Texas Tech University Athletics
Press Conference Quotes
February 24, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2006
Marsha Sharp's Opening Statement:
Thank you for being here. Today I am announcing my resignation as the coach of the Texas Tech Lady Raiders, effective at the end of the current season. The last few years have been increasingly difficult for me and please know there is not any one specific reason why I am choosing to resign now except that I know in my heart that the time has come for me to pursue new opportunities. It is very important to me to state that this is a decision I made last fall and that Dr. (Judi) Henry, Coach (Gerald) Myers, Dr. (Jon) Whitmore and Dr. (David) Smith were all informed of my intentions in early October. While this year has not been as successful as we had expected and hoped for, and it is true that some health concerns have been significant enough to get my attention, the decision was already made.
As you can imagine, there are many thoughts and emotions racing through me today. At the top of the list is an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the incredible opportunities and moments which Texas Tech has allowed me to experience. I have been surrounded throughout my career with administrators who have believed in me and in this program and have supported us in every possible way. I will always be grateful for their belief that opportunities for women in athletics was, and is the right thing to do. I appreciate the efforts of my coaching staff and support staff both past and present. They worked hard everyday to build and maintain a high level program and their commitment to Texas Tech was first class. Many of them are also some of my very best friends.
To our incredible fans, there is a reason that they call us The Lady Raider Nation. The support and loyalty that you have given this program are unmatched in women's basketball. I look forward to continuing my association with you, just from a different role.
Finally, but most importantly, thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the young women who have worn the Lady Raider uniform. The manner in which you represented this program, Texas Tech and Lubbock during your playing careers gives me great pride. But the things you are doing with your lives now are what I will always respect the most. I will look forward to continuing friendships with all of you for the rest of my life.
In closing, let me say that today came a little sooner than expected. The announcement has been planned for weeks to happen at the end of the season. I have been adamant about protecting this team. I wanted each game to be about the girls and not me. The unwillingness of some media outlets to let that happen has been very disappointing to me. So many members of the local media have been respectful of this process, and I appreciate that more than they will ever know. However, that is not the case with everyone, therefore prompting this announcement to be earlier than planned. Professionalism is a well respected trait and I truly believe that what goes around comes around in matters of personal and professional integrity.
It is now my hope and sole focus to continue our season as long as possible. All of us in the Lady Raider family will be working hard to prepare for the remaining Big 12 games and postseason. Thank you for being here today. I have always appreciated members of the media and your respect of our program.
Athletics Director Gerald Myers' Statement:
Marsha has done an outstanding job as the women's basketball coach at Texas Tech for a long period of time. She's been a great ambassador for the university, Lubbock and all of West Texas as one of the most outstanding coaches to have ever coached women's basketball. She leaves a legacy of one of the outstanding programs in the country that we hope to continue.
Marsha informed us in early October that she wanted to make this her last season to coach Lady Raider Basketball. At that time, I talked with her to be certain that this was a decision that she had put a lot of thought into and that she was sure she wanted to resign from coaching. Again, a month ago, I visited with Marsha and spoke with her to make certain this was something she still wanted to do. She confirmed it was the right time to pursue other interests and opportunities.
We will conduct a national search to find the best available coach in our best efforts to continue to have one of the finest women's basketball programs in the country. Marsha has built a great program with the best fans in women's basketball.
Although Marsha is resigning from coaching the Lady Raiders, I am pleased that she will continue to be associated with the athletic department as an Associate AD for Special Projects.
I look forward to working with Marsha as we continue to work to strengthen and enhance our sports programs.
Texas Tech Player Quotes
Senior LaToya Davis
On her reaction:
"It was shocking, but we know it was in her best interest. It was very emotional. I feel sorry for the underclassmen because they wanted to play for Coach (Sharp) for four years."
On the remainder of the season: "We love Coach Sharp and we are going to finish out the season for her. We support her and we will play our hardest. We want to go out with a bang."
