If you catch the Old Dominion women’s basketball exhibition game on Wednesday night, here’s what you won’t see at the Constant Center.
The Lady Monarchs.
They’re just the Monarchs now. ODU administrators aren’t making a big deal about removing the word “Lady.” Athletic director Wood Selig noted no formal press release has been sent out; first-year coach Nikki McCray said, “Call us whatever you want.”
But a check of recent promotions and a read of the quick facts on ODU’s website confirm that they’re Monarchs. It’s a change many athletic departments have made for marketing purposes. McCray’s own Lady Vols dropped the Lady for a while for all women’s sports except basketball. The decision received so much pushback that Tennessee added the “Lady” back this year.
We’ve talked to ODU fans and alums, many of whom feel strongly about retaiing the nickname, others not so much.
One stunned longtime LM who asked not to be identified here simply said upon hearing the news, “What? That’s who we are.”
“I was a Lady Monarch,” former captain Jen Nuzzo, a native of Newport News, told us. Nuzzo said she understands business decisions, but the focus on football at the school has taken resources away from both women’s and men’s basketball.
Former manager and longtime fan Felicia Allen, said, “That’s crazy! I loved being a Lady Monarch. I’m all for female empowerment, but there is nothing like being called a Lady. i feel like that is one of the areas where they should differentiate. It promotes a sisterhood among female athletes. For some schools, it’s a huge part of the history. I can’t imagine Tennessee not being the Lady Vols just like we should always be Lady Monarchs.”
One counterpoint: legend Nancy Lieberman isn’t as married to the “Lady,” adding, “Once a Monarch, always a Monarch.”
Change is hard. We’re admittedly traditionalists when it comes to a program whose history is unmatched in the sport. Many schools have the “Lady” tag to separate their women’s program from the men’s. But Lady Monarchs was a brand. Lady Monarch Pride is the name of the booster club. “Lady Monarch basketball” is how former basketball administrative assistant Annette Chester answered the phone for more than two decades.
An aside, though a relevant one: Annette was moved out of the basketball department to a job in compliance earlier this year. (Her transition had nothing to do with the new coaching staff, for the record.) That’s a slight that’s hard to overlook as Annette wasn’t just anyone. She is a Lady Monarch history book.
Us LadySwishers prefer the Lady because it’s part of ODU’s identity, a part of history we don’t want to see erased. Frankly, a fracture remains in a fan base still disappointed by the way the dismissal of former coach Wendy Larry was handled. Even the many who believe ODU needed a new coach find objection in the cursory handling of her departure. The alumna who won more than 600 games, 17 CAA championships and led ODU to the 1997 NCAA championship and 2002 Elite Eight hasn’t been back at the Constant Center since. Nor is there anything commemorating her achievements inside.
Eliminating “Lady” is another punch to the gut for program traditionalists. Anne Donovan was a Lady Monarch. So were Celeste Hill, Ticha Penicheiro and Jennie Simms.
The 2017-18 team members don’t have that privilege.