In Black America; The 1985-86 UT Lady Longhorns

Congratulations dear We are blessed to be eternally I'm John Hymn. I'm John Hymn. I'm John Hymn. I'm John Hanson. Join me this week on In Black America. We focus on the 1986 University of Texas Lady Longhorns. And I think when you have a coach who sees the potential and does everything in her power to get the best out of you, I think you can't help but let her as a great coach. The 1986 University of Texas Lady Longhorns this week on In Black America. This is In Black America.

Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society. I think Coach Karen is one of the best coaches in the profession today. And I don't think I have to qualify that. I think that she does a great job at recruiting people who fit best in her program and who just try to push themselves and allow her to push them to be the best that they can be. And I think when you have a coach who sees the potential and does everything in her power to get the best out of you, I think you can't help but let her as a great coach. Fran Harris, senior forward for the University of Texas Lady Longhorns. On Sunday, March 30th, the University of Texas Lady Longhorns won their first NCAA Division I basketball title. Before a small crowd of 5,662 at Rough Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, the Lady Horns defeated the Ladies of the University of Southern California by the score of 97 to 81.

With that win, the Lady Longhorns joined the 1966 Texas Western team as the only Texas team to win an NCAA Division I basketball championship and became only the fourth women's team ever to finish a season undefeated and the first to do so since Louisiana Tech in 1981. I'm John Hanson and this week, Fran Harris, Beverly Williams, Annette Smith and Clarissa Davis of the University of Texas Lady Longhorns in Black America. Oh, it was rather shocking. With Cheryl Miller, I didn't really expect to get anything and if someone did get it other than her, I figured it'd be a senior or a pro-classman. But I felt like that the reason I got is because of the caliber players we have on our team. We have so many good players on our team that the opponents can't center out on one person and so that just enabled me to go out there and just to kind of have it easy

because being a freshman, people didn't really concentrate on me as much as they did on Fran because they know that she's an outside threat. So it was really a surprise to me and I'm really grateful that I received it. But I also think that anybody on our team could have because I think we all came together and everybody played well that game and with that tournament. Clarissa Davis, freshman forward and winner of the NBP award at the Outstanding Player in the 1986 NCAA Women's Division I basketball tournament. This year, the University of Texas Lady Longhorns finished the season 34-0 on the fourth team to go undefeated and win a national championship. Despite being ranked number one, Texas has failed to reach the final four in the past three seasons, losing in regionals each time on the opponent's home court. This year, the Lady Horns were ranked number one in all the preseason polls and never relinquished that position.

Upon their return from Lexington, Kentucky, the Lady Horns were greeted by some 3,300 fans in their home court, the Frank Irwin Center. Local radio stations sponsored receptions and Texas Governor Mark White showed his appreciation by honoring the ladies at the state Capitol. I spoke with four of the major principals in the Lady Horns 34-0 season. sophomore guard, Beverly Williams, freshman forward Clarissa Davis, senior center, Annette Smith, and senior forward, Fran Harris. I have to say it was an accomplishment that we had anticipated for a long time and at the same time, something that we knew that we could have done perhaps two years ago. And all I could think about at the time was that we had done it with people that you love and people that you've seen go through a lot and for that reason they made it more special. Clarissa? I felt like it was really special also. Being my freshman year, I felt really close to the girls on the team and I think we really came together and had a lot of intensity and enthusiasm going into the tournament.

Annette? I felt it was very special to me because it was one of the goals that I set ever since I was a freshman and I thought since I went down with a knee operation last year I thought maybe that was my last opportunity to play but I took the risk of coming back and giving it a try so that's why I think it's so special to me right now. Okay, Beverly? I felt that it was very exciting and very fun to all of us and I feel that the seniors deserve it and there's nothing else more that I want is for the seniors to be happy and to graduate with a final four ring and anything that they get and I feel that we work hard enough and we deserve to win it. Was it a special commitment that you are dedicated yourself to at the beginning of the season? Fran, did you recommit yourself after the last season? I think after the loss of working in Western Kentucky we really had to reassess our weaknesses and our strengths and just try to go back and practice this year and just try to work on those things

and I think best of all this year we saw that we were a national caliber team but it would take a special commitment on our parts to commit ourselves to each other, to practice, to the extracurricular things that we do and just to go out and play as hard as we can to try to reach that goal. And that you had a particular difficult task you mentioned in your knee injury but recommitting yourself to come back to the season and playing? Yes, I feel that there was a lot of hard work and I got a lot of encouragement from my teammates and I enjoyed the game a lot that's one reason why I really came back and I feel great about it. Beverly, you had a decent freshman season here at the University of Texas. Was that an added excitement this year? You all went to the regionals last year and the final four were held here in Austin but coming back and wanting to win that championship? Well, yes, you can say that I had a decent game last year and it was very exciting this year because I came off the bench and I was starting