Senior Erin Grant
On her reaction:
"It was very difficult, especially for the players still here. As a senior, we will be going out together. I was surprised and shocked. It was a major surprise for the whole team. It was very emotional for her not knowing today would be the day to tell us."
On the remainder of the season:
"After the initial shock, we will be fine. We have a big game at Texas on Sunday. It will be important for fans to come out on Wednesday (March 1) and support Coach Sharp, LaToya and me."
On Coach Sharp:
"I will remember the tradition she created here. I congratulate everything she has done with women's basketball. She has been a pioneer of the game."
Junior Brooke Baughman
On her reaction:
"We were not ready for it. I feel bad for Coach Sharp because this is not how she had planned it."
On the remainder of the season:
"We want to win for Coach Sharp and the seniors. We will take one game at a time. Nobody knows what to expect but we have to focus on the rest of the season."
On Coach Sharp:
"Growing up around here, I looked up to her. I am going to be a coach so I look up to her and will use some of the things she has taught me. I feel very privileged to be a part of this program."
Junior Alesha Robertson
On her reaction:
"She is such a strong coach. We are all going to miss her. She will always have a place in my heart. I am happy that everyone is supporting us. I just never thought this day would come."
Jon Whitmore, Texas Tech President
"We are very proud of our athletic program, in particularly the women's basketball program. The point I would like to make, and it is just one, as the president I care about athletics but I care more about academics and Marsha Sharp is the perfect example whose support for academics, success for the athletes and success on the basketball court. She graduates her students and they go on to other careers. Some of them are in the women's national basketball professional program. But many more of them go on to successful careers with advanced degrees. So, as the president I am proud of her incredible accomplishments in terms of the academic success and the likes of these athletes that performed here as women's basketball players over the years. So, Marsha, I would particularly like to thank you for that. There is no wonder why our student academic support building is named after Marsha Sharp. She exemplifies that quality over any other coach in America. Thank you."
Marsha Sharp
On the thought process of retiring:
"I think it's not something that you do easily, obviously. When you do something for 24 years you have to be sure that it is time to take the next step and it was important to me to make sure about that. I probably have known that I was closer to doing it for the last two or three years then I had been at any point of my career. So, I knew it was coming. I think it became evident it was time for me to try to change directions a little bit. I needed to maybe look at some different opportunities. And, actually, that is all it was. I was pretty much in the situation where I knew the time was right for me."
On her health issues:
"I am feeling fine. I don't feel very good at this very moment. I would guess if I was able to go out and run six miles today, I still wouldn't feel that good. One of the hardest things I have had to do in a long time was tell those players today and I wasn't really prepared to do that today. It was even a little bit more difficult for me, but I am great. My health is fine and I have great doctors and they take great care of me. I am good to go."
On the players' reactions:
"Well, I obviously wanted to wait and I tell you the most important thing for me this last month has been to try to get them past the regular season. Because I can honestly tell you the truth was that I wanted next Wednesday be about Erin Grant and LaToya Davis because they deserve that. I did not want it to be about anything else. We were forced into an issue where we couldn't let that happen and that disappoints me a lot. I have a lot of strong beliefs in those guys in the locker room. They have handled a lot of adversity this year from a lot of different angles and I think they will step up. But I am looking forward to coaching them on Sunday. We will lose as many distractions as we can between now and then and get ready to go. I have all of the faith in the world that they will be ready to play Sunday afternoon in Austin."
Did the players know in advance?
"No."
When did they find out and how did they take it?
"At 1:30 this afternoon. I think as you would expect, maybe, people who have done things that we have done together for a few years, certainly they came to Texas Tech with expectations that they would play for a certain coach for four years. They are struggling. They were awesome with me and I feel like their full support. They understand what is going on with me and I think they care about what happens with me and that things are good from their perspective too. They are great kids. They are great people. They really handled things well and there was some emotion, which from my side too. Maybe we will move pass that now and get ready to play again."
