Penny wise & pound foulish

MeanGreen61 · April 9, 2005

OUCH. Losing someone this talented and dedicated to their program is unreal!

Penny wise, pound foolish

John Walters, SI.com

Five years ago Louisiana Tech University's athletic department made a short-sighted decision that has haunted it ever since. Certainly it did last night if any La. Tech administrators or fans watched the NCAA women's basketball championship.

The year was 2000 and legendary Lady Techster head coach Leon Barmore announced he would retire. It was a fait accompli Barmore's long-time assistant, Kim Mulkey-Robertson, would succeed Barmore, and why not? Mulkey-Robertson was a Louisiana Tech legend herself, and had never been anything but a winner.

Mulkey-Robertson's curriculum vitae to that point: Age: 37 Childhood: Raised in Hammond, La., and is believed to have been the first girl in the U.S. to play organized baseball on a boys team. She made the all-star team. High School: Led Hammond (La.) High School to four state championships a 136-5 record, and finished her high school career with the national record for most points scored (4,075). For good measure she graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was class valedictorian. College: As a La. Tech point guard she led the Lady Techsters to four straight Final Fours and a pair of national championships from 1980-84. La. Tech was 130-6 with Mulkey on the court. For good measure she graduated summa cum laude and then earned a gold medal that summer of '84 as a member of the USA women's basketball team. Post-Collegiate: Mulkey-Robertson was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, served as Barmore's assistant for 15 seasons (seven of which ended at the Final Four), married Randy Robertson, and gave birth to a daughter and a son.

So you can understand why, following 19 years of involvement with the La. Tech women's hoops program (11 of which saw the Lady Techsters advance to the Final Four despite not belonging to a major conference), that the administration would try to low-ball her.

Mulkey-Robertson, as a state employee, needed 20 years of employment to be fully vested for her pension. She had 15 years, so when it came time to replace her mentor, Barmore, she sought a 5-year deal.

Tech offered four.

And though Baylor courted Mulkey-Robertson with a $200,000 per year contract, she was willing to remain in Ruston for $130,000 per year -- if La. Tech would offer five of them, not four.

La. Tech would not budge. So Mulkey-Robertson bolted to Baylor.

Former La. Tech president F. Jay Taylor was outraged -- not at Mulkey-Robertson -- at the current administration. "Tech officials were willing to sacrifice the future of the Lady Techster program for one additional contract year," Taylor seethed. "In my view, the future of the Lady Techster program is in doubt and will enter an era of decline."

Mulkey-Robertson took over a Baylor Bear team that had been hibernating in the basement of the Big 12 the year before with a 7-20 record. In her first season in Waco she guided the team to a 12-0 start and a 21-9 record. That's the worst record the Bears have had in her half decade there.

It gets better. On Tuesday night, Mulkey-Robertson coached the Bears to the national title with an 84-62 win over Michigan State. On Sunday, Mulkey-Robertson, who combines a Pat Summitt-like intensity with a Nell Fortner-like femininity, coached the Bears back from a 15-point deficit against No. 1 LSU to earn the berth in the final.

Meanwhile in Ruston, well, the name is apt. The Lady Techsters have gone no farther than a regional final (in 2001; Barmore returned to coach them that year) since Mulkey-Robertson departed and were eliminated in the opening round by Temple this year. Barmore's successor, Kurt Budke, has bolted for Oklahoma State and the greener recruiting pastures promised in a super conference. Budke is also shrewd enough to see that there's a new, young, vibrant coach downstate (Pokey Chatman at LSU) who should consistently out-recruited La. Tech for Louisiana's bevy of backyard basketball talent.

Then again, Mulkey-Robertson's team took out Chatman's team Sunday night with inferior talent. Who knows if she might have been able to maintain La. Tech's prominence, and in-state dominance, had the school's officials caved on that final year.

It's a shame that Louisiana Tech treated one of its own -- one of its very, very best -- so shabbily. Five years later, though, who's sorry? Mulkey-Robertson? Hell, no. She believed in herself enough to make her exodus to Waco, all the while keeping her feelings of hurt and betrayal (this was just not her employer; it was her alma mater) to herself.

Who's sorry? Louisiana Tech, a school that does not belong to a major conference and has squandered the fruits of its legacy by having banished Mulkey-Robertson.

Last year, on Selection Sunday, someone asked UConn head coach Geno Auriemma how he had such a terrific eye for hiring good assistant coaches.

"I don't hire good coaches," Auriemma replied. "I hire good people. If they turn out to be good coaches, too, that's a plus."

Mulkey-Robertson is both. And Louisiana Tech knew it, but never appreciated it. The Techsters will regret that mistake for a long, long time.

greenfrog · April 9, 2005

I have only great envy in the Baylor women's BB program. When I see any coach

take a team from an also ran to win the NCAA I have only great admiration, especially

in 5 years!

When a coach, like ours, has had 16 years and still can't go to the NCAA tournament

it is time to make a change. Tina is a fine person who I don't believe can coach.

A great facility to play in and withing 30 miles of a hotbed of talent takes away

all excuses for not winning. Attendances of 300-500 fans is disgraceful.

NT80 · April 9, 2005

I have only great envy in the Baylor women's BB program. When I see any coach
take a team from an also ran to win the NCAA I have only great admiration, especially
in 5 years!
When a coach, like ours, has had 16 years and still can't go to the NCAA tournament
it is time to make a change. Tina is a fine person who I don't believe can coach.
A great facility to play in and withing 30 miles of a hotbed of talent takes away
all excuses for not winning. Attendances of 300-500 fans is disgraceful.

16 years in the same college basketball coaching position is a long, long time, especially with no NCAA bid to show during that complete time.

GrandGreen · April 10, 2005

Yes obviously La Tech made a bad coaching decision. However, hind sight is always pretty good. One thing that I have seen continually quoted by Coach Mulkey-Roberson is the importance of increased funding in the building process. Lady's basketball championships like other revenue sports is becomming completely dominated by the big budget mostly BCS schools. I think La Tech's women's basketball program like SFA, Wayland Baptist, Old Dominion and others before them will vanish from national significance. This rich get richer is an unfortunate thrend in the NCAA that shows no signs of abating.

PlummMeanGreen · April 10, 2005

Yes obviously La Tech made a bad coaching decision. However, hind sight is always pretty good. One thing that I have seen continually quoted by Coach Mulkey-Roberson is the importance of increased funding in the building process. Lady's basketball championships like other revenue sports is becomming completely dominated by the big budget mostly BCS schools. I think La Tech's women's basketball program like SFA, Wayland Baptist, Old Dominion and others before them will vanish from national significance. This rich get richer is an unfortunate thrend in the NCAA that shows no signs of abating.

All good points, GG, but I think all of us in Mean Green Country would still trade women basketball legacies with SFA, Wayland Baptist, Old Dominion or a La Tech any day of the year.

I know during the reign of the aforementioned (especially the 3 in our region) many of us were asking, "why them and not us?" Of course, NT seems to have done a wonderful job of matching the wrong coaches (& personalities) with the right school for most of our modern athletic history.

Edited April 10, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen