Women's Basketball | January 16, 2019

As a young girl, Kelly Greenberg knew that La Salle was important to her family. But had no idea just how meaningful the institution and sport of basketball would be to her.
 
Growing up, she always heard stories about her father, Joe Greenberg, playing for the Explorers from 1946-49. Not only was her father a men's basketball alum, but her uncle, Charles Greenberg, was a member of the 1954 Men's Basketball National Championship Team.
 
From a very early age, it was clear just how important La Salle was and has continued to be to those around her.
 
When she was in high school, Kelly was a three-sport athlete at Archbishop Wood, playing field hockey, basketball, and softball. She watched her big brother Chip come to 20^th and Olney to play basketball for the Explorers during her sophomore year at Wood and would often come and watch his games.
 
"My high school coach would always joke that the Greenberg sisters can't get to practice on time, but they're the first ones in the stands for a La Salle men's game," Greenberg recalls.
 
During her time at Wood, Kelly was probably a better field hockey player than basketball or softball, however basketball was her favorite. During the fall of her senior year, she came to campus as a field hockey recruit and that visit cemented her feelings for the University.
 
"I loved the size of it, the community," Greenberg said. "I just felt like it was the place for me. That visit confirmed it."
 
When she got to La Salle, she made a point to try out for the basketball team and ended up joining as a walk-on. Little did she know it would be one of the biggest decisions of her life.
 
The walk-on ended up becoming a staple in La Salle women's basketball history, graduating as the all-time leader in assists with 512 (now third all-time). Greenberg also held the single game record for assists with 19.
 
The two-time All-Big 5 second team selection, holds the program record for career three-point field goal percentage as she hit 51.6% (47-91). A threat all over the floor, she's is one of the first players in program history to record a triple-double in a game.
 
From a team standpoint, she aided her teams to three of the program's four NCAA tournament appearances, acting as a key part of the lone NCAA win against Connecticut in the 1989 tournament. Greenberg also helped her team to the only rankings in the AP Top 25 in program history. In the 1987-88 season the team was ranked as high as 17^th in the nation, being ranked for three weeks of the season, while in 1988-89, the team sat in the poll for six weeks, going as high as 18^th. During that 1987-88 season, the Explorers were the MAAC Tournament champions, giving them the program's only automatic qualifier in program history.
 
Greenberg's graduating class of 1989 is the all-time winningest class in program history, posting a 95-24 record (.789). During her senior campaign, she captained the Explorers to their third straight MAAC Regular Season Championship Title, while being named Second Team All-MAAC.
 
In each of her final three seasons, the Archbishop Wood High School alum guided La Salle to three straight Big 5 titles, which sit as three of the program's five titles all-time.
 
Her induction into La Salle's Hall of Athletes marks the third "Hall of Fame" she's been inducted to after being dubbed a Hall of Famer at Archbishop Wood, where the school retired her number, and the Big 5 Hall of Fame which she was inducted to in 2012.
 
"It means a lot because I've been a part of [La Salle] my whole life from when I can remember going to games at five, six years old," Greenberg said of the honor. "Being a player, there's nothing like it, but being remembered that you were on really good teams and a pretty good player, it certainly means an awful lot to me."
 
Her playing days at La Salle were only the beginning of Greenberg's career in collegiate basketball. After graduation, she played a year overseas in Australia before she returned to the U.S. to start her coaching career. In her 26 years on the bench, Greenberg served as the head women's basketball coach at Penn for five years and a 10-year stint as coach at Boston University.
 
While at the helm of the Quakers program, she guided the team to two Ivy League titles and NCAA appearances, picking up a Big 5 Coach of the Year honor along the way. She's the third all-time winningest coach in Penn history, registering an 84-54 career record, including 51-19 in league play.
 
During her tenure at BU, Greenberg led the Terriers to a record of 186-127, while she was named America East Coach of the Year in 2009.
 
"It's been a tremendous vehicle in my life," Greenberg says about basketball and the journey it's given her. "I've gone to many great places and have met and became friends with great people. It's been wonderful."