Hall of Fame hoops coach leaves retirement to join Baylor staff
Imagine former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz taking a job as an assistant under Art Briles, or basketball’s Bobby Knight accepting a position as an assistant to Scott Drew. That’s about what women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey has pulled off in getting Leon Barmore to come to Baylor.
Barmore, who retired in 2002 after 20 seasons leading the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters, was announced recently as the Lady Bears’ newest assistant coach. Barmore took his team to the NCAAs in every one of his 20 years at Louisiana Tech, a stretch that included nine Final Four appearances and the 1988 national championship. He was the fastest coach ever to reach 500 wins, and his .869 winning percentage is still the best in the sport’s history. His entire career — as a player, assistant coach and head coach — has been at Louisiana Tech until now.
It speaks to Baylor’s place on the national women’s basketball scene that a Hall of Fame coach like Barmore would leave retirement to come to Waco. In fact, he said Baylor was one of only two jobs that could have pulled him back into coaching.
Sic ’em, Coach Barmore!