Dawn Staley Deserves Better From Female Sports Commentators

Dawn Staley of South Carolina is, unquestionably, being held to a level of scrutiny so inherently wrong and undeserved that it is really getting on “my last good nerve,” as the country expression goes. The mountain of coverage given to the dilemma of the U Conn women’s coach and his foul display of unsportsmanlike conduct “this time” has all but eclipsed the SEC championship coach and NCAA championship coach from the level of dignity and respect in coverage that she is LONG overdue.

Not only were the male commentators wrong, but the women sitting on the ESPN panel chirping and chattering away missed the point entirely. The focus was not on the right point. Their focus was Geno’s behavior. They spent all their effort talking of “a rivalry between the two coaches.” Their focus should have been on why Dawn Staley had to be in defensive posture such that in her team’s victory blowing the previously undefeated U Conn streak out of the water and knocking them out of the finals, she had to exclaim, “Let me say this first—I am of integrity.”

That is a given. That she is of integrity should go without saying. I’ve been an Aggie women’s basketball fan for as many years as to qualify in the “beaten by South Carolina veterans club,” and yet I have the highest regard and respect for Coach Staley, also an Olympic Team Coach who led the USA to the Gold Medal. As a player she was a standout and today as a female leader and role model for young women, she excels.

Most importantly, Dawn Staley gives back again and again, quietly. Sometimes cameras follow her; other times they have no idea of her generosity behind the scenes. But she models a giver’s heart in everything she does. And she deserves better, most of all from her fellow female commentators, who are supposedly basketball veterans themselves. They responded to the theatrics of a loser, rather than give five minutes’ thought to the purposeful technique Geno Auriemma applied: “Suck all the air out of the room and all the attention out of the victory” with his behavior. Headlines carried his egregious behavior one day and his mea culpa forced apologia (written by a U Conn PR flack) after.

Can anyone name the individual members of the South Carolina team after that fantastic, hard-fought victory? Of course not. It was Geno-Geno-Geno 24/7 coverage. Again, the female talking heads blathered on, taking the bait. They were good at basketball, but they fell for the oldest trick in the book: distraction is the key to inaction. And yet, present-day coaching has reached a new heightened level of bad behavior, and it is not by the women coaches.

It is not fair that the mountain of praise is still heaped on the men who coach women’s basketball. Dawn Staley’s years of amazing coaching continued to be buried far down the paragraphs while the lead goes to “Vic Schaefer of Texas comforts a player in their loss.” The headline should have been “UCLA Head Coach Cori Close” cleans the clock of the Texas “Secretary of Defense” Vic Schaefer. Instead the caption reads: “Vic Schaefer post goes viral as he comforts a fifth-year player who lost in her final game.” Yawn.

Does anyone remember the game where Schaefer, formerly beloved at Texas A&M for his defensive strategy, took the team from Mississippi State to the Final Four by beating U Conn and ending their 111-game winning streak, winning 66-64 in overtime. Same outcome—winning streak ended, Geno didn’t go code blue. But Vic still messed up, and it mostly went unnoticed.

When the TEAM accomplished that victory and pulled out that win on Morgan William’s buzzer beater, Schaefer rushed out onto center court, along with the rest of the team. The first person he looked for to congratulate? “Itty Bitty” herself, Morgan Willam. The camera stayed fixed as he beamed and almost lifted her off the ground and held her tight. Also waiting for a hug was his own daughter, Blair Schaefer, who had contributed key 3-point shots and played the heck out of her father’s defense and outfoxed the previously undefeated U Conn team.

He could have let the team congratulate William first on the winning shot and hugged his own daughter first, but he chose to let the cameras find him seeking out William. Coaches are only human, but in national championships you can’t yell, “Cut, retake, let’s go again.”

When you seek the national title, it’s so easy to get trapped by the spotlights and bright lights of publicity. Yeah, it’s great when Matthew McConaughey posts a consolation message for “Uncle Vic,” but one day Matthew won’t be there to reassure him that he was once a great coach because the game of basketball coaching worship is both impermanent and mostly hype.

