The Pittsburgh native finished her first season at DU by taking a team that won only seven games the previous year and transformed them into most improved team in the Atlantic 10 Conference with an overall record of 15-15.
One of the most highly-decorated players in the history of women's basketball, she led Seton-LaSalle High School to a 35-1 record and a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship in 1984. Collegiately, she helped Penn State to a 95-33 record and four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. As a Nittany Lion, she was named the school's first First Team All-American while setting NCAA Division I records with 1,307 career assists.
After earning her degree from PSU, McConnell-Serio was a double medal-winner as part of both the 1988 and 1992 United States Olympic teams. She also won a gold medal as a member of the 1991 U.S. World University Games team.
McConnell-Serio was chosen 16th overall in the 1998 WNBA Draft by the Cleveland Rockers and went on to earn Newcomer of the Year and All-WNBA First Team honors in her first season in the league. She also won the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award twice (1998 & 2000) in her three seasons in the WNBA.
McConnell-Serio was hired as head coach at Oakland Catholic High School in 1990-91 and won her first of three Class AAAA State Championships in 1993. In 13 years, McConnell-Serio averaged over 24 wins per season. She added additional state titles in 2001 & 2003 and runner-up finishes in 2000 & 2002. Nearly a dozen of her former players went on to earn NCAA Division I scholarships.
In January of 2003, McConnell-Serio returned to the WNBA as head coach of the Minnesota Lynx and took a team that finished 10-22 in the previous season to an 18-16 record and first-ever playoff appearance. The next season, she was named WNBA Coach of the Year.
She was named to the USA Today All-Time Women's Basketball Team and was also named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 50 Pennsylvania Athletes of the Century as well as being named SI's best 5-4 basketball player, male of female, of all-time.
Informed of her induction by Hall of Fame and NCAA champion Tennessee coach Pat Summitt last July, McConnell-Serio joins award-winning official Patty Broderick, head coach of Central Arizona College Lin L. Laursen, head coach of the University of Virginia Debbie Ryan, former All-American at both the University of Tennessee and Wayland Baptist College Jill Rankin Schneider and three-time Olympian Michele Timms in the Class of 2008.