Marian Washington’s Hall of Fame case as a trailblazing women’s basketball coach

Angie Halbleib-Murphy’s voice cracked. She knew this was going to be the question that made her tear up.

What has Marian E. Washington meant to you, and how did she exemplify the culture she built in 31 years at Kansas? 

“Where does one begin?” Halbleib-Murphy asked.

She paused. Where does one end?

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Nearly 30 years ago, Halbleib-Murphy joined Kansas women’s basketball. During her junior year, her parents divorced, and the Middleton, Wis., native had to process this miles away from home. Washington, the longtime head coach for the Jayhawks, checked in every day and called Halbleib-Murphy’s mother to make sure she was OK.

Washington continued to show up — during the bad times and the good. There’s a picture on Halbleib-Murphy’s refrigerator of Washington and her mother at her wedding. Two years ago, Washington was there when Halbleib-Murphy’s mother died after a long period of dealing with cancer. Before Halbleib-Murphy’s mom passed, Washington visited her via video call. Washington called Halbleib-Murphy’s brother to check in with him, too.

This is why Washington, a Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame finalist, should be enshrined, Halbleib-Murphy said. Not just because of Washington’s achievements on the court, but because of how the veteran coach consistently showed up for her players and coaches off the court.

“I wouldn’t trade a Final Four; I wouldn’t trade anything for that relationship, because none of it matters,” Halbleib-Murphy said through tears. “It’s about people, and that’s the most important thing. It’s about the people that you’re around, and she is one of the best people I’ve ever met.

“If I ever needed anything, she would rise to the occasion. That’s a special woman. … You might have coaches in the Hall of Fame with better records, (and) even better X’s and O’s coaches, someone who’s a better adjustment-making coach, but you’re never gonna find a coach who cares about their players more than that woman. And I will stand by that statement. They don’t make ’em better.”

Last month, the Hall of Fame announced the 12 finalists for its Class of 2023. On Saturday, the official class will be announced during the Final Four in Houston. Washington, the first Black coach in Division I women’s basketball, is one of four women in contention for enshrinement.

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Fifty years ago, at 26 years old, Washington took over as the Jayhawks coach. When she retired in 2004, Washington had a 560-363 record and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, and she advanced to the Sweet 16 twice.

Washington also started Kansas’ track and field team in 1974. That year, she became the first Black female athletic director in the Big Eight. On May 30, 1992, Washington became the first female president of the Black Coaches Association after the presidency of former Clemson defensive coordinator Ron Dickerson. Washington would later serve a second term.

The Athletic spoke to Washington’s former assistant coach Misty Opat and players including Halbleib-Murphy, Lynette Woodard, Tamecka Dixon, Cynthia Kelly, Lynn Page and Evette Ott after Washington’s selection as a Hall of Fame finalist. The majority of them are traveling to Dallas this weekend for the Women’s Final Four, as NCAA will host a preview of the docuseries “If Not for Them,” in which Washington will be celebrated. Ott, who played guard and small forward from 1983 to 1988, summed up the group’s feeling when the news was announced: “It’s about damn time.”

“She deserves it,” said Woodard, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004. “I hope that this is the charm, because she is a great coach, great person. She has brought a lot to the game. She was doing everything that’s popular now, back in the day, like graduating players. (She gave) us a sense of pride and (sent) us out into the world to conquer in our own ways.

“She didn’t just do it for herself. She fought for everybody. Whenever she was on a committee, something came out of there. One of the biggest ones that I’m aware of and am proud of is the policy with USA basketball, making sure that there is minority representation on every team. That wasn’t happening back in the day, so that’s huge.”

Washington’s focus when she coached was on sending her players into the world as better people. She wanted them to excel as basketball players, but her primary objective was making sure the people who came through her program earned degrees and left more well rounded than when they arrived in Lawrence, Kan.

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“To be a finalist is quite an honor, and I’m absolutely thrilled,” Washington said. “I can’t remember how I found out. I think my daughter was on the phone screaming. … I’ve never been a person to be able to or would want to spend a lot of time on my accomplishments, because I was so busy trying to get things done. Every time I would reach a milestone, I would be asked by the media, ‘How do you feel about this? And how do you feel about this accomplishment?’ And I could never really say. I certainly appreciate it, but there was much more to do.

“It’s an honor, and I’m now a great-grandmother, so what’s been happening for me personally of late, I’m much more aware of my legacy. … I’m so happy that my family can share in it. I think that’s what makes me the happiest. I’m certainly hopeful. I’ve been on committees like this, and I know that sometimes it takes a while before you finally reach that goal.”

Meeting Washington changed the trajectory of Opat’s life.

