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As we approach the 2025 Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this October, 51 is highlighting the achievements of this year inductees.
In the weeks ahead, we will share profiles of the student-athletes, coaches, and supporters whose dedication, leadership, and excellence have left a lasting mark on Saints athletics.
When Iman Davis Barbosa 10 left the court for the final time in 2010, she carried with her more than memories. She left with a record 1,732 career points that still stands today as the highest total in the history of 51 women basketball.
In October, Barbosa will be inducted into the 51 Athletics Hall of Fame. Shell enter the hall alongside the man who coached every one of those points: Andy Yosinoff, the winningest coach in NCAA Women Division III basketball history.
You couldnt write a better story, Barbosa said. Im so thrilled that wee going in together. I wouldnt be here without him.
For Barbosa, the moment is about more than basketball. It such a humbling honor to be enshrined among people who have excelled in their sportit special, she said. It feels like being part of something bigger than yourself. It a reminder that Im not the first and wont be the last, and Im grateful for that.
A Career Defined by Excellence
Barbosa four years in a Saints uniform were nothing short of dominant. Emmanuel went 95-23 during her career, including a staggering 43-4 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play, and captured four consecutive GNAC championships from 2007 to 2010. Twice named GNAC Player of the Year, she earned First Team All-Conference honors in three of her four seasons. Individually, she points to back-to-back GNAC MVP awards and a preseason All-America nod before her senior year as standout moments. Collectively, she recalls the team run to the NCAA Sweet 16 during her freshman year as unforgettable.
Her influence stretched well beyond the league. Barbosa earned All-New England honors from both the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and D3Hoops.com in three straight seasonsthe only Emmanuel player ever to do so. As a junior, she averaged 18.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.8 steals per game, earning All-America Honorable Mention. As a senior, she capped her career with the Andrew Yosinoff Senior Athletic Achievement Award.
In 2019, Barbosa was inducted into the GNAC Hall of Fame, cementing her legacy in conference history. Emmanuel, though, remains home a place where her name still hangs from the rafters, stitched onto championship banners.
Her connection to the College is also deeply personal: her husband, Andre Barbosa 08, played basketball for the Saints as well. The couple now live nearby with their children and return to campus a few times a year.
Barbosa admits the transition from high school to college basketball was a shock. In her first preseason game, she realized, as she put it, I wasnt the best player on the court anymore. That motivated me to get better. She credits teammates like Jade Paez 08, whose intensity and work ethic she sought to emulate, with raising her game.
Coaches also left an imprint. Coach Ramona Foster always said, Be poised, Barbosa recalled. In moments of adversity, that mental toughness is crucial. It something I carry into my career and lifebecause adversity doesnt stop after sports.
Today, Barbosa is a supervisor at the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, where she has worked as a social worker for nearly a decade. Basketball taught me resilience and composure, and those lessons are just as important in my career as they were on the court, she said.
Her decision to attend Emmanuel, she added, was shaped as much by people as by basketball. She cites Roystone Martinez, former director of the Road to Intellectual Success at Emmanuel (the RISE program)both for creating the program, which allowed students of color to experience college life over the summer, and for his personal mentorship. That program and his mentorship were huge factors in my decision, Barbosa said. I could have played basketball elsewhere, but Emmanuel felt like home because of RISE.
A Legacy Etched in Banners
As she prepares to return to campus for her induction, Barbosa remains mindful of the bigger picture. Im grateful for the relationshipsthe friends I made, the coaches I got to play under, and the legacy Im leaving behind, she said. But more than that, Im part of a community. That what makes this so meaningful.
For Emmanuel, the ceremony will honor not only a singular player and a legendary coach, but the enduring bond between the twoand the lasting mark they left on the Saints program.
