Lisa Gedaka’s coaching roots trace back to BIG EAST

Gedaka is also a 1984 graduate of Gloucester Catholic, where she notched a then-program record 2,035 points and led the Rams to three straight state titles. She then played in the BIG EAST at Villanova from 1984-88.

“Lisa is so great for the game. Just as an alum at Villanova, what she did as a college player, but what she does now in impacting these high school players, these young women,” Villanova head coach Denise Dillon told reporters during the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament, where Gedaka was honored as part of the conference’s Basketball Legends program. “She’s been doing it for years and is so good at what she does.”

While at Villanova, Gedaka played for Harry Perretta, who took over the program as head coach in 1978. The 1982-83 season saw Villanova begin NCAA Division I competition in the BIG EAST Conference. By 1985, when an upstart Italian coach named Geno Auriemma took over a fledgling BIG EAST peer program in Storrs, Conn., Villanova was the conference’s top program, winning a share of the conference title for two consecutive regular seasons (1984, 1985). Although much of the hype at Villanova centered on 1987 Wade Trophy Winner Shelley Pennefather, Gedaka caught Auriemma’s eye as an emerging talent.

“When [Lisa] came to Villanova … they were a really good team,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters. “I don’t think her freshmen, sophomore year that anybody looked at her as anything special. What happened was she just kept getting better and better and better, and she became one of those all-around players that was able to beat you moving without the ball, passing the ball, shooting the ball.”

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As a senior in 1988, following Pennefather’s graduation, Gedaka was an established talent on her own terms. She earned BIG EAST Player of the Year honors as a senior in 1988. Fellow South Jersey native Cheryl Reeve — who competed against Gedaka while at Big Five foe La Salle — recalls Lisa’s offensive prowess and competitive nature.

“Lisa was a great offensive talent on some very good Villanova teams. I remember she had good size at her position and scoring came easy for her,” Reeve, current head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, told The Next in a text message. “She had such a fluid game. She, of course, was South Jersey tough and I’m glad we only played each other once a year in the Big Five.“

Gedaka found her time at Villanova to be transformative, developing under one of the nation’s best coaches. Coach Perretta’s mentorship made an impression on her and, just months after college graduation, she returned to her alma mater to coach the Gloucester Catholic girls basketball team part-time while working full-time as a nurse. To this day, 36 years later, Gedaka still leads the Gloucester Catholic Rams. She’s the winningest girls’ basketball coach in South Jersey history and, last season, became the eighth coach in state history to win 700 career games.

It’s not statistics or accolades that motivate Gedaka, though, who says she’s “never been concerned about points as a player or wins as a coach.” Over nearly four decades of coaching at Gloucester Catholic, what drives Gedaka is the opportunity to shape young people’s lives. She began at the age of 23, instructing players just a few years younger than her, and now mentors an entirely new generation of talent.

Gedaka has also had the unique opportunity to coach her daughter Mary, who graduated from Gloucester Catholic in 2016. Mary found on-court success of her own, earning South Jersey Player of the Year three times and scoring over 1,900 career points. She, like her mother, chose to enroll at Villanova, making Lisa and Mary the third mother-daughter duo to play for Harry Perretta.

“It was an experience that was tremendous — coaching my daughter — but it had its challenges … we had to figure out, how can we make this work? And I think we figured out by once we left the court, I never spoke about basketball,” Gedaka told The Next. ” … So once we got the car, we never talked about basketball. And I think once we came to that agreement, it was great.

“But I was just telling somebody today my proudest moment with Mary … [was] her very first game at Villanova — I was so proud of her. I thought, ‘she was listening’ because she was playing so hard and just her talent and her ability. I thought, You know what? This kid did get it, and she was listening those four years in high school.”

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Mary, who spent four seasons (2016-20) playing in an arena where her mother’s jersey has hung in the rafters since 2002, ended college with some history of her own. She finished her career with 1,555 points, good for sixth in program history, and just behind Lisa on the school’s all-time scoring list (1,622 career points). Mary graduated in 2020, playing in Perretta’s final season as head coach of the program and overlapping for one season with Maddy Siegrist, who ended her career as the leading scorer in Villanova basketball history.

“I was able to play with Mary for my first year. … I just knew Lisa as, like, a mom. … you know, just going over there for dinner. … She always wants to talk hoops, which is great,” Siegrist told The Next. ” … Just to hear the stories, obviously, there’s not too much film from then, but I couldn’t even imagine how competitive she was.”

“What binds us all together is that we were fortunate enough to be coached by Harry Perretta,” Gedaka told The Next about her relationship to fellow Villanova alums. “He moves tough, demanded a lot, but I’ll tell you what — he is probably one of my best friends right now, and he’s just always in your corner. Even to this day, if you need anything or you’re having a hard time, he’d be the first one at your door.”

Gedaka’s accomplishments have already landed her in several halls of fame, yet she continues to build upon that legacy. In the week that followed her formal induction in the BIG EAST’s Basketball Legends program this March, she led the Rams to a sectional title and a state championship game. Through the years, as the wins and accomplishments have mounted, it’s the countless relationships that she’s nurtured that stand out the most.

“I think my relationship with my players — you know, the wins losses, they kind of fade into whatever they were — but my relationship with my players, I take pride in that, and take pride in being a good role model. … I’m part of their family for the rest of their life,” Gedaka told The Next.

“And as I speak these words right now, I think that was always Harry’s message…the game isn’t that big — it’s just, ‘I’m always here for you.’ … It’s parallel with Harry’s teachings [and] is really the core of why I coach.”

Howard Megdal contributed reporting to this story.