'It's An Honor, It's A Thrill': DePaul's Doug Bruno Elected To The Women's Basketball Hall Of Fame
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Doug Bruno has long been synonymous with DePaul basketball.
His women's team had gone to 17 straight NCAA tournaments until last season. Now he's heading somewhere new, as part of the 2022 class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
"I was educated as a young person that the gender doesn't matter. It's what's inside that heart and guts of the athlete, the competitive spirit inside that that athlete and that's got nothing to do with gender."
Doug Bruno has brought the best out of DePaul players for 36 seasons and counting, and now he's being rewarded, finding out he's headed to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame the same way everyone else did.
"On television, basically that's the way you learn this," Bruno said.
"It's an honor. It's a thrill."
While the congratulations poured in into the wee hours...
"Three-thirty in the morning, and the texts are still coming in."
Bruno woke up focused on the Blue Demons' next game, not his career achievement.
"We hear athletes all the time say when they're retired, when they're done, say they'll think about this. I don't ever want to be retired. I know I'm going to get whacked, every coach gets whacked, so the time's gonna come when I get whacked then I'll have time to maybe think about it but right now we've got Marquette on Wednesday and Villanova on Sunday so there's no time to think about it and I really don't."
And that's how Bruno has guided DePaul to 24 NCAA Tournaments, including four Sweet 16 events. Easy to understand why accolades were never his motivation.
"I don't think in terms of what I've given. I thank God every day I can wake up and put on gym shoes and go the gym instead of an office and interact with young people and help young people help themselves be the best they can be."
Bruno is headlining the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 with Becky Hammon and Penny Taylor. The trio is joined by Alice "Cookie" Barron, Delisha Milton-Jones, Paul Sanderford, Bob Schneider and Debbie Antonelli. The will be inducted into the hall on June 11. The Hall of Fame also is giving its Trailblazers of the Game award for 2022 to Title IX. The federal law that requires athletic departments to provide general equivalence for men and women that turns 50 this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
