Michele Durand ’88 was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018 for her achievements in coaching. She played both basketball and tennis during her time at Bluffton, but a knee injury during her sophomore basketball season allowed her to take a year off from the playing floor and jump start her career on the sidelines. Durand lettered on the varsity women’s basketball team all three years she played and was selected as a captain one of those years. She participated in 66 games and scored 609 points over her 3-year career.
Durand was not only an excellent basketball player but is a successful collegiate coach. During her 11 seasons as head women’s basketball coach at Bluffton, Durand was named Coach of the Year twice and led a team to a conference championship.
This year will mark Durand’s 18th season as the head women’s basketball coach at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, where she has earned the title of Coach of the Year many more times. Her Polar Bear teams have set numerous records at ONU including the first regular-season undefeated team and NCAA tournament berths. Durand has nearly 300 wins at ONU and is the winningest coach in their school history.
Durand graduated from Bluffton in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in health, physical education and recreation. In 1990 she graduated from Bowling Green State University with a master’s degree in exercise science.