Eastern women’s basketball coach Debbie Black is being inducted into the Pennsylvania sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 8.

Black, who was born in Warminster, Penn., said she is humbled by the honor.

“Anytime you are elected into any hall of fame, you have to realize the quality of players and people that are elected,” she said. “You have obviously done something special. You kind of have to be very humble about this, because it’s something you love to do and you did it well and you get recognized for it. So it is kind of the top honor.”

Before receiving this induction, Black already has been inducted into the Philadelphia Hall of Fame back in 2012, and she was inducted into the St. Joseph Athletics Hall of Fame back in 2000.

Coming out of Archbishop High School in Philadelphia, Black received only one Division I scholarship, because she said everyone thought she was too small.

That scholarship was from Jim Foster, who was the head coach of the St. Joseph women’s basketball team at the time.

Foster saw Black playing basketball with her sister, who is two years older than her, and Foster liked the way Black played so he offered her a scholarship.

Black said she had no other option, but to take that opportunity.

“It wasn’t really a choice,” she said. “It was a matter of I knew I could play at that level, but I think you only need one school to believe in you.”

Black was always not just a basketball player as she received 12 letters as a three-sport college athlete.

She played basketball, field hockey and soccer for all four years a college.

But going into college, Black said basketball was not her best sport.

“My best sport is soccer,” she said. “I am built like a soccer player.”

When Black played soccer in high school, it was for a club team, not the school team because they did not have one at the time.

She said colleges were not offering full-rides for soccer.

“I was like well, I will just play basketball,” she said. “My footwork was terrific because of soccer. I really didn’t pick basketball it picked me.”

Black said out of all the spectacular moments at St. Joe’s she said the biggest one of her college career was winning an NCAA tournament game.

Black was able to do that twice, once in 1987 against South Alabama and another in 1988 against Bowling Green, both of which were played at on her home court and said those moments will be etched in her mind the rest of her life.

“You don’t forget those things,” she said. “It is a special moment. That in my mind is probably one of my biggest accomplishments, because no one expected us to do that. I wanted to get in an NCAA tournament and I wanted to win and we did both.”

All four years at St Joe’s, Black’s teams were able to reach the NCAA tournament.

After college Black went on to play basketball in Australia for eight seasons and helped her team, the Tasmanian Islanders, win two nationals titles in 1991 and 1995.

In 1996, Black was drafted into the American Basketball League and played for the Colorado Xplosion from 1996-1999.

After that league folded, Black was picked 15th in the 1999 WNBA draft by the Utah Starzz. Black went onto play for the Miami Sol until 2002, and earned the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award at the age of 35.

In 2003, Black was acquired by the Connecticut Sun during the dispersal draft and then ultimately retired in 2005.

Throughout her playing career, Black said there were many people that helped her along the way.

“Certainly it starts with my family, because my dad and my brothers were instrumental, and my sister,” she said. “Also, Jim Foster, who was my basketball coach at St. Joe’s. He always pushed me, and pushed me like I want to push my players. He is one of the big key factors to that.”

Black was Jim Foster’s assistant coach at Ohio State University from 2005-2013.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].