University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Sheri Turnbull 1994 - Basketball, Track and Field
The co-winner of the 1994 J. Edward Donnelly Award, the winner of the 1994 Semans Trophy and a three-time Kodak All-American, Sheri Turnbull, a 2004 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, led the women's basketball team to three straight conference titles and three straight trips to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
A two-time conference player of the year, she was the first UVM women's hoop player to have her number retired. She also was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. Over her four seasons the Catamounts went 98-20, the finest four-year run in program history.
She left the Catamounts as the program's all-time leading scorer (2,108 points) and rebounder (1,056), and the UVM all-time leader in scoring average (20.1 ppg), rebounding average (10.1 rpg), field goals (796) and free throws (511). She also set new UVM single-season marks for points (714 in 1993-94), scoring average (23.8 in 1993-94,), field goals (257 in 1993-94), free throws (196 in 1993-94), rebounds (376 in 1993-94) and rebounds per game (12.5 rpg in 1993-94).
Turnbull's career began in 1990-91 when she was named North Atlantic Conference (now America East) Rookie of the Year as the Catamounts, under coach Cathy Inglese, advanced to the conference title game for the first time.
The next season, 1991-92, began an amazing three-year stretch for the program as Vermont ran the table in the regular season and swept through the NAC Championship. Turnbull earned first-team All-Conference, first-team All-ECAC and honorable mention Kodak All-American honors as the Catamounts topped Maine, 70-50, to win their first conference title. They earned an at large bid the NCAA's as the ninth-seed in the East regional before falling at #8 George Washington, 70-69.
As a junior, she led the Cats and the conference in scoring (20.0 ppg) as they again went unbeaten in the regular season and won the NAC title with a 62-45 win over Maine. The Catamounts earned another at large bid (eighth seed) to the Big Dance and hosted #9 Rutgers at Patrick Gym in an East Regional first-round game. She won her first conference Player of the Year award and headed the all-conference first team.
She set UVM several single season marks as a senior in 1993-94 carrying the Catamounts to their third straight conference title earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. She was named the NAC Player of the Year for the second year in a row and for the third straight season, she earned a spot on the All-NAC first-team, All-ECAC first-team and the Kodak All-American squad.
After earning her degree in 1994 in engineering, she played professionally in Turkey and Portugal. The Windsor, Ontario native earned a spot on the Canadian National Team in 1994. She played for Canada in the 1994 Goodwill Games and was an alternate for Canada at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Back in Vermont, she joined the coaching ranks in 2000 at Colchester High School and in 2003-04, she returned to the Catamounts spending three seasons as a part-time assistant coach.