No question that all coaches “give back,” and are “great people” and many Aggies will rush to defend anyone they think has thrown mud on their beloved coach but remember, he didn’t wait a year to return to what could have been his realm to run at A&M. He chose to say “Praise the Lord and Hook ‘Em” when before his signature radio signoff, as he wore his Aggie ring, was “Praise the Lord and Gig ‘Em.” Save your arguments for the real problem: Dawn Staley deserves better.

I don’t have any answers, only good memories of civil behavior by grown adults from days before. Not all were civil, and classically through the years when I began watching the sport, it was “men behaving badly” as coaches who attracted ratings. And that was the game they played.

For so long, audiences at collegiate sporting events have been witnesses to the highest range of adult male conduct and misbehavior to fill volumes of sports publications through the years. Every time Bobby Knight threw a fit, or a chair, across an arena, someone wrote about it. Invariably the appeasing text followed that one surely couldn’t argue with his methods because he was a “winning coach.” Eventually his “bad-boy behavior” did him in and he lost his lofty perch. It would be years before the phoenix rose from the ashes and reappeared at Texas Tech.

So too are other legendary coaches who are constantly monitored with sidelines cameras focused on them, waiting for them to pitch a fit at some perceived wrong call or other flagrant error (in their not-so-humble opinion). To that end, the list of whiners and complainers is as long as their behavior is annoying.

John Calipari, Rick Pitino, and Dan Hurley are just three who come to mind as possessing the ability to instantly generate looks of gastrointestinal pain at their frustration and disgust over some call or other. They whine, yell, stamp their feet, and posture up and down the side of the court, putting on quite the show. And they are wearisome.

No question passion runs high, and times a call goes afoul. Watching your coach “lose it” with a referee when a star player fouls out will garner a technical. It’s designed purposefully to motivate the team to turn it around. For most, though, it’s pointless and wastes time. Have a complaint? Question the call, accept the ruling, and move on. It usually all comes out in the wash.

Over the years, as women entered the basketball head coaching field, an entirely different standard of behavior rules seemed to be cast across the elite group of women chosen to lead groups of women to victory. It’s been a long, hard journey trying to generate audiences commensurate with men’s sports, and TV coverage was never so good until the advent of Caitlin Clark. The WNBA was still “a great idea with many great games” before the spirit of competition became truly exciting enough to subscribe to the WNBA.

Back in the college world, it’s almost possible to name the “most memorable” of the women basketball coaches on two hands, for me at least. Kay Yow is famous, primarily for her brave battle against cancer for as long as she could, same as Jimmy V (Valvano), and Pat Summitt is forever Tennessee basketball, as identifiable as the never-ending strains of “Rocky Top” (which any member of the SEC has to suffer through annually at the tournaments).

Summitt had a unique way of coaching—she didn’t dress players down by name publicly. In the locker room when she was wired for CBS cameras, she referred to the players by jersey number: #23 is missing her assignment guarding her opponent and letting her slip by every time. Close the gap!” She didn’t demean the player, she addressed the issue. You hoped to hear, “Good job #12” and get on with it. Calmer coaches prevailed in many of the televised game. Brenda Frese of Maryland is the first I think of when it comes to passionate yet focused without losing her cool coach. Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame was very effective without hysterics or tantrums. Then came Kim Mulkey and her colorful designer fashion collection, which she would shed at will upon losing her temper at some player or perceived wrong call. She didn’t as much stamp her feet up and down the court but she surely did move like a blur and grimaced to signal her displeasure.

In contrast, when former Aggie head coach Gary Blair became exasperated because his team didn’t “understand the assignment,” or his myriad 1,000 possible play structures, he would remove his jacket and fling it behind him, airborne. It was up to medic Mike “Radar” Ricke to be alert to the jettison and catch it before it hit the ground and find it a soft landing. That happened once a game and I used to make bets of candy with my seatmates as to when it was coming. Did it produce results? Well, Blair did bring home the National Championship in 2011 so, there you have it. Justified clothing toss. Everybody loved Gary, no matter what. He loved those girls and he expected the best from them. The sign on his desk said so: “Gary Blair: Building Champions.”

Dawn Staley has been building champions for years. Her program shows it. Her record proves it, and she doesn’t have to declare that she is of integrity for anyone with a pulse to know it. She should not have been put in a position such that she had to defend herself, rather than take a moment to enjoy the thrill of victory. Before halftime, the camera and reruns were Geno complaining about “Dawn could call the referee names and make him make a call and he couldn’t get anywhere with them.” What game was he watching? That camera was on Dawn Staley just as much as it was on Geno Auriemma and she did no such thing.

