Last night my husband and I went to see the Oregon St v Stanford game. My main motivation in making the trip to Corvallis was to see Candice Wiggins play in person - she is quite a player and a treat to see. Oregon State is in a rebuilding stage - the coach is in her third year, the team has more freshmen and sophomores than juniors and seniors. The fan base appears to be growing although it could be the "Think Pink" promotion . . . OSU lost by 10, but against a top 10 team . . . I think they are coming along nicely. What does this have to do with Texas? Well, look at the top teams in our conference . . . Baylor, OK, NB, Oklahoma State -- all nearly DOA or at least the weak sisters only 5-6 years ago. (KSU has been steady for awhile . . . so I did not include them). Where are Texas and Texas Tech -- not too near the top, both with new coaches and working to achieve success on their own merits with respect to the past traditions. What Baylor, OK, NB, and OK S U (not Oregon !) have in common is that they were able to build their fan base as the program developed. At Texas, there seems to be a bit of the mindset that because we have great facilities, a well regarded and compensated coach and staff, etc, that the team will automatically, in one season, surge to the top, overtaking the teams that have "paid their dues", worked extremely hard and had success. A second area that occurred to me is that the highly recruited class that included Erika, E. Williams, Crystal, Carla, Ashley, Aubrey, and the now gone Mergerson has never had much of a sustained chance to play together because of injuries . . . In fact, one could say that Ashley is the most improved player in this group possibly because of coaching changes, but also because she has not missed a season or major part of a season due to injury. Imagine if this group were now juniors having played together for 3 years without interruption. Even with the coaching change and learning a new system, my guess is that the skills would be more developed, the chemistry more solid, the results more to our fans' liking. Just some thoughts -- I remember the year that Coach G had only 8 players on her team, some due to injuries and some to transfers. If there are players who are not putting out sufficient effort in practice, I think Coach G will handle it.
Good insights, 2duck......... Life is funny......You get what you get.... But, I do see a bright and productive future for the Horns.... Gail and her staff will do what they need to do, and get who they need to get....it will happen.....I have been guilty of not being patient, too....so, point well taken.
Perhaps I have my dates wrong, but I was under the impression that Sherrie Coale was hired just as OK was about to end their participation in women's basketball? When we age, time flies. Maybe it was more than 6 years ago?
Sometime in the early 2000s OU WBB made it to the final four. We did it in 2003, and I think they were the year right before us but I could be wrong.
Eh, I'll cut you some slack and say your overall point that the conference powers shift every half-decade is a decent one for being optimistic for Texas' future. You all do have a new staff and typically will recruit well. That alone assures you won't reach the very bottom of the league (or stay there). I remember when Iowa State was at the top of the league not long ago. It's not unusual for 3-4 players to commit at the same time and graduate at the same time, leaving programs with obligatory retooling years every few years. After averaging 14 Big 12 wins from 00-02, OU loss Dales, Caufield and Ross and went three straight years with 9-7, 9-7 and 8-8 postings before the Paris twins arrived. It looks like we're in the middle of one of those good 4-5 year runs and Texas is in the process of trying to get back there, but like I said your overall point makes sense.
