Under Rice, Conradt learned the value of fundamentals. 2 Indiana, No. I don't know of anyone who deserves this honor more.". With only enough cash for gas and a meal for the trip home, Conradt had her team check out of its hotel. Currently, it features two key components: Jody Conradt Opportunity Fund The attorney called back: Would you come to D.C. to testify about the Tower Amendment?, Lopiano: Why, yes, my mother and father will be very proud.. He coached the womens basketball team in the pre-Jody Conradt Era 1973 to 1976 at fabled Gregory Gym. Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis, scores and more. I was part of the grounds crew, a grass-roots effort that I hope no one ever minimizes, he said. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Stand with us in our mission to discover and uncover the story of North Texas, Jody Conradt, University of Texas embody the shaping, struggles and success of Title IX, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach. During his final two seasons, as a member of the AIAW, the Longhorns were 17-10 and 21-7, respectively, good progress for such a new team. Those traits, along with her graceful, compassionate style, Texas-sharp wit and humor, and desire to bring education and sport opportunities to young women, advanced Conradt into a visionary leader for women's college basketball and women's sports administration. When the University of Texas hired Jody Conradt to coach its women's basketball team for $17,000 in 1976, one of the state's largest newspapers announced Lopiano bet him an expensive bottle of wine that it would happen within three years. That's one of the reasons it's so difficult to come to grips with how little we know about Alzheimer's, which took her away too soon Tuesday at age 64. 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. We played in the now-defunct Southwest Conference, Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference. Del Conte is on record as calling Title IX the greatest thing thats ever happened to college athletics, primarily because of the opportunities its created for women, but also due to the 85-scholarship cap that was placed on football, creating more parity in that sport. I realized that was a way for me to teach and be a part of sports, as opposed to being in a classroom, she says. In 38 years as a collegiate head coach, Conradts players won 900 games. Mens sports owned and controlled their own financial pie, largely funded by football. That's the percentage of her players who graduated," Powers said. After retiring she went on to a career in nulrsing and worked for a veterans hospital both in the surgery unit and later management. 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. She was the head coach for the women's team at University of Texas at Austin . In 38 years as a collegiate head coach, Conradt's student-athletes won 900 games and, more important, nearly every one of them graduated. That's one of the reasons it will be so difficult to fathom a basketball season without Pat Summitt. With a full-out style that was unprecedented and unmatched during its time, Conradt led the 1985-86 Longhorns to a 34-0 record and national championship, the NCAA's first perfect season in the sport. Longhorn womens sports became a national powerhouse by the early 1980s. The resulting suit, filed on behalf of three club rowers, three club gymnasts and an intramural softball player, compelled Texas to settle out of court by adding varsity womens soccer (1993), softball (1995) and rowing (1998). Creating a model collegiate program that several other schools have tried to emulate, but Fortunately, she resided in a state that prides itself on passion, opportunity and can-do attitude. When he came to Texas in 1996, the upper Midwesttransplant wouldn't have imagined heading a program that would give him four state championships. Sport is this extraordinary developmental thing that has shaped men forever to be real players in the game of corporate America, or be successful in whatever they choose to do, she says. 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 He has two daughters in college. He is part of the fabric of a team that recently earned the 1,000th victory in school history, a feat achieved by just four other teams. 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, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Retha Swindell and Cathy Self-Morgan, pioneer players for Texas womens basketball, describe Page as a driven but fair man who cared about his players. jbyoungblood@austin.utexas.edu. Rodney Page came home Sunday to a place he barely recognized. Striving for excellence. The 600-pound statue depicts Conradt with an outstretched right arm flashing the "Hook'em" sign and was placed inside the school's basketball arena. It's about the University of Texas doing the right thing and showing to the world how much they value the role of women's athletics," Conradt said. We were at our states' preeminent public institutions. 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At 22, Pat had a focus, an intensity that most people couldn't comprehend. 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. In 1992, after announcing her departure to become CEO of the Womens Sports Foundation, Lopiano covertly plotted a lawsuit by seven womens athletes that accused Texas of Title IX violations, a transformative moment that rocked UT and Lopianos AD successor, Conradt. Her love was basketball. When Texas director of womens athletics Christine Plonsky invited Page two weeks to return for Sundays celebration, it was the first time anyone from the university had notified him in 40 years. Speak with her former student-athletes, and they agree on Conradt's life lessons: integrity and team goals above all, practice self-discipline and be organized, embrace diversity and tolerance, commit to honest and effective communication, maintain presence and exhibit class. Learn more and register here. UTA had driven to Arkansas in a pair of station wagons. The states best coach in the mid-1970s? And if our two good teams played one another, more people would pay attention. 10 Irish lose top scorer Miles to knee injury. Column: Isnt it time we heard from Georgia coach Kirby Smart? Her annual athletic budget was $1,200 and her $12,000 salary derived not from coaching, but teaching seven activities classes. He received an embrace from Conradt. Jody Conradt came to the University of Texas just a couple of years after [Title IX], said former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a taped statement. After two seasons shed stopped coaching volleyball, with basketball well en route to powerhouse status, although Conradt says she never envisioned the scope of what was to come: womens basketball often outdrawing the men in the Erwin Center, with Barbara Jordan and Ann Richards as courtside regulars. One of my fondest memories was when she came to Austin to speak at my statue ceremony in 2012. instructor to Coach Conradt to Texas womens athletic director. 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 "Woman Earns Man-Size Salary: $17,000.". The Summit will run from approximately 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. She didnt even know the school had what was called an extramural womens basketball team until she wandered into Rena Marrs McLean gym, heard the thump of a basketball and was invited to join in. Conradt steps aside from coaching [March 12, 2007] When Texas developed its womens basketball team, the Longhorns were already several steps behind the states established programs Wayland Baptist, Stephen F. Austin, Baylor, Rice, Temple Junior College. She meant a lot to me as a mentor and a source of comfort.. But at Texas expectations are elevated regardless of endeavor or gender, as was illustrated to Lopiano twice in her first month on the Forty Acres. At 67, Page reflects on a period that challenged him in so many ways. 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. The University of Texas is a better institution of higher learning. Chris and his wonderful spouse, Dr. Robin Ward, faculty member at Rice University, daily share the impact higher education has on Conradt coached Texas from 1976 to 2007, and finished with a career record of 900-307. Always thinking. We knew we were women entering a male-dominated arena. The University of Texas declared an Intercollegiate Athletics Department for Women in 1973 and formalized varsity sports for the 1974-75 academic year. With their quotes out of the NFL combine, DeMeco Ryans and Nick Caserio are acknowledging real change is planned in 2023. Fortunately, she resided in a state that prides itself on passion, opportunity and can-do attitude. Conradt had coaching stints at Sam Houston State and Texas-Arlington before taking the Texas job. She saw the good in me, the best in me. My interest and my passion was to provide opportunities for young women, so that they would have the same kind of experience I had, she says. She is among names such as the late Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt and C. Vivian Stringer. Royal told Lopiano to get a copy of the budget from his assistant. At Texas, and thanks to Title IX, resources wouldnt be nearly so bare, though the struggle for respect and visibility would be ongoing. Texas at Austin is a better institution of higher learning the pre-Jody Conradt Era 1973 to 1976 at fabled Gym! 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