Then at halftime, he whined about it again. At the end of the game, everyone knows what he did and he made up a reason to stalk off the court, leaving his team to be humiliated by his behavior. The looks on their faces of sheer embarrassment were heartbreaking to any fan of the game. It’s bad enough to lose but when your leader is a total jerk to the opposing team and you have to apologize for him? His coaching staff had to feel the stench of guilt around their necks for the behavior their leader showed.

To make it worse, the coverage the following day of Geno’s apology still eclipsed the victory in coaching by Dawn Staley and her team. The University of South Carolina is the true South, where women have been taught for centuries not to speak too loudly, not to shine too brightly, lest they eclipse and surpass someone else and make them feel badly. To be demur was preferred. It’s why Geno kept “winning the postgame coverage” every hour on the hour. It’s entirely unfair to the team.

When you saw the National Championship game between UCLA and South Carolina, you saw what it was like for two highly qualified female coaches to lead their teams through the contest. The game was tough and the competition was the finest until the end, when one victor began to emerge and pull away. UCLA won the day, and the national title, but Dawn Staley won the hearts of many high school players who are going to want to compete to play for her at South Carolina. Dawn Staley’s postgame comments about Cori Close and her team were absolutely first class all the way, and greatly appreciated by everyone.

UCLA has always enjoyed an amazing men’s team that is as synonymous with winning basketball as the name John Wooden is the unmistakable “Wizard of Westwood” with 10 national championships in a 12-year stretch. UCLA women’s coach Cori Close is an outstanding coach who had winning strategies against every opponent throughout the competition. She is another reason why March Madness is such an exciting time in the lives of college basketball fans.

It’s about time things changed. It’s past time for holding women coaches to different standards than their male counterparts. Clearly their salaries are not equal, unless they are fortunate enough to have benefactors, donors, or really good agents, few of which are around.

Change occurs slowly but it doesn’t have to be blocked by key women who are supposed to help promote, extend, and encourage the viewing of and support for women’s basketball. The WNBA draft occurs one week from today. Futures will be secured with various contract signings, and if the players are careful with their signing bonuses, they’ll be set for the future. The shelf life for a pro player, before retiring to TV announcing or coaching, is not that long.

Dawn Staley will be in the game to lead, guide, and direct women’s basketball for many years to come. With any luck, she will be shown the appropriate respect from the outset rather than be forced to defend herself against those who seek to tear her down. In the end, it doesn’t matter who is against her. Her players are for her, and when you know who you are, you’re a leader worth following. And no one can take that from you. [Photo source: Facebook photo]

Prognostications and Expectations—How Do They Really Impact Aggie Women’s Basketball?

After watching last night’s Aggie women’s basketball game against Ole Miss, in the clear victory 83-54 over the Rebels, I began reflecting about how the team had developed this year, compared to all of the prognosticators’ opinions and rankings and laudatory platitudes awarded before a single whistle had blown this season.

Back in November, 2017, TAMU women’s basketball was picked 4th in the SEC, and three players were named preseason All-SEC: Khaalia Hillsman (First team), Anriel Howard, and Danni Williams (Second team). Also, in November, the Aggies were ranked 20th in the AP Preseason Poll.

Currently, the Aggies are in a three-way tie with South Carolina and Tennessee at 8-3; leading are Mississippi State (11-0) and Georgia (9-2). That could change a lot before the SEC tournament, then we shall see.

Danni Williams was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List in November, 2017. Also, Khaalia Hillsman was named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List as well. Nice, but, what kind of pressure did that put on those players for their season?

If you’ve attended more than three games this season, you know unquestionably that Anriel Howard is more a first teamer than a second teamer (biased personal opinion aside), and undoubtedly MVP of the year so far.

And right behind her is Jasmine Lumpkin.

These two comparatively unsung heroes are the ones making the best plays, the free throws, the rebounds, and the mid-range jumpers that keep the Aggies alive while opponents try their latest double team dance-off against Khaalia or Danni. You don’t see them, however, on national watch lists, because they’re the best team players who focus on teams.

