Purdue women's basketball report: Remembering Nell Fortner's season, Final Four picks and more

Are the Boilermakers close to receiving their first portal commitment?

An earlier version stated Fortner was the first coach and GM of the Indiana Fever. It’s been corrected. Anne Donovan was the first coach.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that on a Friday:

• Is Purdue’s first portal commitment on the way? More visitors are coming after the recruiting dead period.

• “It is one of the most satisfying and rewarding seasons in the history of the program, although the final record was 17-11 and ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament.”

That’s what I wrote about the 1996-97 team four years ago for the Journal & Courier when Nell Fortner brought Georgia Tech to Mackey Arena to face the Boilermakers. Fortner was Purdue’s coach 28 years ago for one season, but what transpired remains part of the program’s fabric. Why are we writing about Fortner and that season? Fortner retired from coaching earlier this week, capping a stellar career. It included 15 years at the college level, leading the U.S. Women’s National Team to a gold medal in 2000 and serving as the second coach of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, following Anne Donovan.

Fortner’s retirement brought back memories from that one magical year.

The team was pieced together by duct tape. Granted, Stephanie White, Ukari Figgs, and Jannon Roland were the core, but Fortner and her staff filled in the gaps with unheralded recruits, walk-ons after campus tryouts, and enticed a track and field All-American to join the team. It all came together, capped by winning a share of the Big Ten title with Illinois and Michigan State. The sight of Fortnter’s players carrying her off the Assembly Hall court in Champaign, Ill., before 16,000 fans remains one of the signature moments of the program.

Photo: Downloaded from newspapers.com. The two players in front - Tiffany Young (left) and Corissa Yasen (right) - died within two years of each other. Young passed away in 1999, and Yasen in 2001. Both played key roles on the 1996-97 team.

A couple of personal stories from covering that team.

The Boilermakers played in Wisconsin in early January, and my wife and I drove up the day of the game. I stopped by the team hotel to pick up something and Fortner was in the lobby.

Nell: “Hey, Mike. Y’all got a car?”

Me: “Yes.”

Nell: “Can you take me to the mall?”

Me: “I guess.”

Nell sat in the back seat while we drove her to the mall. This was before GPS and iPhones. Nell had the directions. She was searching for a blouse to wear for the game. We sat in the department store (I don’t remember the name) while she tried on several blouses. We were there for about an hour. She purchased a blouse, and we dropped her off at the hotel. Purdue lost the game, and I don’t think Nell wore the blouse again. I didn’t tell many people because I didn’t know if I crossed a journalist line by driving the coach of the team I covered to the mall. Just think if that happened in today’s media world. Viral moment!

Dave Wegiel Photography

The other story was on the same trip. Two days later, the Boilermakers were pummeled at Michigan State. They lost by 13, but it was a non-competitive blowout. After finishing player interviews, I was standing outside the locker room, and Tom Schott, the program’s sports information director at the time, gave me a nudge:

Tom: “Ask Nell what time practice is tomorrow?”

Me: “OK.”

Fortner comes out of the Breslin Center locker room.

Me: “What time is practice tomorrow?”

Nell: “5:30 a.m.”

The players beat the coaches to practice the next day. Fortner took away their practice gear, leaving them only with shoes, and the players couldn’t wear anything Purdue related.

From there, the Boilermakers finished the regular season 10-3. They earned the top seed in the Big Ten tournament but lost to Indiana. They were the No. 8 seed in the Mideast Regional and faced No. 9 seed Maryland in the first round in Norfolk, Va., home of top seed Old Dominion. Purdue took care of the Terrapins and was so close - oh, so close - from knocking off the Lady Monarchs but lost in overtime to one of the nation’s best teams when White’s final attempt rolled off the rim. A victory would’ve sent the Boilermakers to Mackey Arena for the regional semifinals before a likely packed house because of how the fanbase embraced this team after all the turmoil and the season they had.

There are plenty of stories about that season. Maybe we’ll go in-depth in 2026-27 for the 30th anniversary, assuming I’m still doing this.

Thank you for indulging me about the 1996-97 season.

• Two players who jumped in the portal have found landing spots: Sophie Swanson to Virginia Tech and Jordyn Poole to Dayton.

• Do the Boilermakers have a better than 1 in 50 shot of landing this player? She played last season at Auburn.

• Destini Lombard, one of four transfers on last year’s team, will participate in the 2025 NCAA Above the Rim Summit at the Final Four in Tampa. The event is held by the NCAA’s leadership development team. It’s set to help attendees understand how to navigate potential professional paths in the WNBA and abroad, life beyond playing the game, and various careers in athletics.

Lombard was one of 20 players selected from across the country.

• Regarding the Final Four: South Carolina over Texas. UConn over UCLA. UConn over South Carolina for the second time this season. I’ll root for the Bruins because they’re from the Big Ten, but the Huskies are playing well, and they have the best player remaining in the tournament. The Big Ten championship drought continues. Purdue is the only school to win a national championship from the conference.

• A Purdue connection to the Final Four. Former Boilermaker player and assistant coach Lindsey Wisdom-Hylton is on Texas’ coaching staff. She’s in her third season.