”

From there, the native of Evanston, Illinois moved on to Kentucky where for one season she was the head coach and where she married her husband Mark Wise. Name sound familiar? Mark is a basketball analyst for the SEC on ESPN.

Mary was recently inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, where I had the pleasure of meeting this highly successful woman.

Mary has had a remarkable run in Gainesville but the one achievement she’s not reached is winning an NCAA a title.

Perhaps, this season?

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