So, if you’re missing the best players, why the hype of the preseason rankings and awards? It’s all come down to numbers, statistics, and something for the commentators to discuss between plays, I guess. But it doesn’t begin to watch the action on the court when the team goes over to congratulate the unsung heroes for doing their jobs, every single game. The smiles and true regard you see exchanged between teammates are worth more gold than any of the countless number of trophies that will be handed out by season end.

It was perfect Monday night at the radio show at Rudy's BBQ, when Gary Blair pronounced Jasmine Lumpkin as his Fifth Dimension in the wheel that goes ‘round and ‘round on the team. He had to ask the crowd if anyone there remembered the Fifth Dimension, but he picked the right place to ask that question. We all knew the answer.

You can’t have the Fifth Dimension without the harmonies of Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Ron Townson, and Lamonte McLemore singing together. And, if you have Anriel, Danni, Khaalia, and Chennedy out there on the court, Jasmine is that perfect fifth.

Now then, there’s the whirling dervish, Chennedy Carter. She was named espnW National Player of the Week in December, 2017, with 46 points in the Aggie 75–74 victory over USC, only the third TAMU player (Courtney Walker in 2015 and Kelsey Bone in 2012) to do that. Carter has also been named SEC Player of the Week several times this season, but how does that help her get more assists than points in her point guard play? It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers.

Fortunately, the past three home games, what statistic has mattered most of all are the smiles on the faces and the affirming high-fives, hand slaps, hugs, and side bumps for each Aggie team player who is playing the best team play. It’s a Danni Williams passing the ball to Khaalia Hillsman, when she just as easily could be shooting it herself, and then smiling when Khaalia gets the bucket. It's the tandem passing between Williams and Carter down the court and then both deciding who should shoot the ball, to a successful conclusion and approving smiles between teammates that measures success better than any stats.

It’s an Anriel Howard who gets that rebound (after rebound) when she’s not the tallest player on the team, because she is doubly determined to play her role on this team and she’s the best junior we have out there, who acts more like a grad student in her maturity.

It’s Jazz Lumpkin who is the one you can count on. She has made believers out of some audience members who had no idea what she was capable of, but she wasn’t listening to doubters or naysayers. Lumpkin was listening second to her coaches but more importantly, she was listening first to her heart that told her she is a valued member of the Texas A&M women’s basketball team and she loves this game. And look what happens when she’s on the court—magic!

Watch game film or live in action, to see that Howard and Lumpkin are always standing up, straightest and tallest on the court. They may be just as wiped out as all the other players, but their stance does not show it. Their shoulders are not slumped. They have backs as straight as lifetime piano students build, and therein stems the attitude of a true warrior. These subtleties are the extra advantage they take into battle for the victory.

And then there is the unselfish smile of admiration these team players show one another. It’s hard, when you’ve had hot shot shooting days on your roster for years, whether high school or college, and it’s up to you to make the shot or pass it to someone with a higher likelihood of making it. Women are natural competitors, but here we are nearing the end of SEC play, and this team has much to be proud of in its solid capacity playing together—united in goals.

You can't overlook the solid coaching and permanent imprint of Associate Head Coach Kelly Bond-White, Assistant Coach Bob Starkey, and Assistant Coach Amy Wright, for each of their contributions to this team, and it takes supervision, coaching, studying, teaching, advice, and a lot of listening to the words of these talented women. Mike "Radar" Ricke has what it takes to keep these teams going strong, and new Sports Performance Coach, Kayln Sticher, is working to build the endurance of each of the players.

Not everyone is on that same page of the hymn book yet, but these kids are coming to A&M being told their entire high school and AAU careers how great they are. Rule number one is “Never believe your own PR.” But they do. They get named to preseason watch lists, to weekly shout-out lists and the accolades can fill the room. Chennedy Carter, though, is one who seems oblivious to the awards and the accolades heaped on her and she's just getting out there and making offense happen, which helps her stay the course of every game. That telescoping focus on the basket at hand is key. Just like the famous scene in "For the Love of the Game": "Clear the mechanism."

Chennedy Carter plays for the love of the game, and ultimately a pro career ahead, but it's one game at a time, one season at a time, one victory at a time. Last night she had 7 assists and 4 steals (fun to watch). Danni Williams had 4 generous assists. Given the nature of the game, it would have been nice to see more assists than the 17 total for the game, where players were in double-digits. Ole Miss had 13 assists and four players in double digits, too.

