LSU Women's Basketball http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com The Lady Tiger Way - Official Blog posterous.com Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:13:00 -0700 Swish Appeal ranks LSU #14th women's basketball program http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/swish-appeal-ranks-lsu-14th-womens-basketball http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/swish-appeal-ranks-lsu-14th-womens-basketball

Swish Appeal has been on a long track of ranking the top 100 women's basketball programs in the nation based on their success over a long period of time.  The LSU Lady Tigers come in at 14th of all programs in the nation.  Here is what Swish Appeal has to say about LSU women's basketball:

14.   LSU:  The Lady Tigers of Louisana State have had a lot of success, and a lot of great coaches.  Sue Gunter coached the team for 24 years, taking the team to a NCAA Final Four.  Pokey Chatman inherited that team and that team went to three Final Fours after that.  With Chatman's resignation, Van Chancellor took over the team.  The first year he was with the team - 2007-08 - the team went to another Final Four, five consecutive Final Fours in all.  The only other school with five consecutive Final Fours?  Connecticut.

Aside from the WNBA players that come out of the program - Seimone Augustus and Marie Ferdinand-Harris - the program is investing in its infrastructure with a new practice facility that was completed in January 2010.  They picked up the #16 recruiting class in the country according to ESPN.   It looks like LSU wants very badly to at the very least get to another Final Four.  Don't be surprised if they make it.

Check here for all of the Swish Appeal rankings: http://bit.ly/dbHm0x

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/566494/lsucoachstarkey.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5ALKlEihyfjb Bob Starkey Bob Starkey - Assistant Head Coach Bob Starkey
Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:41:00 -0700 Coach Gunter inducted into LSU Hall of Fame http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/coach-gunter-inducted-into-lsu-hall-of-fame-0 http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/coach-gunter-inducted-into-lsu-hall-of-fame-0
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This past weekend, Coach Gunter was inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame. Below is excerpts from an article beautifully written by Lady Tiger SID Bill Martin:


The late Sue Gunter was a pioneer in women's basketball, but what defined the Hall of Famer was something much more than 708 wins in 40 seasons. She was a mentor and a friend and she did it with integrity and class.

Those two traits are easy to see why her legacy lives on in Baton Rouge and throughout the women's game today. There are reminders everywhere at LSU of what she meant to the program. A bronze statue and painting stands in the complex named in her honor. A banner hangs from the Maravich Center rafters with her accomplishments. Her phrase "dream big, work hard," is prominent among the current class of players.

Then there are the people she affected on a daily basis during her coaching career - the players, the managers, the coaches and the support staff. A painting proudly hangs from the wall of LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey's office. A photo sits on the desk of Cornelia Gayden, a three-time All-Southeastern Conference guard from 1993-95, in her office in McComb, Miss.

"Playing for Coach Gunter was one of the most amazing things to ever happen to me in my life," said Gayden, a 1995 All-American. "She was not only a great coach and a great mentor for all of us. She was concerned about our education and concerned about us as people first and foremost. That just made it easy to want to play for her."

"Coach Gunter is someone who has greatly influenced me as a coach and as a person," Starkey said. "That influence is just as strong today ever before. I feel obligated to carry on her legacy of love for the game and the players that play it so that I can share her influence.


Read Bill Martin's entire article at: http://bit.ly/b5JvOP

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin
Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:56:00 -0800 Banquet Highlights the Inaugural Sue Gunter Classic http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/banquet-a-highlight-of-1st-sue-gunter-classic http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/banquet-a-highlight-of-1st-sue-gunter-classic

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BOB STARKEY (12-17-09):

Looking back on the first Sue Gunter Classic, one of the best memories I have is of the banquet. First and foremost, many thanks to Brittany Carvalhido and her managers for the countless hours in putting it together. It was special to see Skip Bertman, one of Coach Gunter's favorites attending and I had a chance to talk to Skip and hear some of his favorite Coach Gunter stories. Patrick Wright did a wonderful job as MC and share will all of us some his favorite Coach Gunter tales. A major highlight of the banquet was listening to Hall of Fame Doris Rogers who not only was a friend of Coach Gunters but a teammate at Nashville Business College. I learned two new things about Coach Gunter during Doris talk. The first was that she was an outstanding softball player. She batted second in the order and her role was to bunt the lead-off hitter over. And, in the true Coach Gunter fashion, she learned the skill to perfection. The other story that I first learned was that the night before she past, she told a friend of hers at the house, "to make some extra coffee for the morning because there will be a lot of people here." Even in passing Coach Gunter was taking care of us!

