Women can be whatever they want to be at this point in time and not feel like they are in a minority - and not feel like they are a visitor in the area of their pursuit. UT expects Pat Summitt to be among those on hand for the unveiling of the 7-foot bronze statue. Gunter, figuring on a longer tournament stay, didnt bring Stephen F. Austin until the day of the second-round game. No doubt prodded by the specter of Title IX, Texas in 1975 hired Lopiano. Fortunately, she resided in a state that prides itself on passion, opportunity and can-do attitude. Jody Conradt Project for Women's Health and Wellness Research Texas womens varsity athletics began in the mid-1970s with 90 athletes competing in eight sports. Its always thrilling to take a diamond in the rough and build it. And she was most definitely all of those things. Rice. After he was removed as basketball coach by Donna Lopiano, UTs first director of womens athletics department, he spent three more years at the Forty Acres as a physical education teacher. It was circa 1974 when we were counselors at a Patsy Neal Basketball Camp in North Carolina. He witnessed a 73-50 victory over the Mountaineers, perhaps UTs most complete game of the season. It was so bad that I thought about calling Pat to see if there was an opt-out clause in our verbal contract. Lopiano, on her way out the door at Texas in 1992, initially tried to get several Southwest Conference schools to sue for lack of Title IX compliance. It would take six years. In the 1980s, Longhorn womens teams piled up 15 national championships, including Conradts 34-0 1985-86 squad. You can see it. WebFind out where Jody Conradt was born, their birthday and details about their professions, education, religion, family and other life details and facts. The Hall of Fame has more than 400 inductees and 40,000 sq. Growing up in the 1950s in their close-knit community of Clearly, for us, it wasn't about the money. So instead of focusing on those things, we decided to focus on the few things we could influence. Flanked by about 20 family members including wife Sheila, his spouse of 39 years, Page waved at the appreciative crowd, his eyes glistening from the spotlight aimed at center court. Jody Conradt is the former University of Texas womens basketball coach (1976-2007) and womens athletics director (1992-2001). Donna comes to my house on a Sunday morning and says, out of the blue, Im gonna take this job at the Womens Sports Foundation. Conradt, 71, who coached at UT from 1976 to 2007 and won the 1986 national title, will become the second female to have a statue on UT's campus, joining congresswoman and civil rights leader Barbara Jordan. Forty years after coaching his final game at Texas, he was honored with a standing ovation during a home game against West Virginia at the Erwin Center. We were leading teams at dominant football schools. Lopianos departure represented a crossroad for Texas womens athletics and for Conradt personally. I think we all did. Perhaps nowhere was that concern more heightened than at Texas, which had won national football championships in 1963, 1969 and 1970 under coach Darrell Royal, who since 1962 had doubled as the schools athletic director. There were no scholarships in which to induce and reward them, unlike for their male counterparts. Jody Conradts childhood revolved around community, family, friends and sports in the small West Texas town of Goldthwaite. She was willing to give an opportunity to a young man of color. Brad Townsend, Sports enterprise reporter, Mavericks and NBA.. Dallas Morning News sports reporter since 1993. Her love was basketball. He has not returned to the university to watch the Lady Longhorns during that span until Sunday. Striving for excellence. Page relied on Texas mens basketball coach Leon Black. Your Account; Logout; Login; Create Account; Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. When in 1976, at age 35, she finally climbed from coaching basketball, softball and volleyball at UT-Arlington to coaching basketball and volleyball at Texas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegrams headline trumpeted: Woman Earns Man-Size Salary: $17,000.. A drive. On the morning she was to depart for Washington, D.C., Lopiano got a phone call from second-year UT President Lorene Rogers, the first and still only female president in the schools history. For me and my fellow administrators and coaches, Title IX impact focus always has been on young people. Numerous other colleges monitored what happened in Austin and followed Texas lead. Before camp registration, we toured campus with her three daughters and her mother, showing them where she had studied, stayed in the dorm and played basketball. It was always bigger than us. Conradt, valedictorian of Goldthwaites 22-student Class of 59, recalls the boys and girls basketball teams riding a bus together to play packed-gym doubleheaders in towns like Mason, Burnet and Llano. Lopiano deduced that it was Stephen F. Austins Sue Gunter or UT-Arlingtons Conradt. All seating is General Admission. Conradt was already known as a successful basketball and volleyball coach at Sam Houston State. Women's Power Rankings: Pac-12 teams, Maryland show their teeth, SCNext Top 25: Ranking the best high school girls' basketball teams in the 2022-23 season. Her love was basketball. Rodney Page came home Sunday to a place he barely recognized. If Conradt had the edge due to her up-tempo offense, full-court defense, attention to detail and foothold in the UT system which enabled her to meet Chancellor Charles LeMaistre so be it. Speak with her former student-athletes, and they agree on Conradts life lessons: hold integrity and team goals above all, work on self-discipline and organization, embrace diversity and tolerance, commit to honest and effective communication, maintain presence and exhibit class. During a Texas Exes meet and greet at Barton Creek Country Club, Lopiano was approached by UT Regent Ed Clark, who bluntly wondered how long it would take for a Longhorn womens team to win a national title. WebJody Conradts childhood revolved around community, family, friends and sports in the small West Texas town of Goldthwaite. With their quotes out of the NFL combine, DeMeco Ryans and Nick Caserio are acknowledging real change is planned in 2023. Oops. Conradt was a high school teacher and assistant girls basketball coach under legendary Waco Midway school administrator M.T. Her love was basketball. 