But, you know what? Kayla Wells wasn’t named to a preseason thing, and she’s brilliantly and quietly making her way into prominence with sure shooting, confidently and smartly. Wells and Jada Walton both had 4 rebounds, and N’dea Jones had 5 rebounds last night, fourth only to Anriel (14) and Khaalia (7), and Jasmine (6). These freshmen are coming on strong, and that's one of the best things to watch and enjoy in person at these games.

Sometimes staring at the jumbotron or stat boards, you can lose focus and miss the eyes and the hearts of the players who are out there executing plays, carrying out strategy, and fighting for victory, or to at least walk out of the arena, holding their heads up. Team play is a victory. Selfish play is demoralizing to the team and the crowd alike. Ole Miss played hard as a team in training. They passed the ball. They looked for openings and in the second half they got the three-point shots we left wide open while learning not to do that. Many shots simply would not fall the Old Miss way, but they kept after it, they kept trying.

Postgame, Ole Miss’s coach, Matt Insell, described his team as “a little scared out there and I really didn’t understand that.” It occurred to me how sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the clipboards with the numbers.

Coach Insell’s statement was profound, and perhaps is the key to beginning the turnaround he will ultimately find as his team gains skills and savvy. After all the Texas Aggie women have appeared exactly that way (cowed playing powerhouses) at times.

But what do victories really mean, and to whom? One thing is sure: It’s fear of failure that drives UConn players, if you listen to the words of Geno Auriemma shared last month.

At UConn, per Geno, “Maybe it’s just the function of this program because there are no easy passes here, no get-out-of-jail cards…You come here, you’re competing against really good players and you compete every minute of every day, every drill, everything we do. And then you get rewarded”…“any player who claims not to be afraid to fail is lying.”

That’s just a portion of his interview, and not to take it out of context, but what basketball coach or team doesn’t want to win? Who doesn’t give everything they have in practice? If they don’t, are they still on the team next year? Maybe, maybe not. what are the stakes, though, among the best of the best teams?

So, Coach Insell likely found his words explaining that he was proud of their effort, their hard work, against a solid SEC contender, and time would show continued improvement, to keep the faith. That’s a life lesson that means something to their future success.

In watching coaches on the sidelines during big ticket games, Texas A&M can be proud of both Gary Blair and Billy Kennedy for their sidelines demeanor compared to others in the SEC. Sometimes I think Bruce Pearl (Auburn men) shouldn’t be wired, or the camera shouldn’t go on LSU’s Nikki Fargas so much. Her glances scare me and I’m just sitting in the arena!

Maryland’s Brenda Frese is cool and collected. The great Pat Summitt, whose "We Back Pat" fundraising effort all SEC schools are backing, was a calm leader. Baylor’s Kim Mulkey is an example of…well, I won't finish that sentence.

What role does fear have in women’s basketball? What and whom should a player be afraid of? Disappointing their parents? Letting their coaches down? At Texas A&M, add to the pressure packer, the challenge of looking good or bad in front of a crowd of virtual strangers who spent thousands of dollars on primo seats. If you're given to pressure, the way things go sometimes, players seem to carry on their backs the way they feel when, and how soon, the crowd leaves Reed Arena--that's not good.

Seeing how many stayed last night, to sing the War Hymn along with the players, an aftergame tradition with a win, was demoralizing to this team. Seeing the game well in hand, I saw several Aggie faithful nick out in the fourth quarter. I guarantee that if we'd won against Mississippi State last night, you would have every single ticket-holder have to be swept out of Reed after refusing to leave the scene of the victory.

Players are also surrounded by fans who adopt and nurture them as their own, which is a two-edged sword, but mostly good. Players hear many things, mostly affirmations, from these well-meaning loyalists who want to soften the blow of a loss, and yet, the coaches are trying to teach the players to accept losses, examine root causes, correct the behavior or errors, and to keep on fighting for success. The question never seems to come around to whether these players are letting themselves down. They are last on their own list, much of the time. No time to think! A lot of input is what these players get and perhaps that offsets the pain of statistics of missed opportunities or things that should not have happened.

