Charli
Turner Thorne

Retired with over 500 career wins as a head coach and winningest coach in Arizona State basketball history

2nd in Pac-12 with Most Career Wins

Inducted Sun Devil Athletics 2022 Hall of Fame

Served Arizona State for 25 seasons, amassing great success on the court: leading the Sun Devils to the postseason 20 of 21 seasons, 14x NCAA appearances, 3x Pac-12 Champions, 2x Elite Eight & 5x Sweet Sixteen

Integral in rebuilding 3 struggling programs that achieved sustained success-Santa Clara (1990-1993), Northern Arizona University (1993-1996), and Arizona State University (1996-2022)

Top 10 in winning percentage out of the 65 “Power Five” Universities in the last 20 years

2nd in the Pac-12 with most career wins

Two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, 2016 NCAA Regional Coach of the Year, and 2015 ESPNW Midseason Coach of the Year

Graduated 100% of eligible student-athletes and regularly found her teams atop the WBCA Top 25 honor roll

Amassed 200 hours of community service each year, volunteering with numerous non-profits in the Phoenix community: Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, United Way, UMom Crisis Shelter, Crisis Nursery, Hope Women’s Center, and St. Vincent de Paul food pantry

Earned two Gold Medals with USA Basketball, serving as an assistant coach on the 2007 USA Basketball U21 World Championship Team, and as head coach of the 2009 USA Women’s World University Games Team, which included an undefeated (7-0) tournament record

Served ten years on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association board of directors, including President, Vice President, and Past President – Launched the ‘Center for Coaching Excellence’

Used her innovative spirit to spearhead ‘First Ever’ events to grow the game of basketball. In 2000 orchestrated the first outdoor women’s basketball game at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona, played in front of almost 18,000 fans & was nationally televised. In 2006 led efforts for a second outdoor game coined the “Hoops for Health Classic”. In 2018 partnered with ESPN and Kim Mulkey’s Baylor Bears to play a nationally televised women’s basketball game on the Navajo Reservation honoring Native Americans military veterans

City of Tempe Mayor Corey Woods named June 21, 2021, “Charli Turner Thorne Day” in honor of Turner Thorne’s 25th anniversary at Arizona State University

Member of the Bishop Alemany High School Hall of Fame, recipient of the Christian Athletes International Ministries Coach of the Year Honor & earned the ‘Students Against Discrimination’ Award in 2001

Married to Will Thorne. They have three sons, Conor, Liam and Quinn.