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:43:00 -0800 What they said about Coach Gunter http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/what-they-said-about-coach-gunter http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/what-they-said-about-coach-gunter
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“For me personally, when I came to LSU, one of the things that just appealed to me was that I was taking over a program that Sue Gunter made famous. That was a pleasant thought for me personally. She and I were both raised in small, rural Mississippi towns about 50 miles apart, and we just have so much in common. I can’t think of a greater way to honor someone. She was a better person than she was a coach, and she was a great coach.”
-- LSU head coach Van Chancellor

“You look at the program and how far it’s come and it really speaks volumes for what she’s done. If you look at the people that she’s brought into the program, the people that she’s trusted and instilled so much value in, you see in the record books how well she did and what a great job she did. It’s not just the records, though. Look at all the alumni that come back. It has to be something that she’s done. When you’re around great people, you always want to embrace that. Coach Gunter was a player’s coach. Even though she was a little older, she adapted to the generations that she recruited, which was good for us. We never had to change to try to fit her. She basically changed to fit us. You don’t ever see that. Once certain people get older, you just adapt to them, but she did everything she could to try to adapt to us. She was always there to pick us up.”
-- Former LSU point guard and 2009 WNBA champ Temeka Johnson

“Coach Gunter is someone who has greatly influenced me as a coach and as a person. That influence is just as strong today ever before. I feel obligated to carry on her legacy of love for the game and the players that play it so that I can share her influence.”
-- LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey

“Sue Gunter was a wonderful friend, an exceptional person and an incredibly talented basketball coach. Sue was definitely one of the pioneers of women’s collegiate basketball. She was one of my mentor. She taught me about the delicate balance of coaching and teaching the game and the value of great player-coach relationships. She made playing basketball fun due to her ability to connect with her players.”
-- Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt

“There was always a lot of respect, not just as a coach, but in life. She was an unbelievable friend and sister. I will always cherish what we had. And she was a hell of a coach.”
-- Ann Meyers

“I’m reminded every day this is how I want to be remembered. I want to live my life the way Coach Gunter lived.”
-- Former LSU three-time All-SEC player Cornelia Gayden

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:39:00 -0800 Sue Gunter's legacy lives on at LSU http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/sue-gunters-legacy-lives-on-at-lsu http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/sue-gunters-legacy-lives-on-at-lsu
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The following is part of a great article written by our SID Bill Martin on Coach Gunter:


The phrase “dream big, work hard” epitomizes everything associated with LSU women’s basketball. The words stressed by the late Hall of Fame coach couldn’t be truer for a program that she took over in 1982. In 40 seasons, Sue Gunter helped change the culture of women’s basketball in America and the pieces of her legacy are most prominent in Baton Rouge.

It’s been five years since Coach Gunter sat on the LSU bench, but the current generation of Lady Tigers is reminded on a daily basis of what she meant to the program. LSU operates out of the Sue Gunter Complex in the Maravich Center. A bronze statue of Gunter greets players upon entrance to the complex. A portrait painting adorns one of the walls. A banner hangs from the rafters of the Maravich Center, her accomplishments known well to all.

“It’s a great honor because we get to carry on the legacy that she helped build up the program to where it is today,” LSU junior guard Katherine Graham said. “Playing for the former players like Temeka Johnson and Sylvia Fowles and all those that put in the hours and the work to bring the program where it needs to be. Coach Gunter established this.”

While Gunter is a constant reminder to the team, these two days her legacy takes the spotlight as LSU is playing host to the inaugural Sue Gunter Classic in her name. LSU plans to continue the tournament for future seasons, making it into one of college basketball’s premier events and keeping Gunter’s legacy alive among the nation’s teams.

Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/8ZyswD

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:15:00 -0800 Coach Gunter remembered as tournament in her name tips off http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/coach-gunter-remembered-as-tournament-in-her http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/coach-gunter-remembered-as-tournament-in-her
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From today's story in The Advocate by Scott Hotard:


Temeka Johnson remembers the day she met Sue Gunter.

Johnson was an all-state point guard at Bonnabel High in Kenner. Gunter was one of several college coaches hoping to sign Jewell Johnson’s granddaughter.

