PHILADELPHIA - Before the Rams women's basketball game vs. Caldwell, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame President James Parrella announced that Coach Tom Shirley is among 10 inductees in the Class of 2026. The induction ceremony will take place on Sept. 19, but Saturday's event marks the first public announcement of Shirley's selection.
 
"The entire Jefferson community is so proud that Coach Shirley will be inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame," says Susan C. Aldridge, PhD, president of Thomas Jefferson University. His impact extends well beyond the basketball court, where he has had decades of success. His commitment to give back to his student-athletes and the Jefferson community as a whole – be that through the Kathleen & Thomas R. Shirley, Sr. Scholarship fund or countless NCAA Division II President's Award for Academic Excellence – has truly been a Hall of Fame-level effort. Congratulations, Coach Shirley!"
 
"Tom's 921 wins—and counting—are remarkable by any measure but fall short of capturing the true magnitude of his impact. His legacy is defined by the countless student-athletes whose lives he has shaped through an unwavering commitment to their growth as people first and competitors second, and the coaches across a wide range of sports who he has mentored," says Corey Goff, Assistant Vice President for Athletics. "He is a relationship-builder without equal, and a leader who elevates everyone around him. The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame could not be welcoming a more deserving inductee."
 
"This is a significant moment celebrating Coach Shirley's contributions to basketball and sports in Pennsylvania," said James Parrella, Hall of Fame president, who will make the formal announcement between the 11 a.m. alumni game and start of the 1:30 p.m. Rams' women's game.
 
Shirley started at the school in 1989 as the associate director of athletics and head women's basketball coach after an eight-year stint as the director of athletics and head women's basketball coach at DeSales University, his alma mater. In January 1992, Shirley was promoted to director of athletics, succeeding H.R. Ted Taylor.
 
On July 1, 2017, Philadelphia University integrated with Thomas Jefferson University, with Shirley navigating the athletic department through the transition.
 
Coupled with the transition to Jefferson, Shirley created the current landscape of Jefferson Athletics with the addition of women's volleyball in 1997, men's and women's cross country in 2005, women's rowing in 2006, men's and women's track and field in 2012 and women's golf in 2016.
 
In 2019-20, Shirley helped elevate the head coaching positions of men's and women's cross country/track & field and men's and women's tennis to full-time status, giving 11 of the Rams' 17 sports full-time coverage and increasing the number of full-time staff to 16. He then guided Jefferson Athletics through the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, with 12 of the Rams' 17 sports able to compete during the 2020-21 academic year.
 
In the time since the school joined the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) in 2008, the Rams have won 52 conference titles, including an unprecedented six during the 2008-09 season.
 
Since its inception, the Rams have earned the NCAA Division II President's Award for Academic Excellence in 14 of 15 years to date, achieving a four-year academic success rate of 90 percent or higher in those years - which means that the student-athletes graduated within six years of original enrollment.
 
Shirley also established the Kathleen & Thomas R. Shirley, Sr. Scholarship — which is need-based and earmarked for a resident of Roxborough, Manayunk, or East Falls as the first-choice recipient — in memory of his parents in 2008. The Scholarship has raised more than $314,000.
 
In his 36th season as the head coach of the Rams' women's basketball program in 2023-24, 42nd overall in the college ranks, Tom Shirley is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the women's game. Shirley entered the 2025-26 campaign with 918 victories, tops among active Division II coaches.
 
In his 36 seasons at the university, the Rams have won at least 20 games 25 times. In 2022-23, Jefferson advanced to the NCAA East Region Final (Sweet 16) for the first time since 1986 and closed the year with a 28-5 record.
 
About Jefferson  
Jefferson is reimagining healthcare and higher education to create unparalleled value throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. More than 65,000 people strong, Jefferson is dedicated to providing high-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients; making our communities healthier and stronger; preparing tomorrow's professional leaders for 21st-century careers; and creating new knowledge through basic/programmatic, clinical and applied research. Thomas Jefferson University, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Jefferson College of Nursing, and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, dates back to 1824 and today comprises 10 colleges and three schools offering 200+ undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 8,300 students. Jefferson Health, nationally ranked as one of the top 15 not-for-profit health care systems in the country and the largest provider in the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley areas, serves patients through millions of encounters each year at 33 hospital campuses and more than 700 outpatient and urgent care locations throughout the region. Jefferson Health Plans, through Health Partners Plans, Inc., is a not-for-profit managed healthcare organization offering a broad range of health coverage options to more than 370,000 members for more than 40 years.