It takes a village and a few good recruits

You know the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, well it also takes a village to have a successful basektball program. The 'Belles have won a bunch of games in the past nine years, but I didn't do that alone. Stacy Duffell has been my assistant coach in some form or fashion for all those years (we have also had some very talented dedicated players to help us out!). Stacy played basketball for me for four years at Incarnate Word. She also played softball at Incarnate Word and while she was finishing up her degree she was my student assistant. It was during that year that I was considering taking the job at Angelo State. That is a long story, but I can promise you this, if Stacy had not said "I will go with you" I would not be coaching at Angelo State University.

Stacy was not necessarily the most talented player I have ever coached, but she was the most dedicated and loyal player I have ever coached. She also was the most competitive, which is what makes her a great coach. No one wants to win more than Stacy and she would take you out before she let you beat her! I think one interesting note about Stacy's playing career for me is that I was ejected in her first college game and her last. I know that is hard to believe for those of you that see me always being so calm and cool on the sidelines, especially when I disagree with the officials! Unfortunately, that last game was in the 2nd round of the NAIA National Tournament. I can guarantee you that I did not deserve my second technical and I have video to prove it.

This program would not be where it is today with out Stacy's hard work and dedication on and off the court. This year, we are fortunate to have two graduate assistants working with us. Ashley Tipton played basketball the last four years at Carson-Newman University in Tennessee and Jezzall Quintana played two years at Northeastern State University. I am very excited about both of these young ladies are going to bring to our program. They are enthusiastic and hard working and they are willing to do what it takes to help us take this program to another level. Katie Rudolph was our manager last year and thankfully she is willing to help us out again this year. I told Stacy that Katie was our best recruiting job last year. She is awesome!

It does take a village, but you are kidding yourself if you think you can win without talent. We are beginning our fall recruiting, which consists of home visits and official visits by our recruits. I will keep you posted on how that goes. Wish us luck!