“We loved the game, and more importantly, the game loved us back.”
Near the end of her 15-minute enshrinement speech, Theresa Grentz aptly summed up the spirit and the legacy of the Immaculata Mighty Macs on Friday as they became the newest female members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
They were honored in Springfield with a class of luminaries that include Mitch Richmond, Nolan Richardson, Gary Williams, Slick Leonard, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton and Guy Rodgers (both posthumously), Sarunas Marciulionis, Alonzo Mourning and recently retired NBA commissioner David Stern.
With many of her teammates standing behind her — including Marianne Stanley and Rene Portland — as well as their coach, 2008 Hall of Fame inductee Cathy Rush — Grentz reflected the pride, humility and competitiveness of an Immaculata dynasty that won the first three AIAW national championships from 1972-74. 
“People ask, did we know the impact we were making? No we were clueless, we were just having fun.”
The Mighty Macs were trailblazers in numerous other ways, including playing in the first women’s college game at Madison Square Garden, and winning the first televised women’s college game over Delta State, which would succeed them with an AIAW threepeat from 1975-77.
This was the state of women’s college basketball at the dawn of the age of Title IX. Unlike the present NCAA period, women’s teams had to pay their own way to AIAW tournaments. Immaculata raised enough money to send only eight players to the first AIAW nationals in 1972. Grentz talked about a player who was staying behind, Judy Marra (now the wife of St. Joseph’s men’s coach Phil Martelli), and who touchingly wrote a letter of support to her Illinois-bound teammates.
They may not have fully benefitted as players from what Title IX would render, but the Mighty Macs were competitive, aggressive and played with flair and personality. The nucleus of those Immaculata teams also went on to considerable coaching success.
Grentz (neé Theresa Shank), coached at St. Joseph’s, Rutgers and Illinois, and now runs Grentz Elite Coaching in the Philadelphia area. Portland (who played as Rene Muth) also started at St. Joseph’s and had a brief stop at Colorado before a long tenure at Penn State.
Stanley (maiden name Crawford) won three national championships at Old Dominion, then coached at USC and Pennsylvania. She’s been in the pros for a number of years and is currently an assistant coach for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
Sister Marian William and Sister Pat Walsh, members of the Immaculata administration that embodied the Mighty Macs base of support, also came to Springfield. The nuns of the Immaculate Heart of Mary became synonymous with the team for their boisterous cheering, including banging on pails and buckets.
Immaculata’s endearing story became the subject of the 2011 Sony Pictures film, “The Mighty Macs,” starring Ellen Burstyn as Rush.
Immaculata is the second women’s team to be inducted in Springfield, along with the All-American Redheads in 2012.
On Saturday, the Mighty Macs received their Hall of Fame rings, and Grentz continued beaming with gratefulness on her Twitter account:
Playing basketball with my teammates was a gift! I realize that each day. We can’t play any more but we live the memories each day!
— Theresa Grentz (@TheresaGrentz12) August 9, 2014
The question begs… Just how blessed are we, The Mighty Macs??? Love Mrs. Rush!!!!
— Theresa Grentz (@TheresaGrentz12) August 9, 2014
For every little girl who wants to dream big…there are the Mighty Macs!!!
— Theresa Grentz (@TheresaGrentz12) August 9, 2014
