Danielle Jeanetta O’Banion ’97
The second woman to be inducted into Episcopal’s Athletics Hall of Fame, Ms. O’Banion lettered in basketball, volleyball, and track and field. She also served the School as Head Monitor and a member of the Honor Committee.
She led the varsity basketball team to state and ISL-A championships as a freshman, and to an ISL-AA championship as a junior. Co-captain of the team as a junior and senior, she received the School Award for Basketball both years. Ms. O’Banion was Episcopal’s first female athlete to reach 1,000 points in scoring. She was All-ISL in basketball each of her four years at EHS, All-Met as a junior and senior, and All-State as a senior. Ms. O’Banion was named to the Virginia Independent Schools All-Tournament team as a junior and senior, and was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player as a junior. The Alexandria Sportsman’s Club named her as the Basketball Player of the Year when she was a senior – only the second girl to win the award.
A four-year member of the varsity volleyball team, she earned All-ISL honors as a junior and co-captained the team as a senior. She also lettered in track and field, competing in the discus and shot put events. Ms. O’Banion received the C.C. Baldwin Medal for Sportsmanship and the James H. Fannon, Jr. Family Award for Athletic Worth at Commencement in 1997.
Ms. O’Banion earned a basketball scholarship to Boston College, where she helped the Eagles reach the NCAA tournament in both 1999 and 2000 – the school’s first two appearances in the tournament. Co-captain of the team as a senior, she received the college’s Barbara McNamara Women’s Basketball Endowed Scholarship for leadership on and off the court.
She continued her involvement in the sport after college as a coach at Harvard University and the University of Minnesota, where she helped the team to the school’s first Final Four appearance. She returned to EHS to coach varsity basketball and serve as assistant director of admissions during the 2007-08 school year. Today she is an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Memphis.
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She led the varsity basketball team to state and ISL-A championships as a freshman, and to an ISL-AA championship as a junior. Co-captain of the team as a junior and senior, she received the School Award for Basketball both years. Ms. O’Banion was Episcopal’s first female athlete to reach 1,000 points in scoring. She was All-ISL in basketball each of her four years at EHS, All-Met as a junior and senior, and All-State as a senior. Ms. O’Banion was named to the Virginia Independent Schools All-Tournament team as a junior and senior, and was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player as a junior. The Alexandria Sportsman’s Club named her as the Basketball Player of the Year when she was a senior – only the second girl to win the award.
A four-year member of the varsity volleyball team, she earned All-ISL honors as a junior and co-captained the team as a senior. She also lettered in track and field, competing in the discus and shot put events. Ms. O’Banion received the C.C. Baldwin Medal for Sportsmanship and the James H. Fannon, Jr. Family Award for Athletic Worth at Commencement in 1997.
Ms. O’Banion earned a basketball scholarship to Boston College, where she helped the Eagles reach the NCAA tournament in both 1999 and 2000 – the school’s first two appearances in the tournament. Co-captain of the team as a senior, she received the college’s Barbara McNamara Women’s Basketball Endowed Scholarship for leadership on and off the court.
She continued her involvement in the sport after college as a coach at Harvard University and the University of Minnesota, where she helped the team to the school’s first Final Four appearance. She returned to EHS to coach varsity basketball and serve as assistant director of admissions during the 2007-08 school year. Today she is an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Memphis.
