Hall of Fame
The winningest coach in NIU softball history, Dee Abrahamson led the Huskies to a remarkable 416-286-5 (.592) record over 15 seasons from 1980-94. Under Abrahamson, the Huskies won 30 or more games six times and, in 1988, enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history as the Huskies became the first Division I program at NIU to advance to the NCAA’s Final Eight with its appearance at the Women’s College World Series.
That 1988 season saw the Huskies reach as high as No. 10 in the national poll while also recording a school-record 16-game winning streak. Their 35-11 overall record, which included a 10-4 mark vs. the nation’s top 20 teams, represented the best team winning percentage (.761) in the program’s history. NIU followed up that season with a 38-7 (.844) mark in 1989, shattering its school record for winning percentage, and Abrahamson was named the North Star Conference’s “Coach of the Year.” In 1993, NIU established the school’s single-season record for wins with a 40-18 record.
A native of Wilmette, Ill., Abrahamson arrived on campus in August of 1979 to take over the Huskie softball program in an early period of growth for women’s intercollegiate athletics. Following her coaching career, she moved into athletics administration at NIU, serving in a number of senior-level position from 1994-2011. In addition to her work at NIU, Abrahamson became the NCAA Softball Secretary-Rules Editor in 1996, a position she held until 2015.
