Ceal Barry


Adele Cecilia "Ceal" Barry is an American college athletics administrator and former basketball player and coach. She is concurrently the Associate Athletic Director for Student Services and Senior Woman Administrator at the University of Colorado Boulder. She served as the interim athletic director at Colorado in 2013 and served as the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball team from 1983 to 2005. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Barry graduated from Assumption High School in Louisville in 1973. Barry then enrolled at the University of Kentucky and played at guard for four seasons on the Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team, and she graduated in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in accounting.

Coaching career

From 1977 to 1979, Barry was a graduate assistant at the University of Cincinnati. After she completed her M.Ed. in 1979, Barry was promoted to head coach, where she would remain for four seasons and left with an 83–42 cumulative record.
On April 12, 1983, the University of Colorado Boulder hired Barry as head coach for Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball, replacing Sox Walseth. In 22 seasons, Barry had a 427–242 cumulative record, as well as four Big Eight Conference "Coach of the Year" honors and the Carol Eckman Award in 1995. The 1988–89 team went 14–0 in Big Eight play, the first team in conference history to go undefeated in conference play. In 2002, she became the first woman to be a head coach for 20 years at Colorado.
Barry returned to coaching in the 2011 Pan American Games as head coach of the US women's basketball team, who finished in seventh place.

Administrative career

On April 1, 2005, nearly a month after ending her coaching career, Barry became associate athletic director for student services and senior woman's administrator at Colorado. She then served as interim athletic director for nearly two months effective June 3, 2013, prior to Rick George entering the position long term. In 2014, Barry changed to senior associate athletic director for internal relations while continuing her role as senior woman's administrator.

Awards and honors

Barry was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Head coaching record

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