General 12/16/2025 12:00:00 AM

Hall of Fame Inductee: Jeanne Bradley

On Oct. 11, Penn State Abington (formerly Penn State Ogontz) announced the inaugural class of its new Athletics Hall of Fame in conjunction with the 75^th anniversary of the university honoring 10 legendary inductees. The announcement was made at halftime of the men's soccer game at Memorial Field with Abington Chancellor Dr. Gary Liguori and Director of Athletics, Intramurals & Recreation Erin Foley. Click here for official announcement.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026 from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. at the Philmont Country Club. Registration and cocktail hour begins at 2 p.m. with the ceremony beginning at 3 p.m. The event is open to the public. Ticket sales will end on Jan. 1, 2026. To purchase tickets, click here.

We'll be featuring each inductee leading up to the induction ceremony in January. Today, we highlight the coaching career of Jeanne Bradley, who was instrumental in the growth and development of three women's varsity sports at Penn State Ogontz.

Our next Hall of Fame feature highlights the career of Jeanne Bradley who helped jump start three varsity sports at Penn State Ogontz. Bradley was one of the first women's basketball coaches in program history and to this day is second all-time in wins with 85. She was also one of the initial field hockey coaches and the first-ever softball coach.

Bradley compiled 35 victories in field hockey which ranks second all-time and had 34 wins in seven seasons as the head softball coach. In the early days of varsity sports at Ogontz, teams would only play a handful of games with seasons being five to seven games in length in the initial years.

Bradley's induction into the Hall of Fame, according to her family, "Would mean everything to Jeanne." Bradley served as head coach at Ogontz for over a decade and was instrumental in bringing to life three women's sports on campus.

Bradley took over the women's basketball program after its first year of existence and coached the team from 1970-1979. Bradley's teams dominated the hardwood in the early years winning the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference (CCAC) five straight years from 1971-1975. The team finished with at the time a program record 14 victories (14-3) in 1974-75 capped off with a CCAC title.

The women's basketball team were runners-up in the CCAC Tournament in 1976 and 1977.

Bradley took over the field hockey program after its first year of competition as well and began her tenure with the 1970-71 academic year. Bradley had five winning seasons during her time with the field hockey program, including back-to-back seven-win seasons. The team finished 7-3-2 in 1974-75 and was 7-1-2 in 1975-1976.

In 1972-73 Ogontz introduced varsity softball and Bradley served as the program's first-ever head coach. She coached the Nittany Lions for the first seven seasons of existence and helped build the program that has strived for over 50 years. After three straight four-win seasons where the team went 4-1, 4-3 and 4-3 respectively, the Nittany Lions went 10-2 under Brandley in 1975-76.

Bradley was a driving force that helped grow three separate programs at Ogontz and made a major impact of the lives of hundreds of student-athletes during her coaching career. Her leadership was a key factor in establishing the culture and infrastructure that allowed the growth of varsity women sports on campus.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026 from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. at the Philmont Country Club. Registration and cocktail hour begins at 2 p.m. with the ceremony beginning at 3 p.m. The event is open to the public. Ticket sales will end on Jan. 1, 2026. To purchase tickets, click here.

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