Another former Baylor coach to enter Hall of Fame

Women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey gets a lot of credit for turning around the program, and it’s certainly well-deserved. After all, she’s taken the Lady Bears to the NCAA Tournament seven times in eight seasons, including the 2005 squad that won the second national championship in Baylor athletics’ history.

But we shouldn’t forget that it was Sonja Hogg — Mulkey’s coach during her playing days at Louisiana Tech — who began Baylor’s rise. For her work with the Lady Techsters and later at Baylor, Hogg was announced Sunday live on ABC as a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame’s class of 2009.

Hogg led Louisiana Tech for 12 seasons, winning the last AIAW national championship in 1981 and the first NCAA women’s basketball national title a year later. After spending several years in athletic administration, she returned to coaching in 1994 when she took the job at Baylor. Her 1998 squad lost in the finals of the WNIT championship, and the team’s success that year drew over 3,600 fans per game  — more than double the program’s previous record.

When Hogg retired in 2000, her presence at Baylor and what she had done for the program were important factors in drawing Mulkey from Louisiana Tech to Waco, and the rest, as they say, is history. After stepping down as coach, Hogg moved over to Baylor’s development office where she works as a fundraiser for Baylor.

Hogg joins five six other Baylor-related coaches who are in their sports’ halls of fame. Grant Teaff and Morley Jennings were each inducted for their work at Baylor, while Hayden Fry and Jody Conradt each played at Baylor but coached elsewhere. Mulkey was honored as a player just as she was beginning her career as a head coach. [Edit: Also, Leon Barmore, who joined Mulkey’s staff as an assistant in May after 20 years at Louisiana Tech.]

Sic ’em, Sonja!