‘BAYLOR OPENED UP THE WORLD TO ME’

(Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series of feature profiles on this year's Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor selections that will be posted every Thursday, leading up to the Nov. 22 Hall of Fame banquet.)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Growing up in Goldthwaite, Texas, with a high school graduation class of 22, all Jody Conradt knew were men's coaches.

"I never dreamed I could coach because all of my coaches were men," she said. "In small towns, and it still remains somewhat today, I think they hire two or three football coaches and those coaches draw straws. The long straw drives the bus and the short straw coaches girls' basketball."

Until Conradt got to Baylor as a student in 1959, she didn't know coaching was even an option for women.

"I wanted to be a teacher," she said, "but the whole experience I had at Baylor changed my perspective. It broadened my world in a way that I could not have imagined. And then, things sort of just fell into place based on my time at Baylor and as a student there."

That's putting it mildly for a Hall of Fame career that included 900 career wins, 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, a 34-0 national championship in 1986 and an unbelievable winning streak of 183 consecutive conference games between 1978 and 1990.

Already inducted in the Naismith Memorial, Women's Basketball and Texas Sports halls of fame, just to name a few, Conradt will be added to the Baylor Athletics Wall of Honor at the Nov. 22 Hall of Fame banquet.

"I am so excited about the opportunity to go back to Baylor and to be part of a class that is so terrific," said the 78-year-old Conradt, who remains at the University of Texas as special assistant to the women's athletic director.

Since women were not part of intercollegiate athletics at the time, Conradt thought her playing days were over after averaging 40 points per game at Goldthwaite High School. By pure coincidence, she walked into a Baylor gym one day and saw a bunch of women playing basketball.

"I was intrigued and sort of inquired, and they said, 'Well, this is a team comprised of people who are majoring in physical education,''' Conradt said. "I knew nothing about being a major in physical education because I had coaches and that was it. . . . I could not imagine what you were going to do with that degree."

Over time, though, her vision was broadened and "the world opened up to me" through teaching mentors at Baylor like Olga Fallen and Mary Tindle, "and they sort of led me through what the options might be out there."

While averaging 20 points per game during her Baylor days, she remembers her team playing against a successful high school program at nearby Midway. It was the coach of that team, Midway superintendent M.T. Rice, who gave Jody her first coaching job in 1963 when she graduated.

"I was an assistant to Mr. Rice on the varsity and I coached the junior varsity," she said. "In that tournament during the Christmas holidays (that now bears M.T. Rice's name), there were two girls' teams and two boys' teams from Midway that were always in the bracket. And it was just a well-known fact that when your team lost, you had to go work in the concession stand."

As she continues to mentor young people today, Conradt's message is that "you have to be willing to do whatever is needed . . . to get your foot in the door and to have the experience to lead to bigger opportunities."

Conradt's tenure at Midway opened the door for her to become the head women's basketball coach at Sam Houston State University in 1969, after finishing her master's degree at Baylor. She had already established herself in stops at Sam Houston and UT-Arlington before taking the head job at the University of Texas in 1976.

"I think there were opportunities for me when I started coaching and ultimately landed at the University of Texas that weren't available to other women," she said. "And certainly, the opportunity to play in college wasn't something that young girls dreamed about because it hadn't been happening. I just feel very fortunate to have landed at an institution that chose to be on the cutting edge, to do things that were uncommon, to take some risks and to provide those opportunities."

Seeing immediate success, her first team at Texas won 36 games and finished third in the AIAW regional. She averaged over 25 wins per year in 31 seasons with the Longhorns, the highlight coming in 1986 with the 34-0 national championship.

UT won its five NCAA Tournament games by an average margin of 22.2 points, beating third-ranked USC in the championship game, 97-81.

"You always strive for perfection in sports, but you never imagine that you're going to achieve it," Conradt said. "It was an unbelievable year. The national championship was the culmination of a long, hard journey, because there were six seniors on that team for the three years prior to winning were ranked No. 1 throughout the season in both polls.

"I don't generally think about that championship (without thinking) about the adversity and the hardship and the disappointment and the losses that came to that group before they actually won. There is a pride that all of us feel when teams and individuals accomplish things through adversity, come out of difficulty stronger and ultimately reach a goal."

While burnt orange still dominates her closet, Jody said as a Baylor alum she takes pride in what coach Kim Mulkey has done with the Baylor program. The Lady Bears are coming off a 37-1 season and their third national championship.

"That is rare air, that is unbelievable," Conradt said of Mulkey's three national championships. "I think Kim has done it her way and she's put her stamp on that program. There is just not enough praise that I can give to her for what she has accomplished. And there is no end in sight. . . . Kim has done tremendous things there and really accomplished things that probably people never imagined could happen."

As for how someone with two Baylor degrees and a Baptist upbringing would end up at a place like the University of Texas, tongue in cheek Jody says, "The Lord calls us to do mission work in varied and sundry places."

"I will always credit Baylor with giving me the vision to think bigger and to dream bigger," she said. "But, the University of Texas gave me an opportunity to create an environment where others across the state could see that there was an opportunity for young girls to continue to play competitive athletics."

Conradt and Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle Corporation and Vice Chair of the Baylor Board of Regents, will be added to the Wall of Honor. The 2019 Hall of Fame class includes football players John Adickes, Steve Beaird and Robin Jones, All-Americans Ryan Baca from men's golf and Lauren Hagans Paquette from track & field, baseball's Josh Ford, softball's Lisa Ferguson Murphy and Curtis Jerrells from men's basketball.

The Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center. Tickets cost $50 per person, with table sponsorships also available for $600 (green) and $800 (gold), and can be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at Tammy_Hardin@baylor.edu.

‘BAYLOR OPENED UP THE WORLD TO ME’

Related News

Related Videos

Promotional Background Photo

Footer