University Advancement

2017 Honoree Cathy Rush

Cathy Rush to Receive 2017 Peter A. Carlesimo Award

The University of Scranton is proud to honor Cathy Rush with the 2017 Peter A. Carlesimo Award. A pioneer in women's sports, Rush was the head women's basketball coach at Immaculata College for seven years, winning the first three Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championships from 1972-74.

In 1975, Rush coached the U.S. women's basketball team to the Pan American Games gold medal. After retiring as coach, she became the first female commentator for women's basketball on national television in 1978. Rush has worked with NBC, CBS, ESPN, CBN and PRISM.

Rush's overall accomplishments, including a record of 149-15 (a .909 winning percentage), earned her induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. She was also inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Rush is the founder and president of Future Stars Camps, which has hosted more than 100,000 children since its inception. These camps, for both girl and boys, focus on many sports, including basketball, field hockey and soccer, and also the arts. A resident of Sarasota, FL, Rush has two sons and six grandchildren. The Mighty Macs, a feature film based on the true story of Rush and the 1971-72 Immaculata College women's basketball team, was released by Sony Pictures in 2011.