Francis Marion University athletic officials recently announced
that former women’s basketball All-American Daphne Donnelly
and long-time track and field and cross country coach Dr. Thomas M.
Whiteley are the newest inductees into the FMU Athletic Hall of
Fame in 2014.
Donnelly starred on four Patriot basketball teams between 1979
and 1983, including the 1982 national championship squad, and also
played two seasons on the Francis Marion softball squad.
Donnelly, a native of Mullins, was a three-time
All-America, All-Region, and All-State selection. She was named the
Most Valuable Player of the 1982 AIAW Division II Final Foul as the
school captured its first-ever national championship. Following her
senior season, during which she averaged 24.6 points and 14.8
rebounds per game, she was also named to the KODAK All-American
Team for the large college division. She helped Francis Marion to a
four-year mark of 97-27 and national rankings at the end of three
of the four seasons.
Donnelly finished her career second (now third) on the all-time
Francis Marion scoring list with 2,403 points and is still the
all-time rebound leader with 1,472. In 121 career games, she
averaged 19.9 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 53%
from the field and totaling 223 assists, 175 steals, and 57 blocked
shots. She averaged a double-double every year, and had
career highs of 43 points against Campbellsville College and 26
rebounds against Coastal Carolina College, both in 1983. During her
career, she set school records for free throws made in a game (14)
and consecutive free throws made (17), and tied the single-game
record for steals (10).
Among her other accolades are Player of the Year honors for the
region in 1983 and the state in 1981. She gained All-Tournament
Team honors on eight occasions and Player of the Week recognition
six times, including three occasions on the national level. She was
named the NAIA District Six Co-MVP as a senior and was selected as
the Francis Marion Team MVP as a freshman, junior, and senior.
Arguably, her best single-game performance may have occurred
during Francis Marion’s 85-81 upset win over N.C. State in
famed Reynolds Coliseum on Dec. 18, 1982. Donnelly tallied 36
points (on 16-of-27 shooting), 14 rebounds, four assists, and three
steals.
On the softball diamond, she batted .386 in 26 games with four
home runs and 28 runs batted in for a 22-7 Francis Marion squad
that advanced to the 1981 AIAW Division II World Series. In
1983, she hit .295 in 17 games with a home run and six RBIs for a
21-7 Patriot team.
Following her playing career at Francis Marion, Donnelly played
in the Spanish (Women’s) Basketball League for the Baloncesto
Coronas Tenerife team on the Canary Islands, and then later in
Sweden.
Donnelly earned a B.A. degree in Business Administration,
completing her course work with Saint Leo University. She
lived and worked for many years in Atlanta, but now resides in San
Antonio, Texas.