On her career at Tech:
"There will probably be critics that think we could have done a few things here and there and a little bit better. As a whole, I am proud of it and I really feel like it has been a collective effort. As I said in my statement, a program at this magnitude does not come about with the efforts of one individual. It is a collective effort of a lot of folks that put a lot of time and effort and resources into something that they believe in and I think that has happened in this program. But you know when you think about it from my perspective when I started 24 years ago and where we were and the number of people that were in the stands and what you get to walk out in front of today. The way we travel and the gear we wear and the support we have around it. I had a conversation with one of the other coaches in the Big 12 a little while before I came down here today. The comments were we have worked so hard forever to get this kind of attention to women's basketball and now we have it and there are parts of it that you have to live with it. And I think for the most part that is a very good thing. It is obviously what we have all worked very hard for a lot of years to try to make happen. The first several Final Four games that I went and watched, early in my career, there weren't this many cameras in the arena. They talked to us about sitting on the same side of the arena so it would like people were in the room and now you can't get a ticket. The game has changed so much. I probably have as much pride in that on a national level as I do with what we have done here. A lot of the changes that have come about in the game are because a lot of people have worked hard to make that happen. That is a long answer to say I think there have been a lot of great things that have happened in women's basketball in the last two decades or so."
On advice to the coach that fills her position:
"I will not be involved in the process to much extent, not anymore than they want me to be, but I will tell you what I will tell them. This is one of the top three or four places in the nation to coach women's basketball, no question. Our fans and the support around us and the things that go on at the university are first class, top notch and I will make sure that they have my absolute and unconditional support for what they are trying to do. Because there is not anything that I want more than to watch this program to continue to be great and continue to do things at a high class level and to do a first class job in every area. I will look forward to being a small part of that."
On your future plans:
"Well there are a lot of projects that I hope Gerald will allow me to be a part of. We have got some things on the table right now with some Hall of Fame issues that we need to address in the athletic department and things like that will go on. I will expect to travel some. I am going to do that. There are some athletic events that I have wanted to watch for a long time that I am going to go take advantage of and do some things now. Some top notch basketball games in different arenas that I want to go be a part of before all of the people that I know retire I have got to go do that while I can still get tickets. I am going to try to do some of those kinds of things. I hope to be involved with women's basketball at the national level a little bit. Maybe some opportunities with the NCAA, there are a lot of leadership opportunities that I have and have not pursued the last few years as far as leadership seminars and corporations and speaking engagements and things like that, that I have really wanted to be a part of and just couldn't because of my schedule. There are a lot of different areas that I want to try. Beware too, because I have bought a set of golf clubs and that could be very dangerous for everyone that is on the golf courses this spring and summer in Lubbock, because it will take me a little while to figure that out."
On the outcry of support:
"Significant. I think the word got out this morning and there were a lot of reporters that were beginning to call coaches and because we had a plan in place I was going to email all of those people and all of our ex players and different people next week to give them an opportunity to know it before it hit the media and give them a little bit of forewarning. I was not able to do that because of the circumstances today. It has been humbling and I know what those people are all about. I have great friends in the coaching profession and they are all gathering forces today. That part of it has been good. I have heard from a number of our ex players. Honestly, that has been ongoing since I got off the gym floor in Oklahoma. The phone calls and emails and different communication I have had with them have been very special to me and that has continued in a big wave this morning. "
On the national search: "I want the very best coach for this program. Period."
On coaching a national or Olympic team:
"I want to take a step back for a little while and just try to regroup a little bit but those opportunities are available now because it has become a part of their by laws that retired coaches and coaches that are not active in the game right now have an opportunity to coach at those programs. It is a possibility that is there. I always love to do those kinds of things and we will see. I want to take some time off and kind of regroup and refocus and use the next year as a transition year for me for whatever I want to do next. And I am not sure I can tell you that right now."
On coaching down the line:
"It is wait and see. I am still fairly young. Y'all probably think I am old, but I am not that old. I am not going to close any doors honestly. I am going to leave everything wide open because I don't know how I will feel a year from now and I want to make sure the possibilities are still on the table for me."
