In a way, I'm not sure it was anything I ever had a goal to do. It was at a point in time where the university was struggling financially, and as a result of that, the staffing was not really great. I have a doctorate, and I think my education lends itself into moving into administration.

It just kind of happened. It came to making a choice. And there wasn't a lot of money at that time to be put into the women's basketball program, and I wanted to be in the NCAAs for years. We knew we had to put more money into it, so I thought maybe I could help women's basketball from that angle. So I did that for a while, and I enjoyed it. I had lots of opportunities to go back into coaching, but not until it just sort of happened did I do it.

The game itself has not really changed that much. But the women's basketball environment has changed drastically. I graduated from Ohio State, and when I left there we had won the conference once while I was there but there was no following. Nobody really cared, and there weren't really that many kids who could play at that level. I was the chair of the women's basketball committee when the Final Four was in San Antonio a few years ago, and that still holds the record with 30,000 people attending that game. And in that respect it's changed greatly.

I think a lot of that has been because of Title IX. Because of Title IX, more kids are playing the game early. Because more kids are playing the game early, there are more players who play the game well. Another thing that changed the game significantly was the Olympics in Atlanta (in 1996) when the women went 60-0 and won the gold. That gave the impetus for the pro league. And I was on the committee that negotiated the TV contract with ESPN and NCAA. Now all 63 games of the championships are on live on ESPN and they cover a lot of women's basketball throughout the year.

For the rest of my life until I decide I don't want to do it anymore, and that's a good place to be in. I don't think ahead that way. You have to like it. You have to love what you're doing. And when you get to where I am in my career, I have the luxury of that — of really liking it and doing it as long as I like it.

I grew up in a college president's home, and that was a huge value in my home. You can probably tell because I just kind of kept going to school. I think every player but one or two I have coached has finished her eligibility with a college degree.

The players I coach graduate, and they know that's the number one priority with me. We set up an environment in our program that makes our players know that they go to class, they go to study hall, they meet with their tutors, they meet their academic responsibilities or they don't go to practice.

And if they don't go to practice very much, they aren't a student athlete anymore. They're a student. And that has worked wonderfully for me, and it's the number one reason why they're here. Now that doesn't mean they don't have to fulfill they're athletic responsibilities as well. They have to do both. That's one of those things no one ever writes about. It's not a trophy, a 400th win, a national championship or a conference championship, but it is the thing that I'm most proud of. The players that have played for me have degrees.