Linda K. Sharp (not in photo), former head of USC Women’s Basketball, was named the Fred B. Olds Award honoree at the USC Alumni Awards dinner on April 18, 2026. (USC Photo/Greg Grudt/ SteveCohn Photography).
Setting the Standard
Fred B. Olds Award honoree Linda K. Sharp built a championship dynasty at USC — and a legacy that continues to shape women’s basketball.
When Linda K. Sharp arrived at USC in 1976, the women’s basketball program was far from elite. During the next 12 years, she would redefine not only the trajectory of the Women of Troy, but the landscape of women’s college basketball. Today, Sharp is recognized for her enduring impact on USC Athletics and beyond.
For current USC head women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb, Sharp’s influence is still the program’s foundation. “Linda Sharp and her team are the standard,” Gottlieb says.
Sharp stepped into leading the USC women’s basketball team at a pivotal time. With the advent of Title IX, opportunities in women’s sports were expanding, but success was far from guaranteed. “She came into the program when [it] was more than likely at its lowest,” recalls former student-athlete Juliette Robinson.
Sharp set out to build a lasting program at USC by recruiting the best and demanding the most. “She knew she had to go out and start recruiting All-Americans,” Robinson says.
“And that’s exactly what she did,” Barbara Hedges, a former USC athletics administrator, remembers.
With a roster stacked with talent and under Sharp’s leadership, USC captured back-to-back NCAA championships in 1983 and 1984 and made three Final Four appearances. “We were undeniably the best team in college basketball,” says former student-athlete Timi Lynn.
Yet Sharp’s true impact extended beyond wins and titles. She built a culture rooted in unity and pride. “It wasn’t about the individual, it was about Trojans,” Robinson says. That philosophy created a team identity that elevated every player.
By the time she left USC in 1989, Sharp had a 271-99 record and earned national recognition, including Coach of the Year honors in 1984 and three Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards. In 2001, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
“Part of her legacy is getting women’s basketball noticed around the nation,” Lynn says. Her teams brought unprecedented attention to the sport, inspiring young athletes and expanding opportunities for women at every level.
Sharp carried that influence into the professional ranks, coaching the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA’s inaugural season and later leading the Phoenix Mercury. Today, her legacy resonates at USC.
“She took the women’s basketball program here to heights that we try to achieve every day,” Gottlieb says.
