Denise Dillion

Denise Dillon

Denise Dillon will be entering her fifth season at her alma mater in 2024-25. In her first four years as the Wildcat head coach, Dillon led Villanova to a 93-36 overall record (.720) and a 52-19 BIG EAST mark (.732). During her first four years on the Main Line, she has guided Villanova to two NCAA Tournament appearances, one WNIT berth and a trip to the championship game of the inaugural WBIT. Her 21-year overall coaching record currently stands at 422-247 entering the 2024-25 season.
 
Last season, Dillon and the Wildcats tallied their third consecutive 20-win season with a 22-13 overall record and an 11-7 BIG EAST Conference mark. The Wildcats earned a bid to the first-ever WBIT where they registered wins over Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia, Saint Joseph’s and Penn State before losing to Illinois in the championship game. Under Dillon’s direction, junior guard Lucy Olsen ranked third in the country in scoring a season ago with a 23.3 points per game average en route to earning first team All-BIG EAST honors and Honorable Mention All-American accolades.
 
The 2022-23 season was a magical one for Dillon and the Wildcats. Villanova went 30-7 overall and 17-3 in BIG EAST play and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history.  The 30 wins set a school record for single season victories. The Wildcats finished in second place in the BIG EAST regular season standings and played in the conference championship game for the second straight season.
 
For their efforts in 2022-23, Villanova earned a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament and were chosen as a host site for the first and second rounds. This marked just the second time in program history that Villanova hosted NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament games. In front of near capacity crowds at the Finneran Pavilion, the Wildcats defeated Cleveland State in the first round and Florida Gulf Coast in round two to advance to the Sweet 16.  The Florida Gulf Coast triumph was extra special for Dillon who registered her 400th career victory in the win.
Dillon helped senior forward Maddy Siegrist lead the country during the 2022-23 campaign, as well as the BIG EAST for a third straight year in scoring with a 29.2 points per game average. Siegrist was rewarded for her standout play by earning BIG EAST Player of the Year honors for a second consecutive season and she garnered consensus first team All-American acclaim. Siegrist also claimed the Katrina McClain Award as the top power forward in the country. In April, Siegrist was selected with the third overall pick of the 2023 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings.
 
Under Dillon’s direction in 2021-22, Villanova tallied a 24-8 record, including a 15-4 BIG EAST Conference mark which was good enough for a second place finish in the final league standings. For their efforts, the Wildcats earned an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated BYU in the first round before falling to Michigan in round two. Villanova also went 3-1 in Philadelphia Big 5 play to capture the City Series championship.       
 
For her efforts in 2021-22, Dillon was named both the BIG EAST and Philadelphia Big 5 Coach of the Year. This marks the fifth time that Dillon has been named a conference coach of the year. During her Drexel career she was a four-time CAA Coach of the Year.    
 
Dillon came to Villanova from Drexel University where she built the Dragons into a perennial contender, making a name for herself in the Philadelphia sports scene and the women's basketball coaching ranks, while bringing her team national attention for its consistent success and high level of play. She led the Dragons to 10 postseason appearances, including winning the WNIT championship in 2013. During her 17-year Drexel career, Dillon compiled a 329-204 (.617) record.
 
From 2016-20, Dillon's Drexel teams boasted a 96-35 record (.732) and advanced to national postseason play each season.  In all, the Dragons won 20 or more games seven times under Dillon's watch, claimed four CAA titles and played in five conference championship games.  Dillon was named the CAA Coach of the Year in 2005, 2009, 2018 and 2020.  
 
The traits that have allowed Dillon to excel during her coaching career were honed during her time as a Villanova student-athlete. She played for head coach Harry Perretta and was part of Wildcats teams that went 68-43 (.613) during her collegiate career. Dillon accumulated 1,355 points and 677 rebounds while developing into an All-BIG EAST honoree and a three-time All-Big 5 selection.  She remains one of the all-time greats in the Villanova program and is enshrined in the Big 5 Hall of Fame (2004), the Villanova Varsity Club Hall of Fame (2012), the Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame (2012) and the Cardinal O'Hara High School Hall of Fame (2018).
  