1 of 4. Tower had input in drafting his amendment from President Gerald Ford, an ex-Michigan football star. All Ive ever known was to rise up and move forward, no matter what the challenge may be, no matter the difficulty or pain.. It was not easy for a man of color to coach at Texas, he said. And if our two good teams played one another, more people would pay attention. She saw a chance to wake up a "sleeping giant" in the early days of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that bans sex discrimination in educational programs -- including sports. "This is not about me. By 2016, the ratio was 2 of every 5 girls. Even then, after briefly teaching junior high in Houston and returning to Waco to be an assistant coach at Midway High and earn her masters at Baylor, opportunities were scarce. She retired from coaching in 2007, but remains active as special assistant in administration to Chris Del Conte, who in 2017, his first year as athletic director, combined the mens and womens programs as one department, making Texas the last NCAA Division I school to do so. We were happy to come away with a victory, but more importantly, I remember marveling at how hard their marketing department had worked to pull off such an amazing feat and how excited we were to be a part of history. She was a woman who cared deeply about family and the young women she mentored and coached. WebJ ody Conradt, the powerhouse women's basketball coach at the University of Texas -Austin (UT), has won more college women's basketball games than any other coach in WebConradt's classroom eventually became a multipurpose arena at her beloved University of Texas, after serving as women's basketball coach at Sam Houston State (1969-73) and coach/women's athletics director at UT-Arlington (1973-76). Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. As individuals, we gauge our success by the depth of ongoing, sustained relationships with the student-athletes. No person in the United States shall, based on sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Sharp did not respond to a request for an interview. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Joanne Benton-McCrary, who played for Texas from 1988-1993, said Conradt taught her players more than basketball. Page described Thompson as a very special human being., In Betty Thompsons eyes, I saw acceptance and belief, he continued. Conradt's tenure at Midway opened the door for her to become the head women's basketball coach at Sam Houston State University in 1969, after finishing her It wasnt until later, after I left, that I realized there was a whole world that didnt understand women in athletics, says Addie Jo, better known as Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach and University of Texas icon Jody Conradt. Fortunately, she is native to a state which takes pride in its passion, independence and can-do attitude. If there were problems stemming from his skin color, Page declines to discuss the matter with many details. And of the schools 62 overall national titles, exactly half have been won by womens teams, all since 1981. Reluctant to accept the invitation, Page had to be convinced by wife Sheila to attend. ft. of basketball history. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. She also served as interim director of the newly established department in 1974-75. Lopiano bet him an expensive bottle of wine that it would happen within three years. I was part of the grounds crew, a grass-roots effort that I hope no one ever minimizes, he said. Born: May 13, 1941. Summitt joined Conradt on the stage, flashed the "Hook'em Horns" sign and sang "The Eyes of Texas" with the crowd. We also recognized our many connections. Texas coach Jody Conradt, left, and Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, right, wish each other well prior to a gane in Austin in 2002. Always thinking. That's one of the reasons it will be so difficult to fathom a basketball season without Pat Summitt. But, over time, funding and other continuing inequities between the mens and womens sports nationally and at Texas troubled Lopiano. If our teams were good, people would eventually take notice. Growing up in the 1950s in their close-knit community of 1,300, they assumed girls sports were universally encouraged, as was the case in Goldthwaite and other Central Texas hamlets. Being a teacher or, if I went to Brownwood, I might see a nurse.. There was a connection, a camaraderie, a feeling that we were all in this together and weve got to make do. He has two daughters in college. #1 On Your Birthday Early spring success has Texas filling fans with hope, John Harrell resigns as Rockwall-Heath football coach after workout was investigated, UNT lands highly-regarded Lake Highlands junior point guard Jaylen Washington, PK winners! 8 ejected after UK-Florida scuffle at SEC tourney, Auriemma critical of 'selfish' Huskies after finale, New NCAA president readies for NIL, legal issues, S. Carolina stays No. This is a carousel. Especially at Texas, Conradt showcased her student-athletes, their speed and athleticism in a fast-breaking, run-and-shoot attack that lifted herteams to enormous popularity. Conradt selected as 2008 Naismith Outstanding Contributors to Basketball award winners [March 14, 2008] WebATLANTA (March 10, 2021) Legendary hall of famer Jody Conradt is the recipient of the 2021 Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her lifelong Her 1985-86 team (34-0) was the sport's first undefeated national champion, and she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. FILE - Texas forward Tiffany Jackson (33) points during Big 12 women's basketball tournament practice Monday, March 5, 2007 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Jackson, a former standout at the University of Texas who was the jbyoungblood@austin.utexas.edu. Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 1999. 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