Numbers are cold, emotionless, and constantly changing. The heart of a coach, though, should remain consistently in teaching and encouraging mode, if you’re going to win in life as much as in the game. Aggie coaches are doing their parts, 24/7, and it is their most important priority.

Speaking only for myself, it would help immeasurably if the administrative leadership of TAMU (academics and athletics) would make their physical presence at the games a priority. Longtime fans remember days of old, where students and players were shown the importance of Aggie athletics for both basketball teams, when the President and Vice Presidents attended the games with their families. Season ticket holders know exactly where those prime seats are and it is beyond frustrating to see them wide open vacant, with only an occasional brave student sliding into a seat or two, which is a good thing, so it won't be such a vast blank space.

It’s powerful and important to kids from towns large and small across the state to see “leadership” supporting their event. Case in point: tomorrow night’s men’s game vs. Kentucky has scalping priced tickets available on Flash Seats for the worst seats in the house. It’s Kentucky and the way Calipari’s one-and-done zen masters are playing, the Aggies could very well hand the Big Blue Nation a battle.

It’s beyond ironic when a Kentucky journalist wrote that “Struggles aside, UK’s Hamidou Diallo still projected as first-round NBA Draft pick.” But what kind of education are these highly celebrated athletes getting year-round from the media?

Diallo is a freshman, and until someone stops the crazy bus, Kentucky will always be a school for the pre-pro players to wear blue and white for one year, sort of, and be called a Wildcat and then move on….without a hope in heck for a college education. Kentucky could care less if their players graduate. Texas A&M cares and devotes major financial resources to teaching their student athletes.

However, in stark contrast to our upcoming Kentucky game tomorrow night, an essentially capacity game, last nights’ women’s game was fortunate to have 300 students from the TAMU Corps of Cadets in the student section. They made a major difference in showing school support.

Shelby Metcalf earned his EdD with his dissertation on how “Crowd Behavior at Southwest Conference Games.” No joke…it’s a real thing. Think about it—how does collective approval via crowd noise impact you directly? Likely it impacts the players with adrenaline, joy, and emotions, as they feel good about what they’re doing for their team and this school, and they deserve the best, same as the others. The crowd is vital.

Just as it was easy to make a greater profit by selling more bottles of water at Aggie concession stands at a lower price (volume, volume, volume), fill the stands with kids who deserve it for free. Simply round up the to-be-unused/unsold-because-we-only love-football administration tickets and give them away for free to students who can’t afford a sports pass, or a $15 plus tax ticket for a reserved seat online, or even a $40 single ticket on Flashseats for Kentucky tomorrow night? Fill Reed Arena with people who really want to be there and can’t afford it, and you can even sell some water and popcorn. It’s a win-win.

If you are free Monday night, come to Rudy's BBQ on Harvey Road and enjoy unscripted remarks with Gary Blair and his audience. Young Elizabeth Miller is a very promising broadcaster and she's not only not self-conscious about being on the radio, just like her dad, Steve Miller, she is delightful. Watching Gary and Elizabeth reminds me of George Burns and Gracie Allen, "So how's your brother, Gracie?" and she'd hold forth!

Now, come Thursday night, everyone is encouraged to get up off the couch and stomp on over (with apologies to the Brothers Johnson), to fill Reed Arena for the next (affordable) women’s basketball game, set for Thursday, February 15 against Florida, and it’s the BTHO Breast Cancer game, so wear your pink shirts (this year’s or last), and show this team the love they deserve. Your presence will make all the difference in the world to these young student-athletes. Stay and allow them to come into the stands and say "thank you for coming," the way their coaches inspire them to do.

Last night, TAMU Head Coach Gary Blair notched his 350th win at Texas A&M with this game, but you can rest assured that only Asst. Sports Information Director David Waxman had that on his mind, because Blair was there to play ball and to teach his kids.

It's never too late to begin to root for this team. No one will ask you how long you've been coming. They'll just be glad you came.

How the Aggie 12th Man family can show our love and support to an exemplary Aggie grad

Thanks to social media, today I caught wind of a chance to help a fellow Aggie graduate, Ms. Courtney J. Walker, raise $2500. These funds will sustain her basic living expenses until she can secure a position with an international basketball team overseas.

