Legendary Opals coach and player will be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in a ceremony in France this September 19.
Stirling becomes with fourth Australian to be recognised by basketball’s governing body following Lindsay Gaze, Andrew Gaze, and Alistair Ramsay, and the first Australian female inductee.
Stirling is among the nine-strong 2015 Class of Inductees, alongside Michael Jordan, Antoine Rigaudeau of France, Lithuania’s Sarunas Marciulionis, Vladimir Tkachenko of Russia/Ukraine, Cuba’s Ruperto Herrera Tabio and Anne Donovan of the USA.
Technical official Robert Blanchard of France and contributor Noah Klieger of Israel round out the impressive list.
“We are very honoured to announce the illustrious 2015 Class of the FIBA Hall of Fame,” said FIBA President Horacio Muratore.
“These nine individuals are great personalities who have experienced tremendous success on and off the court. Just as important, they also stand out for the character they have displayed and the countless efforts they have made to help promote our sport.
“We look forward to honouring them.”
A hard-nosed and determined point guard, Jan Stirling played 163 WNBL games between 1982 and 1991, and represented the Opals at the 1975 FIBA World Championships. But it was what Stirling accomplished as a coach that truly set her apart.
Taking over the reins of the Adelaide Lightning in 1993, she created one of the great dynasties of Australian basketball. Stirling guided her team to five consecutive WNBL Grand Finals, winning a hat-trick of titles from 1994-1996 and another in 1998. Her ascension to the Australian Opals coaching role was a natural progression, and when the Opals won gold at the 2006 FIBA World Championships in Brazil, Jan Stirling’s place in Australian basketball history was assured.
The first-ever gold medal by a senior Australian basketball team would be surrounded by silver medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, bronze at the 2002 FIBA World Championships and gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
In 2008 Stirling was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contribution to sport, and most recently she served on the selection committee for the Australian Boomers and Jayco Australian Opals head coaching positions.
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.