Hall of Fame Coach Dale Neal, who completed his 50th year of coaching and his 26th season at the helm of the women’s Basketball Program at Freed-Hardeman has been relieved of his duties.
Neal’s record at FHU places him as the No. 1 all-time winningest active coach in NAIA Women’s Basketball.
In March of 2018, Neal, the nine-time Conference Coach of the Year and three-time National Coach of the Year, was inducted into the NAIA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Then, in November of 2018, he was inducted into the Freed-Hardeman Athletic Hall of Fame.
Few programs in the NAIA have seen the levels of success and consistency that Neal has brought to Freed-Hardeman in his 25 years at the helm. As members of the TranSouth and American Midwest Conferences, Neal’s teams have won nine conference tournament championships (2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019) and eight regular season conference championships (2004, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019).
The Lady Lions are one of only two programs who have competed in the NAIA National Tournament every year since 1996. The Lady Lions basketball program instantly turned around when Neal arrived at Freed-Hardeman in 1994. In his first season, the Lady Lions set a then school record 21 wins and only nine losses. Two years later, the team set another program record with 26 wins and made it’s first in a string of 23 NAIA National Tournament appearances. The Lady Lions have advanced to the “Sweet Sixteen” seven times (1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2011, 2016); finished in the “Elite Eight” four times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2017); played in the Fab Four eight times (1999, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019); they were National Runners-Up in 2014, and in 2018, the were the NAIA National Champions.
Since 1996, Neal’s teams have been a permanent fixture in NAIA’s Top-25 National Poll. The streak of Freed-Hardeman’s consecutive National Rankings now stands at 240. In 2012, the Lady Lions received their first ever No. 1 NAIA National Ranking and have now appeared in that position for a total of 33 times. In the past seven seasons, the Lady Lions have averaged winning over 33 games per year.
During Neal’s tenure, the Lady Lions have boasted 71 All-Conference athletes, 12 Conference Players of the Year, three WBCA/NAIA National Players of the Year and two NAIA National Players of the Year. Since 1999, the Lady Lions program has developed 35 NAIA All-Americans, including 21 First-Team selections and twice have had a player named the NAIAA National Tournament MVP.