Many of my fellow Aggie basketball fans probably thought the young star’s life was “all set” when she was drafted by the Atlanta Dream last April 2016. Unfortunately, she was drafted in the second round of the WNBA by a team that already had veteran guards in place. Many of us were shocked that she wasn’t already out on the court playing, as she was a four-year starter who set the Texas A&M record for scoring with 1,989 points.

(Photo, left, by Matt Sachs, used with permission)

After the draft, Courtney told "The Eagle":

“I’m not disappointed in not going in the first round, Walker said. I understand teams have needs, so they’re not just going to pick 12 guards even if they’re the 12 best players. I’m OK in going in the second round. This is a business. I’m just happy to have the opportunity and with a great team at that.”

Examining those words, you see instantly her modesty and humility. She was just happy to be chosen in the draft. No one can take that away from her. Now, let’s stop and think about what this young woman accomplished as one of the most important, beloved Texas A&M student-athletes in school history. She completed her degree studies last month and graduated in Computer Engineering. In fact, she was in the middle of posing for her graduation photos on campus last December, when her phone rang.

It was Coach Blair on the line suggesting that she might dash on over to Rudy’s BBQ on Harvey Road like, now, as he wanted her to be his guest that night. She said, “Coach, I’m in the middle of my graduation pictures but I’ll be right over as fast as I can get there.” True to her word, Courtney set a speed record and entered Rudy’s wearing her cap and gown (I reached for my phone and randomly snapped these photos to save for potentially writing about her future pro career.)

When Courtney was a freshman, she recalled being mentored by Kelsey Bone and finding her way. Courtney and Chelsea Jones (an architecture major) spent many hours together as exemplary time managers who kept up very demanding course loads each semester, while playing, traveling, practicing and soaking up all things Aggie. (Game play photos by Matt Sachs, used with permission)

I remember well that Coach Blair would good-naturedly tease Aggie women’s basketball fans saying, “I can’t start my practice until Chelsea gets done with her architecture group project meetings and Courtney gets out of an engineering lab and by then it’s 5:30!” And then he’d put his hands in the air as though he was distressed, but he was bursting with pride that all of his student athletes crushed their classes like they crushed competition at times.

We’ve established that Courtney had the hardest major to deal with while attending college on a basketball scholarship. You’d find both Courtney and Chelsea in the gym when everyone else had left, and as their playing time showed, Courtney was the most outstanding player on the team and Chelsea was the most improved. Both knew discipline and they missed out on much of the typical Aggie’s free time to sleep late, skip a class, or go home during school breaks.

Note to the wise; no Aggie basketball player is going to miss a class, no way, not under the watchful eye of Coach Kelly Bond-White, who can pretty much tell you if it’s 10:00 am on Monday, then player A is in so-and-so class in such-and-such building, and player B is in … You know the drill. Kelly is all about the complete education just as much as Coach Blair is in insisting on graduation. He doesn’t want to mess up his near-perfect record, but really, he cares that each young woman leaves Texas A&M with a diploma, prepared for the world after basketball, and whatever it brings.

About the funds that Courtney needs. What they are for The way to help is by visiting this link to learn more about the GoFundMe account that requests only $2500 total funds for basic living expenses until she can secure a position with an international basketball team overseas. Because she graduated, she no longer has funds from her athletic scholarship, and she doesn’t feel the time is right to commit to a job or engineering career yet because she could be leaving to go overseas at any moment.

Courtney has an agent scouting the best possible opportunity to play professionally. It’s truly a “sure thing” that she will be chosen to play overseas, as have many of our star school athletes, where they make excellent income in their careers. Many of them also prove themselves overseas and are given second chances to sign with WNBA teams, one example being Sydney Colson, today playing for the San Antonio Stars and as an assistant coach working with Head Coach Tina Langley at Rice University.

The fund, in Courtney’s own words, are for her “needs including things such as my prescribed medications, purchasing new contacts and glasses, training expenses, storage fees before I travel, rent, and other related living expenses until an opportunity overseas is afforded to me.”

In one day, she’s received 6 donations totaling $370 of her $2500 goal, one of which came from her former teammate, Achire Ade (we loved Achire before, we love her even more now! #TexasAggieSpirit). It’s only natural, then, that Aggies who believe in helping other Aggies will want to jump right in and participate in this opportunity to give funds to tide this wonderful young woman over until she can secure her ultimate goal.

