From the Valley to the Big East:

Val Ackerman

Becoming the founding president of the WNBA, being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and becoming the first female president of USA Basketball are only some of Hopewell Valley alumni Val Ackerman’s many accomplishments. Recently, I got the chance to ask her a few questions about her career and hear her thoughts on the growth of women’s basketball. 

For some backstory, Val Ackerman is a HVCHS class of 1977 graduate, where she had a fulfilling career as a member of the field hockey team, girls’ basketball team, and spring track team. Ackerman amassed 10 varsity letters throughout her four years here. Her outstanding basketball skills took her to the University of Virginia, where she was one of the school’s first female athletes to be awarded a scholarship. She had an impressive four years at UVA, being named Academic All-American twice and the school’s first basketball player to reach 1000 points. 

When I asked her about her time at Hopewell, she talked about her Latin teacher, Kate Thursby, whom she fondly remembers teaching her the saying, “Latin’s a dead language, as dead as dead can be. At first it killed the Romans, and now it’s killing me.” She also mentioned her field hockey and basketball coach for all four years, Barb Skiba, whom she still has a special bond with. Her legacy at Hopewell extends past Ms. Ackerman herself: her father was the Athletic Director and a key figure in establishing the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC). Our Old Gym is currently named after him. 

After graduating from UVA and obtaining her law degree from UCLA, Val found herself a job as a staff attorney for the NBA. She eventually became the special assistant before being named Vice President of Business Affairs to David Stern, the NBA Commissioner at the time. She was then named as founding president of the WNBA. Ackerman discussed her challenges establishing this league and noted how difficult it was to “convince skeptics that women’s pro basketball was entertaining and worthy of major league treatment and respect.” That said, the 2024 WNBA season was the most-watched regular season in their 24 year history and finished the season with their highest attendance in 22 years. According to Ackerman and others, the recent increase in popularity can be heavily credited to Caitlin Clark, the WNBA rookie who had a historic first season in the league this past year and has drawn record-breaking viewers since her days at the University of Iowa. Ms. Ackerman added that social media has become a significant tool in promoting the league and “something we couldn’t have envisioned 30 years ago when the groundwork for the league was being made.”

Ackerman also shared some memorable moments from working with the players from the NBA and WNBA, recalling traveling with the iconic 1992 “Dream Team” as they are known today, which was the first team of NBA players to represent the USA in the Barcelona Olympics, featuring players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and other Hall of Famers. “I was a part of the travel party–it was like being part of a rock band!”

As we ended our conversation, Ms. Ackerman shared some advice for students wanting to pursue careers in sports like her. “Focus first on getting a good education.  College is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you should take advantage of a full range of course offerings to build your personal knowledge base and help you discover what you’re most interested in. I also believe in travel (e.g., a semester abroad) since nothing opens up the mind like staying in another country. Sports jobs will always be there, so there’s no need to rush into them. When the time comes, make sure you have a professional skill that sports organizations need in order to fill an opening they have: my point of entry was the law.”

Without a doubt, Val Ackerman’s impact on women’s basketball is on a level of its own, and her dedication and passion for her work are highly commendable. Currently overseeing the D1 powerhouse Big East Conference, Val has shown that anything is possible by staying the course and taking every opportunity given to you.