Governor Quinn Honors Marshall High School Coach for Landmark Victory

CHICAGO - Governor Pat Quinn today proclaimed "Coach Dorothy Gaters Day" in Illinois to honor the Marshall Metro High School girls basketball coach who last week secured her 1,000th career victory. Gaters achieved the milestone when the Commandos won last Tuesday, Nov. 18.

"Dorothy Gaters has dedicated her life to education and excellence," Governor Quinn said. "This career milestone is testament to her commitment to developing young players for success, not only in basketball but in life. Values instilled through athletics are often values instilled for a lifetime, and I congratulate Dorothy for her remarkable achievement."

Current and former players honored Coach Gaters and presented her with flowers after Marshall's Commandos won with a score of 84-22 over Thornwood on Nov. 18, securing her 1,000th victory.

Gaters, a 1964 Marshall graduate who began coaching girls basketball at Marshall in 1975, has won the most games of any high school basketball coach (boys or girls) in Illinois history and is the eighth winningest girls basketball coach in the nation. She has led the team to multiple state titles and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2009, she received the Morgan Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Governor's proclamation calls Gaters "an embodiment of the best traditions of the Land of Lincoln."