DENVER – University of San Francisco Director of Athletics Joan McDermott has been named to the MSU Denver Athletics Hall of Fame 2021 class.
 
McDermott, who returned to the Hilltop in 2016, was promoted to Director of Athletics in March, 2019. Prior to that she served as Director of Athletics at Cal State East Bay.
 
McDermott arrived at MSU Denver as a volleyball and softball coach in 1988. After stepping away from coaching for two years, she returned to the MSU Denver sideline, where she guided the Roadrunners to a pair of top-20 rankings and was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1997. It would be her final stop as a coach.
 
Success on the court notwithstanding, her biggest impact at MSU Denver came as an athletic director. In 17 years presiding over the RMAC's top programs, she was twice honored as the NCAA Division II Athletic Director of the Year.
 
She spearheaded the campaign for the $16 million Assembly Athletic Complex, which stands as one of the finest outdoor facilities in Division II. The Roadrunners were two-time national champions in both men's basketball (2000 and 2002) and women's soccer (2004 and 2006) on McDermott's watch, and Roadrunners teams won more than 30 regular-season and post-season RMAC championships during her tenure.
 
McDermott was 136-64 in six years as volleyball coach, leading MSU Denver to two regular-season conference championships and four trips to the NCAA Tournament, and was 50-37 as the softball head coach before embarking upon her pioneering career as a female administrator in collegiate athletics.
 
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the Auraria Event Center on Saturday, October 2.