Mary Wise
Encyclopedia
Mary Wise is an American college volleyball
coach, former player and author. Wise is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's volleyball team of the University of Florida
. In Wise's twenty seasons at Florida, her Gators teams have won over ninety percent of their matches, nineteen Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular season championships, and twelve SEC tournament titles. The Gators have also made seven Final Four appearances in the NCAA Tournament
, including an appearance in the 2003 NCAA Championship final.
in 1959. Her father Richard Fischl was a dentist, and her mother Lila managed his dental practice. Wise was one of six children.
in West Lafayette, Indiana
, where she played for the Purdue Boilermakers
volleyball team from 1977 to 1980. She was a standout setter, and was twice named to the All-Midwest Regional team, while the Boilermakers won two Big Ten Conference
championships in 1979 and 1980. A dean's list student, she graduated from Purdue in 1981 with a bachelor's degree
in physical education.
volleyball team at Iowa State University
in Ames, Iowa
in 1981; she was also the youngest Division I coach in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA). In four seasons as the Cyclones' head coach, she compiled a win-loss record of 81–63.
in 1986, when she was offered an assistant coaching position on the Kentucky Wildcats
volleyball program staff at the University of Kentucky
in Lexington, Kentucky
. Wise rose from graduate assistant in 1986 to associate head coach in 1990. During those five seasons, the Wildcats won the SEC championship twice and advanced to the NCAA regional final once.
in 1991. In the twenty seasons since then, her Gators teams have won nineteen SEC regular season championships. She is one of only two coaches in conference history in any sport, men's or women's, to win as many as nineteen conference titles. From 1994 to 2004, the Gators did not lose a regular season SEC match—a feat unmatched by any school, ever.
In 2003, Wise's Florida team won 105 straight games during the course of the season, eclipsing the previous NCAA
record by 36 games. This record has since been broken by Penn State who won 111 consecutive games. Since 1991, Florida has amassed 571 victories in matches—more than any other school in the nation.
On the forefront of increasing awareness and exposure for volleyball, Wise has ushered in a philosophy of innovation when it comes to rules changes and volleyball youth opportunities.
Her expertise has led to numerous appointments on international coaching staffs. In the summer of 2004 Wise took her own team on a twelve-day, three-nation tour of Western Europe as the Gators faced several national and junior national teams. In May 2006, Wise guided the USA Volleyball A2 Team at the U.S. Open Championships as the volleyball community became one of the first groups to compete in a large scale event in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina
.
Wise's Gators have also shown a commitment to playing an active role in community leadership and involvement. An annual tradition, each year members of the Gators volleyball team visit children at nearby Shands Hospital during the Thanksgiving
holiday, while players also participate in the Goodwill Gators program. In 2003, Wise helped raise $7,500 for the Children's Miracle Network
after more than 4,000 Gator fans packed the O'Connell Center for a match against South Carolina.
Wise picked up the number one recruiting class for the class of 2008, as she signed the Gatorade National Player of the Year and top recruit, Kelly Murphy, as well as five other recruits ranked in the top 50.
In the storied history of NCAA Division I men and women’s basketball, football and baseball, there hasn’t been a single coach with at least ten seasons of coaching who can boast of having a better winning percentage than Wise has at Florida (.902).
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
coach, former player and author. Wise is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's volleyball team of the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. In Wise's twenty seasons at Florida, her Gators teams have won over ninety percent of their matches, nineteen Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular season championships, and twelve SEC tournament titles. The Gators have also made seven Final Four appearances in the NCAA Tournament
NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship
The NCAA has contested team championships in women's volleyball since 1981. The following is a list of the champions of each division with their record for the year in which they won the championship, and the runner up, city, site and other final four participants for division I...
, including an appearance in the 2003 NCAA Championship final.
Early years
Wise was born in Evanston, IllinoisEvanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
in 1959. Her father Richard Fischl was a dentist, and her mother Lila managed his dental practice. Wise was one of six children.
College career
Wise attended Purdue UniversityPurdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
in West Lafayette, Indiana
West Lafayette, Indiana
As of the census of 2010, there were 29,596 people, 12,591 households, and 3,588 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,381.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 74.3% White, 17.3% Asian, 2.7% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.03% Pacific...
, where she played for the Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue Boilermakers
Boilermakers is the official nickname for the intercollegiate athletic teams of Purdue University. As is common with athletic nicknames, it is also used as colloquial designation of Purdue's students and alumni at large....
volleyball team from 1977 to 1980. She was a standout setter, and was twice named to the All-Midwest Regional team, while the Boilermakers won two Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
championships in 1979 and 1980. A dean's list student, she graduated from Purdue in 1981 with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in physical education.
