Paul Sanderford

On November 8, 1949, Sanderford was born in Zebulon, North Carolina.^[2] Growing up, Sanderford was on the basketball and baseball teams while attending Corinth Holders High School.^[3] After high school, Sanderford was a minor league baseball player for the Chicago White Sox.^[4] During the 1970s, Sanderford went to Louisburg College, Methodist College and North Carolina State University for his post secondary education. His programs included sociology and counselling.^[5] While attending college, Sanderford primarily played baseball while also playing basketball.^[6]

Early 1970s to Late 1990s

While at Methodist during the early 1970s, Sanderford worked as a school counselor in their admissions department. He continued his work in admissions when he became an assistant director in 1973.^[7] In 1975, Sanderford became a dean for Methodist.^[8] During this time period, Sanderford worked with their baseball team for two years before moving to their basketball team for a year in assistant coaching positions. In 1976, Sanderford joined the women's basketball team at Louisburg Junior College as their head coach.^[9]

With Louisburg, Sanderford won the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship in 1981.^[10] The following year, Sanderford and Louisburg lost the NJCAA championship final to Moberty.^[11][12] At Louisburg, Sanderford had 163 wins and 19 losses. In May 1982, it was announced that Sanderford would take a break from Louisburg in August 1982 and resume his tenure the following year.^[13]

Sanderford was hired as the coach of the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers basketball team in June 1982.^[14] While coaching for Western Kentucky, he helped create an invitational basketball tournament sponsored by Bowling Green Bank during the early 1980s.^[15] Sanderford won the Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament seven times and finished in second five times between 1983 and 1997.^[16][17] His team reached the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament twelve times, which included back-to-back competitions from 1985 to 1995.^[6][18]

At individual NCAA competitions, Sanderford reached the Final Four with Western Kentucky during the 1985 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament and 1986 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.^[19][20] During the 1992 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, Sanderford and Western Kentucky were defeated by Stanford in the championship game.^[21][22] At the National Women's Invitational Tournament with Western Kentucky, Sanderford's team was fourth in 1984 and sixth in 1996.^[23][24] After leaving the team in 1997, Sanderford had 365 wins and 120 losses with Western Kentucky. He has held the Western Kentucky record for most women's basketball wins for over twenty years leading up to the 2021–22 season.^[25]

Late 1990s to 2010s

In 1997, Sanderford became the coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball team.^[26] Following the announcement, members of the Nebraska Legislature disagreed with Sanderford's hiring as it went against their requirement to have more women work at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Chris Beutler thought the university's actions were "a direct affront to the Legislature".^[27] For Ernie Chambers, he believed that paying Sanderford more than the previous coach, Angela Beck, was a form of sexism.^[28]

With Nebraska, Sanderford was defeated in the final of the 1997 Women's National Invitation Tournament during the preseason.^[29][30] From 1998 to 2000, Sanderford appeared at consecutive tournaments in the NCAA with Nebraska.^[18] During these years, Sanderford and Nebraska reached the second round of the 1998 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.^[31][32] Sanderford remained with Nebraska until 2002 when he stepped down from his coaching position due to his personal health.^[33] After leaving Nebraska, Sanderford had 88 wins and 69 losses.^[34]

He resumed his experience with Western Kentucky when he became a volunteer for their men's basketball team in 2002.^[35] While at Western Kentucky, Sanderford worked in sportswear and had expanded his career to real estate.^[36]The following year, Sanderford was chosen to work for the athletic director at Western Kentucky as an assistant. For his role, Sanderford was given tasks in broadcasting advertising and financial donations.^[37]

In 2004, Sanderford became an assistant coach for the men's basketball team at Western Kentucky.^[38] Sanderford remained in his assistant position until he ended his basketball coaching career in 2007.^[39] That year, it was announced that Sanderford would work with the Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network as a color analyst for their men's basketball games.^[40] Sanderford continued his color analysis in the 2010s with ESPN and Fox College Sports.^[41] He also co-hosted a ESPN Radio program alongside Wes Strader.^[42]

^[43][44]

In 1981, Sanderford was named Coach of the Tournament after Louisburg won their 1981 NJCAA women's basketball title.^[45] For junior and community colleges, Sanderford was the women's basketball coach of the year recipient with Sanderford at the 1982 Wade Trophy Awards.^[8] As part of the Sun Belt Conference with Western Kentucky, Sanderford was named the conference's Coach of the Year in 1983, 1986 and 1991.^[46] For individual schools, Sanderford was inducted into a hall of fame by Methodist in 1998 and Western Kentucky in 2008.^[47][48] He was also inducted in 2010 into a hall of fame for Louisburg.^[49]

Sanderford was inducted into the NJCAA Women's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000.^[50] In 2010, Western Kentucky retired a jersey for Sanderson at E. A. Diddle Arena.^[51] He was chosen to become part of the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.^[52] After becoming a finalist for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019, Sanderson was selected for the WBHOF in 2022.^[53][54]

Sanderford was nicknamed "Buster" while at Louisburg.^[55] After leaving Nebraska in 2002, Sanderford had his artery fixed with angioplasty that year.^[56] He had one child during his marriage.^[14]