For more than four years, Courtney J. Walker gave us reason to smile, to scream, cheer, and believe in success for our women’s basketball team. Just a few of her accolades should be noted.

She was named to the Wooden Award watch.

Courtney was also named to the Wade Trophy watch:

Standout former head coach Carolyn Peck said, “Courtney Walker has one of the best midrange jump shots in the country…she was that go-to wing player for coach Gary Blair and is just so smooth.”

Remember when this stellar shooting guard, Courtney J, would log 39 minutes virtually every game and sometimes when we went into overtime, she could always be counting on to be playing 44 of 45 minutes or more, when we were scrambling for the “W”? She, literally, carried our team on her shoulders many games and didn't think a thing about it. Her attitude was always team-centered:

In April 2016, Courtney was named Women’s Basketball MVP at their annual banquet, repeating her award from 2015 and she was also named “Miss Offense” and she led the SEC with 18.4 points per game.

She had three consecutive seasons where she was named to the First Team All-SEC, and throughout Texas A&M's first years with the SEC, was SEC Freshman of the Week and in 2015 was the espnW player of the week, as just two examples of her multiple honors accomplished as a student-athlete.

Here's what ESPN (November, 2015) said:

"Up against what was probably the most challenging two-game week of any team in the country -- at No. 14 Duke on Wednesday and at home against TCU on Saturday -- Texas A&M emerged with a pair of victories to improve to 4-0. Walker was the chief reason why.

The 5-foot-8 guard has made a habit of playing bigger in Texas A&M's marquee games (18 PPG last season against Top 25 opponents), and she delivered against the Blue Devils. Walker scored 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, with a career-high 11 rebounds. She also scored the most important points of the game. After the 12th-ranked Aggies lost a second-half lead and found themselves trailing by a point in overtime, Walker scored six of the next eight points. Texas A&M never trailed again in the 72-66 overtime win in Durham, a victory that is sure to pay huge dividends in March. Three days later against the much-improved Horned Frogs, Walker put in a 23-point afternoon, and again, her timing couldn't have been better. Off to its best start in four years, TCU led for most of the game, but Walker scored five points in a 9-0 run that gave the Aggies the lead with 5 minutes, 36 seconds remaining. When the Frogs regained the advantage, Walker again had the answer with four points in a 6-0 spurt that put A&M in front. The two-time All-SEC first-team honoree also had eight rebounds and was an efficient 10 of 14 from the field in the 82-78 win. Texas A&M's all-time leader in free throw percentage, Walker went 8-of-9 from the line in the two games and is an 87 percent shooter in her career. …Walker also played 78 of a possible 85 minutes against Duke and TCU… Over four games, Walker is averaging 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 59.6 percent from the field."

Clearly, Courtney J. Walker was our “go-to” player for all four years of her academic/athletic career as a starter at Texas A&M.

On January 12, 2017, my basketball friends and I landed in Flash Seats very close to the team where we delighted in waiting for the famous “Gary Blair jacket toss to Radar Ricke” when the time is right in the game. My eye spotted Courtney a few rows away, sitting by herself, cheering her team on quietly. She didn’t seek any special recognition or spotlight. She just was happy to be there in support of her team, and that’s what Aggie former students do.

I’m hoping that everyone who reads this will consider a contribution of any amount to spell Ms. Walker while she waits for her dream career to come true.

You can donate anonymously if you wish, or you can include your name.

Please know that your funds go straight to Courtney so she can pay her bills, using this secure online funding portal. Let’s show her what her fellow Aggie family can do to show her our appreciation for everything she did to give us some of the very best basketball games to yell about—ever. Let’s show her 12th Man Spirit and perhaps exceed the modest $2500 she requests.

It may take a few months before she has a signed contract with her international team because it’s a business that doesn’t move as fast as Aggies do!

This is a golden opportunity for all former students, friends, and fans of Texas A&M Women’s Basketball to step up and be a part of a team of encouragement and tangible support for a truly special young Aggie graduate, Courtney J. Walker, ’16.

Again, to help Courtney, click this link. Let’s take a moment to think of this stunning opportunity to say “Thank you” to a young Aggie graduate who, for four straight years, has exemplified everything good and right about Texas A&M as a destination for student-athletes to succeed in life. Gig ‘em, Courtney J. Walker!