A former coach and athletic director, Bassett’s accomplishments had a lasting impact on Heron student-athletes. As athletics director, Bassett expanded the number of opportunities for women by adding golf, sailing, and squash as varsity sports. She also improved the quality of the experiences for all Herons, growing membership in the Heron Society to record numbers.
Bassett also oversaw many facility projects that enhanced existing venues or created new ones, including the expansion of Winn-Seeley Gym in 1996 and construction of McCooey Field in 2000. Her tenure with the Herons included dozens of conference championships and a pair of NCAA National Championships. Bassett also introduced the Peak Performance Plan in her time at William Smith. The program helps student-athletes achieve peak performance academically, athletically and professionally.
Bassett was a member of the NCAA Division III Management Council from 1999-2004, including the final year of her term as the chair of the council. She oversaw the development and passage of the wide sweeping reform package that was adopted during the 2004 NCAA Convention. Bassett was also elected to the board of directors and served a term as president of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA).
In 2004, she received the ECAC Jostens Administrator of the Year Award and the Jean Giambrone Service Award at the WHAM Sportswomen Luncheon for her three decades of service to intercollegiate athletics as both a coach and an administrator.
As a coach at William Smith, Bassett led the swimming and diving team and later as the men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach at Union College, she mentored 114 All-Americans and two national champions, was a three-time New York State Coach of the Year and the 1993 NCAA Division III Women’s Coach of the Year. She also served as an assistant coach in field hockey and lacrosse at William Smith.
“I consider it my great fortune to have started my coaching career at William Smith College under the guidance of Mary Hosking and Pat Genovese while working alongside Aliceann Wilber. I was part of William Smith Athletics during its important formative years. Being in an environment that empowers women with the autonomy engendered by the coordinate college system was transformative for me.” Basset said. “Having the opportunity to serve as director of athletics for 10 years, with the incredible coaches who create an environment where excellence and achievement at a high level is routine was truly a remarkable experience.”
A 1979 graduate of Ithaca College, she earned a master’s degree in physical education from Indiana University in 1980. Basset was inducted into the Ithaca College Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Union College Hall of Fame in 2006 for her outstanding tenure as head swimming and diving coach.
Bassett is currently the director of athletics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. During her tenure at Carnegie Mellon, she has implemented the Excellence Forum, which includes leadership and life-skill programming for all athletes, and has been the driving force for a number of significant facility upgrades.
