Baylor has Vision; Houston is Blind

April 8, 2005

The Baylor University Lady Bears made history Tuesday night. Baylor defeated Michigan State 84 - 62 to capture the first basketball championship for the Big 12 conference, men or women. The championship is also the first for women's basketball at Baylor. If anyone outside of Baylor were asked "Which team will win the first women's basketball championship for the Big 12?" I can assure you many people, myself included, would have answered "Texas, Texas Tech, or Kansas State." Therefore, how did the Lady Bears make history?

Lady Bears head coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson told the media after the game: "The keys to building a program are you better be at a school that has an athletic director and an administration that will give you what you want and give you, most importantly, time to build a program. And give you the resources."

"You can't go after the McDonald's All-Americans, you got to go after the sleepers and beat the bushes and find those players. We just won a national championship with not one kid on the roster that was recruited by the powers that be. And that gives hope to all of us that are trying to build a program."

Considering Coach Mulkey has been at Baylor just five years, Baylor's turnaround from conference to doormat to national champion is astounding. However, Baylor's transformation from loser to winner indicates winning is indeed possible. Coach Mulkey cited excellent keys to Baylor's success; but, I believe the Lady Bears' success can be summarized with one word: vision.

Baylor's administration had the vision to hire Kim Mulkey-Robertson from powerhouse Louisiana Tech (her alma mater) by convincing Kim the resources were in place to win (and win big) at Baylor University. Coach Mulkey had the vision to hire assistant coaches who shared her ";can do" and hard work attitude. The coaching staff had the vision to see and sign Sophia Young to a scholarship despite the fact Sophia was (and is) still learning the game of basketball. Sophia came from the West Indies six years ago; and, she has become, in my opinion, the best college basketball player in women's hoops. Sophia will be a senior at Baylor in the fall.

Many of the players on Baylor's roster are from Texas; and, four are from the Houston area. Two of the four, Chameka Scott and Emily Niemann, played key roles in Baylor's success this season especially in the NCAA Tournament. Niemann's first three-point shot versus Michigan State gave the Lady Bears a lead they would never relinquish. Her basket made the score 3 to 2. After Michigan State pulled within nine points, Scott made a three-point shot early in the second half to give Baylor a double-figure lead once again.

Vision along with hard work and a little bit of luck has catapulted Baylor to the NCAA's mountaintop.

Now, contrast Baylor's vision with this notion: A few months ago, Baylor's athletic department contacted the University of Houston's athletic department about co-hosting the first two rounds of the 2007 and 2008 NCAA Women's Tournament on Houston's campus. Houston politely told Baylor "no". Apparently, Houston's administrators did not want to provide recognition or a recruiting advantage to an outside school. Unbelievable! The University of Houston's administration has done very little to market, promote, or showcase it's women's team; yet, it wants to pull rank and promote a women's Tournament on its own?! Amazing!

The Lady Cougars' total home attendance for the 2004 - 2005 season was approximately 7,100 fans. Baylor's average home attendance for '04 - '05 was approximately 6,800 fans. I believe it's obvious the people at UH need to remove the cataract from their third eye because they clearly do not share the vision of women's hoops that Baylor's administrators possess.

I wonder if the powers-that-be at UH are kicking themselves for saying "no" to Baylor now that the Lady Bears are national champions? I doubt it. Those that can, do; those that cannot, don't.