Caroline Doty is probably one of Bucks County’s best-kept secrets.
Doty, a native of Doylestown, is one of 15 athletes, coaches and athletic directors slated for induction into the Bucks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 27 at Brookside Manor, 50 Bustleton Pike, Feasterville.
Living inductees are Lauren Baugher (Neshaminy, field hockey); Tom Kane (Central Bucks East, girls swim coach); Jen Long (Central Bucks East, field hockey); Lisa Palmer (Harry S. Truman, softball); Christina Quinn (Central Bucks East, softball); Lindsay Rheiner (Council Rock North, lacrosse, cross country); Ed Riley (Neshaminy, baseball); Jenn Wolfgang Rush (William Tennent, soccer, basketball, field hockey); Sara Sargent (Pennsbury, cross country, winter track, spring track) and Karli Schilling (Central Bucks West, soccer).
Dennis Milne (Pennsbury, golf) is being inducted posthumously.
Three athletic directors are being inducted in the Legends category: Bob Buckanavage (Pennsbury), Ray Kelly (Neshaminy) and Lou Pacchioli (William Tennent).
Doty was a three-sport standout at Germantown Academy, playing soccer and running spring track, but by far her best sport was basketball.
While playing for the Patriots, she was named a 2007 Parade Magazine basketball second team All-American, was the Pennsylvania State Player of the Year and named to the Class 2A all-state first team. She led Germantown Academy to three consecutive Inter-Ac League championships and was chosen to play on the U.S. team at Colorado Springs.
She received a scholarship to play at Connecticut, where she broke the school record for consecutive 3-point shots made in a game, going 6-for-6. She averaged 5.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in her career.
While a member of the Huskies, she played on teams that recorded an overall record of 184-10 and won NCAA championships in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2012-13. She went to five Final Fours with UConn, missing the 2010-11 season due to a knee injury.
While sidelined with the injury, Doty got the coaching bug.
“I spent a lot of time with the assistant coaches and I was very interested in what they did,” she said. “When I graduated I was going to take a coaching position there but then I got an offer from Nike, so I worked for them.”
From 2013-19 she worked for Nike World Headquarters as a women’s basketball sport marketing service representative, college account manager and WNBA/G League account manager.
Marisa Moseley, who had been on the coaching staff at UConn, called Doty with a new offer.
“She was the head coach at Boston University and she had an opening on her staff,” Doty said. “I was very interested. A lot of her philosophy is the same as Geno’s (Auriemma, head coach at UConn). But then COVID hit, and they had a hiring freeze.”
By the time the COVID restrictions were lifted, Moseley was no longer in Boston.
“She had taken the job at Wisconsin and offered me a spot on her staff there, and I took it, sight unseen,” Doty said. “It was a great decision for me. I knew if I wanted to get into coaching it was now or never, and I’m really happy I made the move.”
In 2021, she was named an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a job she currently holds.
“I really grasped on the idea of becoming a coach when I was injured because I would shadow our coaches and I learned all the behind-the-scenes work; the film study, the player development, all of it, and I fell in love with it,” she said.
She was exposed to athletics at a young age.
“My mother ran track in college and my dad played basketball in college,” she said. “From the time I was born, they’d take me to my dad’s pickup games so I was in a gym at a young age. I picked up a basketball when I was 3 and I played organized basketball at age 7.”
She is looking forward to the induction.
“I was very excited when I got the call from Sheila Murphy (Bucks County Sports Hall of Fame president),” Doty said. “I got the email telling me I was nominated so long ago that I kind of forgot about it, so it was kind of a surprise to be inducted.
“It is a huge honor, and to see the names of others who were inducted, people like Meg (Pattyson) Culmo (a 2015 BCHOF inductee), is exciting. To be a part of a hall of fame with her is pretty special.
“I’m really looking forward to going down memory lane and getting back to the community. I love Bucks County and I love Doylestown. I’m also looking forward to meeting the other inductees and hearing their stories and just celebrating what we went through together.”
Tickets for the induction can be purchased at www.buckscountysportshof.com and are $45 each. There will be a cash bar. The ticket includes membership. No tickets will be sold at the door.
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