University of Minnesota Athletics
Sjoquist Gets the Call to the Hall a Third Time
12/20/2018 10:05:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – For a very select group of people at the very top of their respective professions, a career may culminate with an induction into a hall of fame. Lynnette Sjoquist is one of those fortunate people. In fact, the women's basketball pioneer and Gopher women's basketball radio analyst has had the honor bestowed upon her three times.
Two instances for Sjoquist have come as part of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's Trailblazer of the Game, which recognizes teams or leagues that were among the first to do something in the sport or enjoyed a high winning percentage or winning streak over an extended period of time.
The first such honor for Sjoquist came in 2011 when she was recognized as the part of the All American Red Heads, a barnstorming team that competed for 50 years from 1936-86. A year later, the Red Heads were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. Then, this past summer in Knoxville, Tenn., she was honored once again as part of the Women's Professional Basketball League, or WBL.
"It just seems almost unbelievable because when you're in it in 1978 you're not thinking about the Hall of Fame or what's going to happen 30-40 years from now," Sjoquist said.
Over 100 former players from the league were in attendance in June for the ceremony that also saw individual inductions for Ceal Berry, Dr. Rose Marie Battaglia, Chris Dailey, Mickie DeMoss, Chamique Holdsclaw, Katie Smith and Tina Thompson.
"We had an autograph session Saturday morning in the Hall of Fame," Sjoquist said. "That was cool. I was amazed how many people showed up. I mean there were lines of people waiting to get autographs, so that was something I wasn't necessarily expecting.
"That night we were all seated in a particular section and they called us up. They named each one of us and we walked on-stage and there was one big picture of all of us. And then they started with the individual inductions so I thought that was great. They read out loud about the WBL and Debbie Antonelli was the emcee, she did a great job. It was a very well done event."
Each experience of being a player and then getting inducted into a hall of fame has been unique for Sjoquist.
"It was so different, because with the Red Heads I was traveling with these seven women for seven months out of the year playing seven nights a week," she said. "So we were playing and playing and playing. And we played against men, so it was totally different.
"When I tried out for the WBL, to me it was like I was proving that I was a good player. I wasn't just playing against men in a situation, I was going against the best women. So it did feel different entering the league, and it felt different playing in the league."
The WBL was the first official professional women's basketball league in the United States, and the Minnesota Fillies were one of eight original franchises when the league began in 1978. Other teams at the onset included the Chicago Hustle, Iowa Cornets and Milwaukee Does in the West Division with Minnesota, while the Dayton Rockettes, Houston Angels, New Jersey Gems and New York Stars competed in the East.
Sjoquist joined the Fillies after a successful stint with the All American Red Heads from 1973-77.
"Because the WBL started in 1978, we were launching from the success of the 1976 Olympics and the women's basketball team (which won silver) in the 1976 Olympics," Sjoquist said. "In 1978 I see an ad in the Minneapolis newspaper for a tryout, so I go to the Decathlon Club in Bloomington and that was one of a series of evenings we were going to get together and tryout. There was a draft, but I was signed before the draft. It was an exciting time, for sure."
Each team was scheduled to play a 34-game season with 18 games against its own division and 16 against the other. The season ran mid-December until mid-April, including the playoffs.
That first season, Minnesota went 17-17 to finish in third place, though only the top two teams in each division advanced to the playoffs. The next year, the Fillies finished with a 22-12 record and bested the New Orleans Pride in the quarterfinals at Williams Arena before falling to Iowa in the semis.
There ended up being just one more season of the WBL, and the Fillies, one of three teams to last all three seasons, struggled to get to the end.
"By the end of the third year, we were financially strapped as far as the team was concerned," Sjoquist said. "Most teams were. It ended up that our Minnesota Fillies, I was not playing at the time and had since moved into the front office doing public relations, the team walked off with four games left to play.
"They walked off the court in Chicago rather than play because they were wanting their paycheck, which I don't begrudge them. It ended up that the general manager and owner and I called a bunch of people and put together another team so we could finish the season. I ended up being the only player to play in the Fillies' first and last games. I came back to play in and coach the last two games."
Despite its unceremonious ending, the WBL helped lay the groundwork for future women's leagues like the Women's American Basketball Association, the National Women's Basketball League and the most successful of all, the Women's National Basketball Association.
The impact the WBL has had on people remains to this day, and Sjoquist got to see it firsthand this summer.
