OXFORD, Ohio — Talawanda High School girls basketball coach Mary Jo Huismann was announced Thursday morning as an Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association's John Wooden Legacy Award recipient.
"It's really, really nice," Huismann said of the award.
The National High School Basketball Coaches Association teamed up with the Wooden Legacy and Wooden family to present two awards in each state for boys and girls basketball.
The award embodies the characteristics that best exemplify the late Wooden including education, longevity, character, service and excellence.
"It's great to see Coach Huismann win this award, and if you look back at all she has accomplished and been a part of, she deserves it," Talawanda athletic director Jake Richardson said. "Her track record speaks for itself, and she is one of the greatest coaches in Ohio high school girls basketball history."
Huismann is grateful to continue making an impact on student-athletes.
"You make a difference with what you say to them," Huismann said.
Huismann, an Ohio High School Basketball Hall of Famer, is a former longtime Mother of Mercy High School coach. Huismann has a 769-401 career record since the 1972-73 season.
"She knows what it takes to win and be successful, both in basketball and in life, and she brings that to our girls basketball program," Richardson said. "Her love for the game is evident in the fact that she is still so involved. Most people would have been burned out and called it quits, but she has a deep passion and love for the game of basketball and developing these student-athletes into great adults. She is a true competitor and is not scared of a challenge."
Huismann, named the Talawanda coach in May 2018, is second in girls basketball career coaching wins in state history. Beavercreek's Ed Zink had an 810-277 record from 1975 to 2021.
Huismann has received numerous honors over the years including being inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame, the Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame and Mother of Mercy Hall of Fame. She also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Sports Foundation among her numerous honors.
Huismann had a 696-337 record at Mother of Mercy from 1972-73 to the 2017-18 season. Mercy and McAuley high schools closed their doors and merged to form Mercy McAuley in August 2018.
A 1965 Mercy graduate, Huismann was Mercy's athletic director for 39 years before she stepped down from that position in 2011.
In addition to coaching more than 1,000 high school games over the course of her career, Huismann helped establish the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) girls basketball program in Cincinnati with former Wyoming coach Deb Gentile in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1996, Huismann was in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" to commemorate her 400th win. She was selected to coach in the second annual McDonald’s All American Girls’ Game in 2003 in Cleveland.
Mercy was state runner-up three times (1980, 1989 and 1990). She has been named a national and state coach of the year along with several league and city honors.
She coached the University of Cincinnati for two seasons starting in 1969 before she became the Capital University head coach in 1971-72. She returned to UC for two additional seasons through 1974.