Dillon was appointed as the head coach at Drexel prior to the 2004-05 season after spending one year as the program's interim head coach.  She led that 2004-05 squad to a 19-10 record and a first-round bye in the CAA Tournament.  The Dragons eventually advanced to the semifinals and came within one point of toppling Old Dominion, a feat that had never before been accomplished in the conference tournament.
 
Drexel boasted a winning record in 11 of the last 12 seasons under Dillon, but the first true breakthrough of her coaching career came in 2008-09 when the Dragons played their way to the 2009 regular season CAA title and a then-program record of 24 wins.  What came next was the feat that had so narrowly eluded Drexel a few seasons earlier; the Dragons knocked off 17-time defending conference champion Old Dominion and ended the Lady Monarchs' NCAA-best 50-game conference tournament winning streak.  Drexel went on to defeat James Madison on its home court to bring home the school's first CAA title and earn its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
In 2012-13, Dillon led the Dragons to a school-record 28 victories and the WNIT title after a remarkable postseason run that saw Drexel defeat Iona, Harvard, Bowling Green, Auburn, Florida and Utah on its way to the first postseason tournament championship in both CAA history and Philadelphia Division I women's basketball history.
 
Dillon's teams netted Drexel's first-ever victories over teams from the SEC (Auburn, Florida), the Pac-12 (Utah) and the ACC (Syracuse).  She posted two wins over nationally ranked opponents, including the victory over the 11th-ranked Orange in 2016-17 when Syracuse was coming off a national runner-up finish one year earlier.  During her Dragons tenure, Dillon saw her student-athletes be named All-CAA performers a total of 27 times. She coached three CAA Rookies of the Year, two CAA Players of the Year, the program's first AP All-American, the leading scorer in Philadelphia women's basketball history and the first Drexel women's player to be selected in the WNBA Draft.  In 2018-19, she mentored the CAA Player of the Year (Bailey Greenberg) and during the season became the first Drexel basketball coach to win 300 career games at the school.  Dillon's 2018-19 squad also led the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 50.5 points per contest.
 
Off the court, Dillon's commitment to helping student-athletes grow as players and as people has been one of the Drexel program's greatest success stories.  She produced five winners of the CAA's prestigious Dean Ehlers Leadership Award, while Nicole Hester '09 was the recipient of the John Randolph Inspiration Award and the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association's Most Courageous Award.  Drexel also was active in the community throughout Dillon's tenure.  The program made visits to the Ronald McDonald House and several local daycare centers, organized fundraisers and rallied the Philadelphia community while using their collective experiences to grow as individuals.
 
DREXEL YEAR-BY-YEAR
Interim Coach
2003-04        10-18 (t-7th CAA)
Head Coach
2004-05        19-10 (3rd) – CAA Coach of the Year
2005-06        15-14 (7th)
2006-07        10-21 (9th)
2007-08        18-12 (t-3rd)
2008-09        24-9 (1st) – CAA Coach of the Year; CAA Tournament Champions; NCAA Tournament
2009-10        17-14 (t-4th)
2010-11        19-13 (t-5th)
2011-12        19-14 (3rd)
2012-13        28-10 (3rd) – WNIT Champions
2013-14        15-16 (4th)
2014-15        20-11 (2nd)
2015-16        19-14 (2nd)
2016-17        22-11 (3rd)
2017-18        27-8 (1st) – CAA Coach of the Year
2018-19        24-9 (2nd)
2019-20        23-7 (1st) – CAA Coach of the Year
Drexel Career / 329-211
 
VILLANOVA YEAR-BY-YEAR
2020-21        17-7 (4th in BIG EAST)
2021-22        24-9 (2nd in BIG EAST) – BIG EAST Coach of the Year; NCAA Tournament 2nd Round
2022-23        30-7 (2nd BIG EAST) – NCAA Tournament Sweet 16; 400th career win; Big 5 Coach of the Year
2023-24        22-13 (T-3rd BIG EAST) – WBIT Championship Game
 
Villanova Career / 93-36 (.720)
 
OVERALL (21 years)/ 422-247 (.630)
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