‘I would imagine there is going to be a building, a statue named after her’: The Wide-Ranging Impact of Sheila McInerney’s 40 Years As a Sun Devil

By: Story by Griffin Fabits, a two-time ASU graduate and a former Sports Information Director in the Sun Devil Athletics Communications department. He now serves as a Marketing Copywriter for the ASU Alumni Association.

TEMPE, Ariz. – Linda Vollstedt, one of the winningest and most iconic coaches in Sun Devil history, paused to reflect, careful in choosing her words.

As did Reka Cseresnyes, Desirae Krawczyk and Kady Pooler – a trio of former Sun Devil Women’s Tennis players – and Matt Langley, the team’s eighth-year associate head coach.

Such a reaction is almost universal when asked what impact Sheila McInerney, who is soon to begin her 40th season this fall as the head coach of Sun Devil Women’s Tennis, has had on Arizona State since her hiring on Aug. 16, 1984.

“She’s a legend,” Vollstedt said. “She’s an amazing coach, an amazing person and has left a good mark … I think Sheila’s given everything she’s had to the sport.”

Cseresnyes: “I’m struggling to find a word other than ‘legend.'”

Pooler: “She’s a legend.”

Krawczyk: “She’s someone I think all the coaches respect and as players, we really respect her as well. She’s a legend. She’s a legend for sure.”

Langley: “To college tennis, everyone is familiar with Sheila McInerney. She’s everything that you want in a Sun Devil.”

A resume that spans four decades is, of course, well stocked with accolades and feats.

A two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year. A run of 35 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. A career win total closing in on 600.

But the on-court success nearly becomes secondary when discussing the influence of McInerney. Instead, past players, assistants and colleagues marvel at her character, her work ethic, her love of the game and her steadfast commitment to molding young student-athletes.

“That woman,” said Pooler, who played for McInerney from 2003-07, “has a lot of Sun Devil pride.”

There was a plausible scenario where both Cseresnyes and Pooler ended up elsewhere in the Pac-12 Conference. Pooler, a Dana Point, California, native, had a private coach as an adolescent who went on to become an assistant at UCLA.

Cseresnyes, who hailed all the way from Hungary, leaned on a close childhood friend, who had…