Lucille Bailie
Hall of Fame Class: 2017 Role: Player
Bailie played junior representative basketball with Bulleen before earning an AIS scholarship and debuting in the WNBL as a teenager in 1987.
In 1988, Bailie was named captain of the AIS and was the inaugural winner of the WNBL Rookie of the Year award as she emerged as one of the WNBL’s budding stars.
She then achieved team success following a move to the Nunawading Spectres in 1989, contributing to the league’s first dynasty with a Championship which helped put her on the national radar.
That same year, Bailie represented the Australian Gems at the 1989 World Championships for Junior Women and was a key part of Australia’s first ever team international medal when they defeated Czechoslovakia in the bronze medal playoff.
Bailie finished with 16 points in that game and averaged 13.3 for the tournament while shooting a highly efficient 60% from the field overall.
She also represented the Australian Opals at the 1990 World Championships at just 21 years of age, contributing to a fifth-place finish.
Bailie played two more seasons with the Spectres as well as spending time with the Dandenong Rangers and Tassie Islanders before fellow 2017 Hall of Fame inductee Carrie Graf lured her to the Canberra Capitals in 2001.
There, she was named captain of the team and became a part of another WNBL dynasty as the Capitals claimed back-to-back Championships in 2002 and 2003.
It was an emotionally charged Grand Final in 2003 when the Caps edged Sydney University by two points in front of a crowd of over 5,000 and Bailie recorded 19 points and five rebounds in 37 minutes.
She retired the following season equal-first on the all-time WNBL games played list with 377 and currently sits equal second on that list.
In the WNBL, Bailie is placed 11th all-time for finals played with a total of 17 and sits third for total rebounds (2,305), third for made field goals (1,777) and seventh for points scored (4,250).
Awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2001, Bailie left behind a profound legacy as a competitive rebounder, tenacious defender, consummate team player, inspirational leader and an influence on some of the WNBL’s greats.
Bailie will be inducted alongside five other icons into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame on October 27 while the Gaze Family, Maher Family, Sandy Blythe and Sue Hobbs medals will also be awarded to the most outstanding player of the Australian Boomers, Opals, Rollers and Gliders respectively.
