With the new women’s department in place, Director Donna Lopiano decided to base the department’s success around the women’s basketball team, given the strong following women’s basketball held in the state of Texas. Lopiano asked of her colleagues around the state who they thought was the best basketball coach in Texas, and most responded with Jody Conradt. Conradt would be hired to coach basketball and volleyball and received a salary, unheard of for a woman’s coach who wasn’t teaching, of $19,000 a year.

 

Photo credit: Susan Allen Sigmon, UT Athletics