Teresa Weatherspoon, shown playing for WNBA Liberty, has taken her energy and skills to the coaching ranks and helped Louisiana Tech grow into a contender.There was a time when Louisiana Tech was the poster team for women’s college basketball.
The program's first coach, Hall of Famer Sonja Hogg, was a legendary recruiter known for driving a white Cadillac, with white hair to match.
She was followed by renowned X's-and-O's coach Leon Barmore, who kept the program's winning tradition intact.
At one point, women’s basketball was the main attraction at the Ruston, La., school. From 1979 to 1999, the Lady Techsters made 13 Final Four appearances, winning three national championships.
For a quarter-century, only two teams never failed to earn a berth in the women’s NCAA Tournament: Tennessee and Louisiana Tech.
Then, in 1998, college football's Bowl Championship Series was born and the six major conferences reaped the benefits. Prodded by Title IX — a federal law under which schools are mandated to provide gender equity in athletic programs — bigger schools began pouring money into women's basketball.
Louisiana Tech and the other mid-major schools that were once the lifeblood of the sport — Old Dominion, Western Kentucky and Long Beach State, among others — were left behind.
But after missing the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons (2007-2009), Louisiana Tech is relevant again behind the fiery leadership of one of its own, former two-time All-American and four-time WNBA all-star point guard Teresa Weatherspoon.
Weatherspoon, who always aspired to be a coach, was hired as an associate head coach by her alma mater in April 2008, immediately following her eight-year WNBA career that included seven seasons with the Liberty and one with the Los Angeles Sparks.
''There's nothing wrong with this program,'' insists Weatherspoon, who has led Louisiana Tech (24-7) to the NCAA Tournament in each of her first two full seasons, and whose team will meet Rutgers (19-12) in a first-round game on Sunday in Shreveport, La., in the Dallas Regional. ''Everybody has its rebuilding stage.''
‘‘What I thought was important was to change the mind-set. The physical talent and ability was there. There was a certain amount of work that needed to be put in. Once they bought into that and saw just how good they could be, you start to feel good about yourself and you start wanting more.’’
Weatherspoon, who led the Lady Techsters to their last national championship in 1988, took over for Chris Long in February 2009 on an interim basis. Her passion and energy immediately became infectious, and she was named permanent coach after a 9-2 finish and WNIT berth. She firmly beliefs Tech can be great again even though it competes in the non-BCS Western Athletic Conference and doesn’t have the seemingly unlimited budgets of the big schools to lure the elite players.
''People always say you have to get top 100 players in your program, but I beg to differ,'' said Weatherspoon, who is also eager to prove wrong the belief that great players never become great coaches. ''Of course, we're going to try to get them but if we can't, give me that needle in a haystack. Give me that player who is starving to be great, and I'll give you a champion. That's when your true coaching skills come out.''
Louisiana Tech reached the Elite Eight in 2003 and the Sweet 16 in 2004, but that's small potatoes compared to where the program once was. Weatherspoon was asked how long she thinks it'll be before the Lady Techsters are truly back.
‘‘All I can tell you right now is, just beware,’’ she said.
Dave Hutchinson: dhutchinson@starledger.com