Opat had been a student assistant but had never been an assistant coach. Without Washington’s hiring Opat as her third assistant coach, the Dighton, Kan., native said she never would have attained the success she has. In more than 20 years of coaching, Opat has won four National Junior College Athletic Association Division III championships and is a two-time National Coach of the Year (2015 and 2017).

Before Opat was hired in August 1995, she was milking cows and finishing her master’s degree at Fort Hays State. She applied for several coaching positions and started to believe she wasn’t going to get a job so late in the process.

Then Kansas called, and she drove to Lawrence to interview with Washington and assistant coaches Maggie Mahood and Pam DeCosta. They offered Opat the position. By September, the then-25-year-old was on campus settling into her new role.

“Maggie would tell me later that Coach felt like I would really appreciate the opportunity,” said Opat, who is now the coach at NJCAA Cochise College (Sierra Vista and Douglas, Ariz.). “It was just unbelievable. The best years of my life were there. Coach (had) such an impact on me and my entire coaching career. I can’t even explain, and I would’ve stayed there longer. Coach was phenomenal about getting new people into the business and giving people opportunities. … That’s in a day and age where people hire people they know more than giving new people opportunities. It totally changed the trajectory of my life having that opportunity.”

Washington gives all of the credit in the world to her former coach Carol Eckman, whom she played for at West Chester State (now West Chester University) in Pennsylvania. The way she learned to play, how she observed one should coach and how a coach should stand up for her players and beliefs, she gathered from Eckman.

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A 1999 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Eckman in 1969 organized the inaugural National Women’s Invitational Tournament, which Washington and her teammates won. It was with Eckman’s encouragement and tutelage that her star forward made it to the 1972 Olympic team for Munich. This, Washington remembers, resulted in one of the worst heartbreaks of her life as the group never took the court, because the Olympic Committee forgot to schedule them into the events.

“I always carried that with me,” Washington said. “I wanted very much to be an Olympian. That was my ultimate goal.”

At this time, Washington lived in Arkansas, because that’s where the Olympic team trained. As she prayed and searched for next steps, she recalled a conversation with discus thrower and Olympic gold medalist Al Oerter. The two met when she was throwing the shot put and discus in high school. Washington was playing at the national level, and Oerter was a student at Kansas training under coach M.E. “Bill” Easton. Oerter told Washington to come to Kansas if she ever needed an opportunity, so she reached and asked if the offer still stood. Washington moved to Lawrence with her daughter, Josie.

She began training with Easton, who convinced her to enter the master’s program in 1972. Kansas started its varsity women’s basketball team in 1968, and Washington joined as an assistant under Sharon Drysdale in 1972 — the year Title IX passed into legislation.

Five years after taking over as coach, Washington led the Jayhawks to a 30-8 record and the Big Eight crown, which made her the first Black female coach to do so at a major school. A long list of firsts succeeded this accomplishment, including winning an Olympic gold medal with the 1996 women’s national team as an assistant coach under longtime Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer in Atlanta.

“To be the first Black coach on the Olympic coaching staff,” Washington said, “I wanted Tara to understand the impact of that decision. Whether it was me or Vivian (Stringer) or whomever, but that she did choose a Black coach (was monumental).”

Seeing the advancement of Black coaches in the women’s game is one of the things Washington is most proud of. In this year’s Final Four, two Black coaches — Dawn Staley (South Carolina) and Kenny Brooks (Virginia Tech) — will compete in Dallas. Since Stringer first made it with Cheyney State in 1982, there have been six Black coaches to reach the Final Four, including Carolyn Peck (Purdue), Pokey Chatman (LSU), Staley, Adia Barnes (Arizona) and Brooks.

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Stringer, Chatman and Staley have each led their teams to at least three Final Fours. Only Peck and Staley, however, have won the title, and last year, Staley became the only Black coach in Division I basketball — men’s or women’s — to win two titles. Her Gamecocks are attempting to repeat this year, and Washington cannot wait to watch.

This, she said, is what so much of her work and sacrifices were for: making it easier for the next generation.

“I like to think that I helped to bring about diversity among the women coaches of this country and internationally,” Washington said. “When I see someone like Dawn Staley being the Olympic coach — a young Black woman — I’m really proud of that. It’s come a long way for us to finally get there. … Now that I see what’s going on, I am so proud of Dawn and her accomplishments. But there are so many others, as you’ve mentioned. It just goes to show that we’ve always had that talent out there. We just, like in so many situations, if you’re not given the opportunity, you don’t get a chance to surface.

“It was a matter of giving our Black women an opportunity. And I think that they have continued to do well, and we continue to have more of us in the coaching ranks — the top coaching ranks. I’m really thrilled. The only thing that I ever have asked (and) wished (for) is that our young women understood the real history of their sport.”

(Photo courtesy of the University of Kansas)