In 2025, Lisa Van Goor will finally be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. A long overdue honor for the first player in the history of the University of Colorado (man or woman) to score 2000 points and snag 1000 rebounds in a career. She also averaged a double-double for her career as a Buff, all of this despite missing several games due to injuries her junior and senior seasons.
Lisa was born in South Dakota and after being named a Parade All American as a senior, she had over four dozen schools recruiting her. She thrived her first two years under head coach Sox Walseth, however when Ceal Barry came in, the injury bug hit and life got tougher physically and mentally. After graduation, (the WNBA didn’t exist yet), Lisa went overseas to play professionally for 7 years and became a 5-time All Star.
After retirement, Lisa returned to Boulder unsure of what to do with her life. She wanted to be back in athletics and after getting turned down for a few opportunities, she got a job with a rental car company. Eventually she did get back into the CU Athletic Department helping to plan events. These days she’s out of the department, but still very involved with former student athletes, as the Executive Director of the non-profit Buffs 4 Life.
Listen to Lisa’s story and conversation with @susiewargin on the Cut Traded Fired Retired Podcast. Links to listen on your favorite podcast platforms in the @ctfrpodcast bio!