Athletes - Anucha Browne Sanders

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	Athletes - Anucha Browne Sanders

Anucha Browne Sanders (nee Anucha Chiogu Browne) is a former women's basketball player, and a collegiate star at Northwestern University, and a former executive for the New York Knicks of the NBA.

Playing career

In 1982, she enrolled at Northwestern University, where she was a star on the school's women's basketball team. She was a 3-time all-Big Ten team member; a 2-time Big Ten player of the year, and is the all-time leading scorer (with 2307 points) and rebounder (with 951 rebounds) among women's basketball players in conference history. According to an article published by Northwestern University, Sanders may be "pound for pound, one of the most accomplished athletes in the school's history".

Browne graduated from Northwestern in 1985 with a degree in communications, and was selected to the school's athletic Hall of Fame in 1993. She later would complete a Master's degree in Marketing Communication at Florida State University.

After graduation, Browne continued to participate in organized basketball to some extent. She was briefly on the U.S. Women's National team, and participated in several organized exhibition tournaments. However, an attempt at a pro career in the WNBA (which did not start operations until several years after her graduation) did not pan out; she applied for that league's draft and was not selected.

Post Basketball career

After her collegiate career ended, Browne Sanders worked for eleven years for IBM in several roles; her final role was as a program manager in the company's Worldwide Sports Office. As Program Manager, she oversaw IBM's marketing sports-related marketing activities, including at the Olympic Games in 1996, 1998, and 2000.

In 2000, Browne Sanders was hired by the New York Knicks as a marketing executive.

In 2002, she was promoted to the position of senior vice president of marketing and business operations by the franchise, making her one of the most powerful female black executives in pro sports in the United States. She held that role for nearly four years, until January 2006, when Browne Sanders was fired by the team.

Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Several days after the firing, Browne Sanders filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against New York Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden (the corporation which owns the Knicks and several other New York sports franchises). In the lawsuit, it is claimed that Thomas sexually harassed Browne Sanders starting with his hiring by the Knicks in December 2003, up until her termination; further, the lawsuit claims that her firing was in retaliation for her complaints about the alleged harassment. The lawsuit alleges that after Browne Sanders' counsel told MSG of her complaint, MSG forced her out of work while it investigated the situation. At the conclusion of the investigation, MSG fired Browne Sanders, allegedly because of "an inability to fulfill professional responsibilities." MSG has not specified what professional responsibilities Browne Sanders failed to fulfill, nor have they said why her purported performance problems only came to light after she complained of sexual harassment.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, and reinstatement to her former position with the Knicks.

Browne Sanders is currently married, and has three children.

Honors and Awards

Sports Business Journal 's "40 under 40" list, given to up-and-coming young sports executives.
1993: Inducted into the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame
Northwestern University's Athlete of the Decade for the 1980s.

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