“There’s something special about that lady,” Temeka Johnson recalls her grandmother saying.
Jewell Johnson, who died of cancer last year, always knew a good thing when she saw it.
A decade after the coach’s visit to the Johnson home, those who played for Gunter — or coached against her — describe the most celebrated figure in LSU women’s basketball the same way.
She was something special.

“However many wins she had,” said Lady Tigers coach Van Chancellor, in his third season at the helm of the program Gunter made relevant, “she was a better person than she was a coach.”
Today begins the inaugural Sue Gunter Classic, a two-day, four-team tournament featuring LSU, Houston Baptist, North Carolina A&T and Louisiana-Lafayette.


Read the entire article (it well worth it!) - http://bit.ly/4nFqxi

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:01:00 -0800 Coach Gunter elected to LSU Athletic Hall of Fame http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/coach-gunter-elected-to-lsu-athletic-hall-of http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/coach-gunter-elected-to-lsu-athletic-hall-of
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BATON ROUGE – Two former LSU standouts and three former LSU coaches and administrators have been elected to the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame, the school has announced.

New inductees to the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame are football defensive back James Britt, golfer Jenny Lidback, equipment manager Jeff Boss, head football coach and athletic director Paul Dietzel and head women’s basketball coach Sue Gunter.

The five newly elected honorees will be formally inducted into the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame next year on a date to be announced. Boss and Gunter will be inducted posthumously.

Sue Gunter was the head coach of the LSU women’s basketball team from 1982-2004 and became the winningest coach in Lady Tiger history with 442 victories. She led LSU to the 2004 Final Four, setting into motion a string of five straight Final Four appearances for the Lady Tigers. Also during her tenure as LSU head coach, the Lady Tigers won SEC Tournament titles in 1991 and 2003, captured the 1985 Women’s NIT title and appeared in the NCAA’s Elite Eight three times. She was the SEC Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1999 and the National Coach of the Year in 1983.

Gunter coached at Middle Tennessee State for two years and Stephen F. Austin for 16 seasons and then served two years as athletic director at SFA before joining LSU in 1982. A legend in women’s basketball circles, she is the third winningest coach in NCAA history with 708 wins. She is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. A 1962 graduate of Peabody College, Gunter died in 2005 at the age of 66.

Read write up: http://bit.ly/8Xs1Uj

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:08:00 -0700 Temeka Johnson Honors John Hawie http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/meek-honors-john-hawie http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/meek-honors-john-hawie

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TEMEKA JOHNSON (10-23-09):

Today I got to do something very special -- honor someone who really cares and has made a difference in my life and that of the Lady Tiger program. John Hawie has helped our program raise money (including a lot of his own) to help us do so many things like create an amazing basketball complex with a locker room, video theater, and player's lounge. Recently he endowed a scholarship in Coach Gunter's name and that really meant something special to me. But it is so much more than the money -- he genuinely cares about us as players and young people. He also has made a difference in my HOPE Foundation with support so today I surprised him before practice with a WNBA basketball autographed by the Phoenix Mercury! It is just a small way to say thanks to someone very deserving. Judy Southard stopped by to give her thanks to John as well and I enjoyed visiting with her as well.

 

 
For more info on Meek's foundation: www.MeeksHope.org

 

 

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin
Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:08:00 -0700 JOHN HAWIE ENDOWS SCHOLARSHIP IN THE NAME OF COACH SUE GUNTER http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/john-hawie-endows-scholarship-in-the-name-of http://lsuwbkb.posterous.com/john-hawie-endows-scholarship-in-the-name-of
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COACH STARKEY (10-12-09):
One of my favorite people in the world is John Hawie. He not only is a support of LSU athletics but has been a tremendous supporter of Lady Tiger Basketball. In fact, John has become someone that has grown to love the game of women's basketball on all levels and I always enjoy talking about our game with him. John is someone who has been supporting our efforts for a long time -- before it was fashionable but recently he took it to an entirely greater level. It was announced at the half-time of the LSU-Florida football game that John would be endowing a scholarship in the name of Coach Sue Gunter as part of the Tiger Athletic Foundation's Foundation of Champions. The idea of endowing the scholarship in Coach Gunter's name came from John and his love and respect for her and her accomplishments. The financial support is truly important but his understanding of our program's legacy is priceless -- THANKS JOHN!!!

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/674116/martinbill.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5fdxb874KSIN Bill Martin Bill Martin