Peace out Jody

For a good portion of my childhood, I really believed I was going to play basketball for Jody Conradt. Then I realized I was short, white, and really, just not that good. I moved on to other dreams. But I can imagine the huge number of girls growing up in Texas that had the same idea that I did. Sure, I'm sure some had dreams of the lovely smells of Lubbock and Marsha Sharp, but if they were smart, their eyes were on Conradt. And now, after 900 wins, she's done. It's one of those things that you know has to happen one day, but you never actually believe it's going to happen. And I guess once you hit 900 and you haven't led your team to the NCAA tourney in 2 years, you start feeling like you're done. You have to think it was all her decision - the Texas athletic department is notoriously loyal to its staff (i.e., somehow David McWilliams is still employed by the Department, and not to mention, Greg Davis still has a job.....). There's no way DeLoss or Polonsky would try to push her out after just 2 disappointing seasons. So good for Jody - she's bowing out on her own terms. She deserved that. She did enough not only for UT women's basketball, but also for the game in general that she deserved the respect to stay until she felt she was done. So after a season that before it began had so much promise - Tiffany Jackson and her senior leadership, a young, quick, sharpshooting backcourt only to be followed by devastating injuries including losing Erika Arriaran for the season, she called it a career.

So, time for a new chapter in UT women's bball - and it looks like that chapter will start with the hiring of Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey-Robinson. One of Baylor's only bright spots in the past how many ever years, she led the Lady Bears to the NCAA championship in 2005. But it rumored that she is VERY unhappy with Waco - not Baylor necessarily, but Waco itself and specifically Midway ISD - in which her kids are enrolled. Word on the street is that deal is pretty much done and everything is just waiting on Baylor to get bounced from the tourney before a million dollar deal between Mulkey-Robinson and Texas is announced. There are some whispers though, that since the LSU job has opened up, Mulkey-Robinson might have a change of heart and head home to Louisiana. There's pretty much no question that this is her last season at Baylor. Personally I think she's a lock for UT. For years rumors have been speculating that she had a strong interest in succeeding Conradt at Texas and she's just been waiting around for the opportunity to arise. Honestly, I've never been that big a fan of her coaching style from the bench. There's just something about her - she seems argumentative, maybe more a drill sergeant than a coach? I'm not sure, but I can't argue that it hasn't been successful for her. I'm just not sure how she'll fit in around the Texas athletic department. She seems a little too wound up for those folks... Just my $0.02, which doesn't mean much.... I haven't watched a women's college basketball game all year.........