Temple University Athletics
Former Women's Basketball Coach Charlene Curtis Passes Away
8.19.22 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA – Charlene Curtis, the first Black women's basketball head coach at Temple University, passed away on Thursday at the age of 67.
"Charlene was a pioneer in our sport and opened so many doors for African American female coaches," Temple women's basketball head coach Diane Richardson said. "She continued paving ways even after she left the coaching ranks as a commentator and supervisor of officials. Her kind spirit and willingness to mentor others helped to lead me to coaching. We will miss her!"
Curtis, the program's 17th head women's basketball coach, coached the Owls for five seasons from 1990-95 leading Temple to a 10-8 Atlantic-10 conference record during the 1990-91 season.
Later, Curtis was an assistant coach alongside Tonya Cardoza under Geno Auriemma at the University of Connecticut from 1995-97.
Before coming to Temple, Curtis became the first 1,000-point scorer – male or female – at Radford University. Nearly a decade later, Curtis returned to Radford as the head women's basketball coach where she would remain until 1990.
At Radford, Curtis was a two-time Big South Coach of the Year, leading the Highlanders to four Big South regular season championships, three Tournament championships and an appearance in the 1989 WNIT.
Curtis is survived by her partner of 24 years, Sharolyn Grant, and her sister and brother-in-law Millicent and Byrl Wright.
