Betty Wiseman to be Inducted into Missouri Valley Conference 2025 Hall of Fame Class

ST. LOUIS – There is perhaps no person who better personifies Belmont University Athletics than Betty Wiseman and she will now be a member of the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame. Announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon, Wiseman is one of six in the MVC 2025 Hall of Fame Class.
 
The matriarch of Belmont women's basketball, Wiseman will be honored with the Valley's Paul Morrison Award at the annual MVC Hall of Fame ceremony in St. Louis in early March.
 
The conference award and subsequent hall of fame induction only adds to Wiseman's distinguished legacy.
 
The 28th MVC Hall of Fame Class also features coaching legends Bob Warn of Indiana State, Bruce Weber of Southern Illinois, and Lisa Bluder of Drake, in addition to track and field All-American Tyler Mulder of Northern Iowa and men's basketball star Marcellus Sommerville of Bradley. Including this year's six inductees, the MVC Hall of Fame consists of 157 former student-athletes, administrators, coaches, and contributors.
 
The MVC will conduct its annual Hall of Fame ceremony as part the 2025 State Farm MVC Men's Basketball Championship in St. Louis. On Friday, March 7, the MVC Hall of Fame event will begin at 8 a.m. with a breakfast, followed by the induction ceremony at 8:30 a.m.
 
Tickets to the MVC 2025 Hall of Fame Class induction ceremony, which will be held at Stifel Theatre – adjacent to the Enterprise Center – can be obtained by contacting the league office. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
The MVC Paul Morrison Award is given to those individuals who have made significant contributions to their respective institutions, the Valley, or to athletics, in general.

About "Belmont Betty" 
For six decades, Wiseman has been an active figure at Belmont. As a student, coach, professor, administrator, mentor, and trusted advisor Wiseman has been a great ambassador for the university and the athletics department.
 
Wiseman has been recognized throughout the years for her leadership, courage, lifelong contributions to athletics and service to Belmont's community. Her nearly 50-year tenure at Belmont as professor, coach, then athletics administrator is one for the history books.
 
She pioneered the women's basketball program at Belmont four years before Title IX, served as coach and player on the first team, and built the program from the ground up. She fiercely advocated for all women on her team, especially in the height of the civil rights movement. In the 1990s, Wiseman assumed the role of senior woman administrator and assistant athletics director, where she guided Belmont's transition to NCAA Division I and established six additional women's programs – volleyball, softball, soccer, track and field, cross country and golf.
 
In addition to her 15-plus years as SWA/assistant athletics director, Wiseman began the athletics mission movement at Belmont in the summer of 1995. After leading a group of nine people representing Belmont men's and women's basketball to the country of Poland, Wiseman continued to lead mission trips for years. For over 25 years, athletics missions at Belmont has spanned 14 countries and four continents and impacted numerous people globally.
 
After graduating from Belmont in 1965, the Portland, Tennessee, native was named as associate professor of health and physical education in 1966 and began a teaching career of 40 years. She was named professor emeritus in the department of health and human performance in 2006 where she served as department chair for six years. In 1968 the former high school basketball standout began a new career as a women's sports trailblazer when she founded the women's basketball program at Belmont, one of the first programs, not only in the state, but in the southeast. Wiseman was the head women's basketball coach at Belmont for 16 seasons, compiling a 247-151 record. She led Belmont to four consecutive berths in the National Women's Invitational Tournament from 1973-77 and was named coach of the year four times, including once at the NWIT in 1977. Wiseman guided her teams to several championships and victories over many notable programs such as Alabama, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. She was inducted into the Belmont Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981 after being named Belmont's Alumni of the Year in 1977.
 
Wiseman has been honored by several organizations for her contributions to collegiate athletics. In 1999 she was given the Josten-Berenson Service Award by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) during the NCAA Women's Final Four in San Jose, California, to recognize her lifelong commitment to women's basketball. In 2003, Belmont honored her by naming the university's athletics administration offices the Striplin-Wiseman Athletic Office Complex. In 2004, Wiseman was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame for her contributions in promoting women's basketball in the state. She is the first Belmont coach or athlete to be so honored.
 
Wiseman has been inducted into the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA) Hall of Fame and received the second annual "An Honorable Life" award, co-sponsored by Belmont's Global Honors Program and Belmont Athletics.
 
During the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Wiseman garnered national social media attention as she was dubbed "Belmont Betty" on Twitter, now X, after being featured on the ESPN broadcast of Belmont's second round matchup with nationally-ranked Tennessee. Following Belmont's NCAA Tournament run, "Belmont Betty" t-shirts resembling her trademark white hair and collared shirt were created and sold. A portion of each "Belmont Betty" t-shirt sale was donated to the Betty Wiseman Mission Fund.
 
She is a member of Brentwood Baptist Church where she has served as trustee. An active medical missions volunteer with the church, Wiseman has been a member of the adult choir and a substitute teacher for Sunday school.