March 30, 2006
I think Gerald Myers and his staff have done a good job of replacing a legend and a hall of famer with a coach and a person that can continue the legacy that Texas Tech has always been associated with.
The Big 12 has just added another piece to the puzzle of having one of the greatest coaching conferences in the country. When you can replace a hall of famer with another coach that has taken her team to the final four and been on the bench at Louisiana Tech for finals fours, you are bringing in experience, and bringing a southerner back to home to Texas. That seems to have worked very well in cases of Texas A&M, Baylor and now Texas Tech. All three programs are all on the right direction because of the commitment from their Universities. They have all brought in a coach that can recruit in Texas as well as nationally.
As a friend, we have been a sounding board to each other while she?â„¢s been at Purdue and I was at Arkansas and now at Texas A&M. We?â„¢ve always had a great relationship since the days she worked my camp at Stephen F. Austin. Being a coaching friend and mentor, I have never coached against her. It will be fun and looking down the court and seeing another young person that I helped get into the college coaching game that has become one of the top coaches in the county.
It will be fun for (her husband) Kelly (Curry) coming into the Big 12 and back to Texas where he was a successful high school. More and more, married couples are learning how to share responsibility. Whether coaching or not. It takes a special family to do that. Obviously they are doing very well. I think it?â„¢s good for the game.
At Purdue, she took a program with a lot of success and coaching change in the years prior. She maintained it and sustained it. Sometimes change is good, sometimes when you been at place for seven to 10 years, change is good. The important thing she is coming back home. When you come back home you rarely leave. She is home now.