Dale Hodges, a two-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Year at Saint Joseph's University, was named an assistant women's basketball coach at Fordham University it was announced in June of 2013 by head coach Stephanie Gaitley.
"A winning program is only made possible when composed of good people," said Gaitley. "I had the pleasure of recruiting Dale when I was an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's. She is recognized as one of the all-time greats and will bring a wealth of experience. Dale is a great teacher of the game and her successes, both on and off the court, makes her an ideal role model for our players."
Hodges, who has played professional basketball on three continents in addition to coaching on the collegiate level, led the Hawks in scoring, rebounding and blocks all three seasons she played at Saint Joseph's (1988-90), becoming the only player in school history to accomplish that feat. She also paced the team in steals during her final two years. Her remarkable run helped her earn All-Atlantic 10 honors every season and during her junior (1989) and senior (1990) seasons, she was honored as the A-10 Player of the Year, leading the league in scoring each season.
Hodges, who led the Hawks to three NCAA Tournaments, including the second round twice, was named the 1988 Big 5 Rookie of the Year and also earned Big 5 Player of the Year honors in 1989 and 1990. She capped her brilliant career averaging 27.6 points (third nationally) and 12.0 rebounds (13th nationally) as a senior, earning a trio of First Team All-American honors with the Kodak, USWBA and Naismith teams.
The only female athlete in Saint Joseph's University history to have her uniform number (44) retired, she was inducted into both the Philadelphia Big Five and Saint Joseph's basketball Hall of Fames in 1996. She also was inducted into the Saint Joseph's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.
Hodges has a plethora of USA Basketball experience, playing with the 1997 Senior National Pan American Qualifying Team that won a silver medal as well as the gold medal-winning team at the 1991 World University Games in Sheffield, England. While at Saint Joseph's, Hodges earned a silver medal with the Jones Cup Team in 1988.
A sociology major who graduated from Saint Joseph's in 1990, Hodges continued her outstanding basketball career at the professional level, playing all around the world from 1990-95 and 1997-2004. She competed with teams in Italy, Spain, Japan, France, South Korea and Russia and also played with the New England Blizzard of the ABL, being the first round draft choice of the team in 1996, the seventh overall pick in the ABL draft that year.
Hodges participated in the Olympic Trials in both 1988 and 1992 and played on an Under-21 National Team European Tour to Yugoslavia and Russia. Her final professional season, as well, was spent in Russia. She retired from pro ball in 2004.
Hodges got her coaching start as an assistant coach on the women's staff at Drexel University in 1994-1995 and she also served as an assistant at the University of Massachusetts in 1995-1996.
Following her playing days, Hodges was named head women's coach at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, in 2004-2005. Despite taking over the team two weeks into the season, she developed an all-conference player and had two players earn conference player of the week honors.
Following her season at Arcadia, Hodges was named head women's coach at Rutgers University-Camden for the 2005-2006 season where one player earned all-conference accolades and another was named most improved.
Since 2005, Hodges has served as a health and physical education teacher, athletic director and boy's and girls' basketball coach at Wakisha Charter Middle School in Philadelphia.
In addition to her bachelors degree from Saint Joseph's, Hodges earned her health and physical Education certification in 2011 before receiving her masters degree in multi-cultural education from Eastern University in 2012.
