The Buena Vista University Athletics Hall of Fame welcomes its Class of 2026 during an induction ceremony this Friday, Oct. 2. Throughout this week, we will shine the spotlight on each of the four individual inductees and the team inductee. TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT: Head Coach Janet Berry.

Coach Janet Berry led the women’s basketball program at BVU from 1992-2018. During her 26 seasons, Berry’s teams won 393 games, captured five Iowa Conference regular-season championships and one Iowa Conference Tournament crown. Berry guided the Beavers to five NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of Sweet 16 appearances. The 2003-04 team went a perfect 16-0 in conference play and won a school-record 23 consecutive games before falling in the conference championship game. Berry, the program’s all-time winningest coach, was named Iowa Conference Coach of the Year on five occasions and was voted the West Region Coach of the Year in 2005.

Throughout her tenure, BVU posted  a winning record in 16 of her 26 seasons and went on to win 20+ games three times. She also won 10 or more conference games 10 times. 

Berry coached 45 all-conference selections all-time, seven conference MVP's, and has four of her former players already inducted into the BVU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Following her long tenure in directing Beaver women’s basketball, Berry stepped in and served three seasons as BVU Head Women’s Golf Coach and later served as Assistant Volleyball Coach for three seasons. Early in her career at BVU, Coach Berry served as Head Volleyball Coach for three seasons while simultaneously leading the women’s basketball program as Head Coach.

Janet and her husband, Steve, continue to reside in Storm Lake. They have two sons, Blake and Brock.