Joanne Bracker, an American college basketball coach who was born on May 3, 1945, passed away on February 1, 2023. Before taking over as Midland University’s women’s basketball coach in 1970, Bracker taught basketball in the late 1960s.
Between the 1980s and 2000s, Bracker participated frequently with the Midland Warriors in the NAIA Women’s Basketball Championships for Division I and Division II.
The team’s fourth-place result at the 1985 Division I championship was Bracker’s best accomplishment while serving as the team’s head coach. Up until her retirement in 2012, Bracker remained to coach for Midland.
Joanne Bracker Obituary
Joanne Bracker was born in the middle of the 1940s in Mondamin, Iowa. Bracker played forward in high school, where he lasted two seasons in the starting lineup. Bracker continued to play basketball while pursuing her undergraduate education at Dana College, where she also received degrees in physical education and English in 1966. She continued her study while earning a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 1970.
Before joining the women’s basketball staff at Northern Colorado in the late 1960s, Bracker taught physical education to kids in Omaha, Nebraska, and Casper, Wyoming. Bracker declined the opportunity to coach field hockey at Iowa State in favor of women’s basketball at Midland University in 1970.
Under Bracker’s leadership, the Midland Warriors participated in both Division I and Division II of the NAIA Women’s Basketball Championships numerous times between the 1980s and 2000s. At the 1985 Division I championship, they finished in fourth place, which was their highest result during this time.