"Even signing autographs, there were some people that came through and not only did they want your autograph, they wanted to say 'thank you' for doing this and being there and starting this," she said. "I think when I started playing for the Red Heads in 1973, I felt like we were really making a statement. But the Red Heads had been around for a long time before 1973. For the WBL, I think the same thing. We were making a statement that this was something we thought whose time had come."
Two instances for Sjoquist have come as part of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's Trailblazer of the Game, which recognizes teams or leagues that were among the first to do something in the sport or enjoyed a high winning percentage or winning streak over an extended period of time.
The first such honor for Sjoquist came in 2011 when she was recognized as the part of the All American Red Heads, a barnstorming team that competed for 50 years from 1936-86. A year later, the Red Heads were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. Then, this past summer in Knoxville, Tenn., she was honored once again as part of the Women's Professional Basketball League, or WBL.
"It just seems almost unbelievable because when you're in it in 1978 you're not thinking about the Hall of Fame or what's going to happen 30-40 years from now," Sjoquist said.
Over 100 former players from the league were in attendance in June for the ceremony that also saw individual inductions for Ceal Berry, Dr. Rose Marie Battaglia, Chris Dailey, Mickie DeMoss, Chamique Holdsclaw, Katie Smith and Tina Thompson.
"We had an autograph session Saturday morning in the Hall of Fame," Sjoquist said. "That was cool. I was amazed how many people showed up. I mean there were lines of people waiting to get autographs, so that was something I wasn't necessarily expecting.
"That night we were all seated in a particular section and they called us up. They named each one of us and we walked on-stage and there was one big picture of all of us. And then they started with the individual inductions so I thought that was great. They read out loud about the WBL and Debbie Antonelli was the emcee, she did a great job. It was a very well done event."
Each experience of being a player and then getting inducted into a hall of fame has been unique for Sjoquist.
"It was so different, because with the Red Heads I was traveling with these seven women for seven months out of the year playing seven nights a week," she said. "So we were playing and playing and playing. And we played against men, so it was totally different.
"When I tried out for the WBL, to me it was like I was proving that I was a good player. I wasn't just playing against men in a situation, I was going against the best women. So it did feel different entering the league, and it felt different playing in the league."
The WBL was the first official professional women's basketball league in the United States, and the Minnesota Fillies were one of eight original franchises when the league began in 1978. Other teams at the onset included the Chicago Hustle, Iowa Cornets and Milwaukee Does in the West Division with Minnesota, while the Dayton Rockettes, Houston Angels, New Jersey Gems and New York Stars competed in the East.
Sjoquist joined the Fillies after a successful stint with the All American Red Heads from 1973-77.
"Because the WBL started in 1978, we were launching from the success of the 1976 Olympics and the women's basketball team (which won silver) in the 1976 Olympics," Sjoquist said. "In 1978 I see an ad in the Minneapolis newspaper for a tryout, so I go to the Decathlon Club in Bloomington and that was one of a series of evenings we were going to get together and tryout. There was a draft, but I was signed before the draft. It was an exciting time, for sure."
Each team was scheduled to play a 34-game season with 18 games against its own division and 16 against the other. The season ran mid-December until mid-April, including the playoffs.
That first season, Minnesota went 17-17 to finish in third place, though only the top two teams in each division advanced to the playoffs. The next year, the Fillies finished with a 22-12 record and bested the New Orleans Pride in the quarterfinals at Williams Arena before falling to Iowa in the semis.
There ended up being just one more season of the WBL, and the Fillies, one of three teams to last all three seasons, struggled to get to the end.
"By the end of the third year, we were financially strapped as far as the team was concerned," Sjoquist said. "Most teams were. It ended up that our Minnesota Fillies, I was not playing at the time and had since moved into the front office doing public relations, the team walked off with four games left to play.
"They walked off the court in Chicago rather than play because they were wanting their paycheck, which I don't begrudge them. It ended up that the general manager and owner and I called a bunch of people and put together another team so we could finish the season. I ended up being the only player to play in the Fillies' first and last games. I came back to play in and coach the last two games."
Despite its unceremonious ending, the WBL helped lay the groundwork for future women's leagues like the Women's American Basketball Association, the National Women's Basketball League and the most successful of all, the Women's National Basketball Association.
The impact the WBL has had on people remains to this day, and Sjoquist got to see it firsthand this summer.
"Even signing autographs, there were some people that came through and not only did they want your autograph, they wanted to say 'thank you' for doing this and being there and starting this," she said. "I think when I started playing for the Red Heads in 1973, I felt like we were really making a statement. But the Red Heads had been around for a long time before 1973. For the WBL, I think the same thing. We were making a statement that this was something we thought whose time had come."
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