Iowa State University
Wise was 21 years old when she became the head coach of the Iowa State CyclonesIowa State Cyclones
The Iowa State Cyclones are the athletic teams of Iowa State University. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams in 12 sports.*Men's sports...
volleyball team at Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
in Ames, Iowa
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
in 1981; she was also the youngest Division I coach in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA). In four seasons as the Cyclones' head coach, she compiled a win-loss record of 81–63.
University of Kentucky
Wise had been out of coaching for a year and living in KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
in 1986, when she was offered an assistant coaching position on the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky , a founding member of the Southeastern Conference...
volleyball program staff at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. Wise rose from graduate assistant in 1986 to associate head coach in 1990. During those five seasons, the Wildcats won the SEC championship twice and advanced to the NCAA regional final once.
University of Florida
Wise was hired as the head coach of the Florida Gators volleyball team at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FloridaGainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
in 1991. In the twenty seasons since then, her Gators teams have won nineteen SEC regular season championships. She is one of only two coaches in conference history in any sport, men's or women's, to win as many as nineteen conference titles. From 1994 to 2004, the Gators did not lose a regular season SEC match—a feat unmatched by any school, ever.
In 2003, Wise's Florida team won 105 straight games during the course of the season, eclipsing the previous NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
record by 36 games. This record has since been broken by Penn State who won 111 consecutive games. Since 1991, Florida has amassed 571 victories in matches—more than any other school in the nation.
On the forefront of increasing awareness and exposure for volleyball, Wise has ushered in a philosophy of innovation when it comes to rules changes and volleyball youth opportunities.
Her expertise has led to numerous appointments on international coaching staffs. In the summer of 2004 Wise took her own team on a twelve-day, three-nation tour of Western Europe as the Gators faced several national and junior national teams. In May 2006, Wise guided the USA Volleyball A2 Team at the U.S. Open Championships as the volleyball community became one of the first groups to compete in a large scale event in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
.
Wise's Gators have also shown a commitment to playing an active role in community leadership and involvement. An annual tradition, each year members of the Gators volleyball team visit children at nearby Shands Hospital during the Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
holiday, while players also participate in the Goodwill Gators program. In 2003, Wise helped raise $7,500 for the Children's Miracle Network
Children's Miracle Network
The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals is an international non-profit organization that raises funds for children's hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children's health issues. The organization, founded in 1982 by the Osmond family and John Schneider, is headquartered in...
after more than 4,000 Gator fans packed the O'Connell Center for a match against South Carolina.
Wise picked up the number one recruiting class for the class of 2008, as she signed the Gatorade National Player of the Year and top recruit, Kelly Murphy, as well as five other recruits ranked in the top 50.
Achievements and records
Wise became the first ever coach to win 100 straight games and was the first female coach to coach in the NCAA National Championship final, as well as being the first female coach to coach in more than one NCAA Final Four. She became the first female coach in NCAA Division I history to win 15 conference titles in the first 15 seasons at one school, thus becoming the only coach to ever win 130 consecutive regular season conference matches. She is the first coach to ever win 90 percent of matches in the first 16 seasons at one school and she reached the 500 win plateau faster than any other Division I female coach.In the storied history of NCAA Division I men and women’s basketball, football and baseball, there hasn’t been a single coach with at least ten seasons of coaching who can boast of having a better winning percentage than Wise has at Florida (.902).
Awards and accolades
- Twelve-time winner of the SEC Coach of the Year Award (1991–1993, 1995–1996, 1998–2002, and co-winner in 2007)
- Two-time winner of American Volleyball Coaches AssociationAmerican Volleyball Coaches AssociationThe American Volleyball Coaches Association is an organization of nearly 5,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association....
National Coach of the Year (1992, 1996) - American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Time Great Coach (2006)
- Past president of American Volleyball Coaches Association
Personal
Wise lives in Gainesville, Florida with her husband, Mark Wise, and their two children, Matt and Mitchell.See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- History of the University of FloridaHistory of the University of FloridaThe history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida, colloquially known as "Florida" or "UF," originated as several distinct institutions that were merged to create a single state-supported university by the...
- List of college women's volleyball coaches with 700 wins
- List of Purdue University people
- University Athletic AssociationUniversity of Florida Athletic AssociationThe University Athletic Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for maintaining the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida...
External links
- Mary Wise – Official biography at GatorZone.com.