and it was great. I enjoyed what I did and I enjoyed playing with the seniors and the undergraduate class that came off the bench such as Carissa. She's a great player and it was just fun. Why did you particularly choose the University of Texas? I know it's close to home. Were there any other schools that crossed your mind that you may have considered attending? Well, yes, there was a light tag that I was looking at and Houston was looking at me but I wasn't really looking forward to playing at Houston. I just chose to come to Texas because when the later Longhorn had lost when I was visiting my tag and there was nothing more than I wanted them to win it and after I saw them lost that game I came back to school and I told my coach that I want to go to Texas. And then why did you choose the University of Texas? Well, at first I really had my mind said I'm going to Stephen F. Austin until I was a nominee for the State Typing Contest

and my high school coach told me I should go ahead and visit Texas while I was up here and I stayed in the dormitory while I was here with some of the basketball players and it seemed like they were so close it was like one big happy family and I liked that a lot and the facilities were great and so when I went back home I told my mom I think that's the place that I need to go. Okay, Clarissa, why did you choose UT? I chose UT because of the players and the close relationship that we have and I felt really comfortable when I came here on my visit and I felt like I was accepted by them just because I'm a person and not because I was just a recruit and they had to be nice to me. I felt like I really fit in with the system and I really liked everybody so that was my main reason. Fran? Well I saw Texas as a place where I can go and contribute as much as I could academically and athletically and be rewarded the same thing and I felt that the players were very close and I felt that I could feel comfortable with them

being myself and at the same time grow spiritually and emotionally and psychologically in any way that I could. So I came because it was a place that I could feel comfortable growing and being myself. Now that the season's over, do you think you all received enough local and national attention that you all so rightfully deserve? Well I think women's basketball in general has come a long ways in terms of media coverage and exposure but particularly us in the area of Austin because we have such a great fan support and we have people who come out to the games and come out to practice and put us on television each night. So I think for that reason you know we've done some great things for women's basketball because we've come out and we play well and we've gotten 5,000 people or more at every game and for that reason I think people come to watch us more and I think it makes media coverage more curious of what it is that we have to do at the Urban Center. Okay and that a lot of reporters, my colleagues at the championship game stressed upon the fact that your game had somewhat diminished over the year.

Did you take that to heart? Was that an add-up incentive to go out and try to prove them wrong? Well no after I came back from my injury I knew that there would be some things that I couldn't do as well as I used to do so therefore I knew I had to work harder and while playing I had to play a lot smarter and so I was really looking forward to it and I took it as a challenge that I had to come back and work a lot harder. Chris is something I wanted to ask you when you scored 75 points in the game what was the final score of that game? Can you remember? It had to be 105 to like 35 or so. Were you the only one shooting? Yes. Okay was there any point during this season that you all knew that you all could be the national champions? Was there any one game that really submitted in you all's mind that there's no way that we can be beaten this year?

34 or no. Beverly? Well then in particular game it stand out that put you mentally over the hump to say yes we can actually obtain the national championship. Well I feel that once we played against USC the first time I feel that we realized that we was a good team and that we have the best team that that can be and it also comes from practice too. You know we work together and you know we learn a lot from each other. And that? I really don't think it was any game in particular. I think that it was just that we knew how much talent we had and this year we have so much depth that we didn't have last year and that is what made me notice that I thought we had a number one team. Right. Clarissa? I think we all realized that our team was getting everything but I also think when after we played West Kentucky and we finally got over the hump and we got into the playoffs and we achieved what we wanted to

that it released the pressure and we felt a little more comfortable going in and playing USC for the championship. Fran? I'd have to group Beverly and that by the time we play USC we had played so many national caliber teams that we were even going to make it or we were going to get beaten. It was between being undefeated going through Southwest Conference or the next loss we probably put us out of the playoffs. So I think at the point of the USC game I think everybody realized that we have a chance to make history to go whatever and undefeated and so I think at that time we just had so much confidence and we were on such an emotional high that we realized that we could go undefeated and then we said as a goal to just go and just play as hard as we could and let what comes become. What kind of coach is Coach Conrad? Her strengths. What gives what you get from her as your all's coach? As we look around the room. Fran?

I guess from being coached by Coach Conrad for four years I have to sum up what I've learned for her as a character builder because you don't endure the things that we do physically and psychologically and not mature as a result. And I have to say just the things that I've had to go through since my freshman year with Coach Conrad learning her personality, learning her coaching style has definitely made me a better person and for the reason I'm thankful to her because they've not always been good but I've grown and I feel that in any situation I can grow and that's really why I came to Texas to grow and she didn't disappoint me and I think I'm glad that I did come here. Okay. Garesta, what do you think some of Coach Conrad's strong points? I think she's the kind of coach that'll make you perform to your best and she'll get everything out of you. She wants perfection and that just makes you want to go out there and to do that or try to achieve perfection. Okay, on that?

Well just by being on a Coach Conrad I think I've matured a lot and I've learned a lot of things that I didn't think I would. And one of the things about I know about Coach Conrad she makes sure you're a responsible person and I think that will carry over in the future for me. Okay, Beverly. What I think about Miss Conrad is that she's the kind of coach that will push you and push you and she wants you to be the very best and I learned a lot from her coaching staff and from her and there are things that she might say that gets to you but you got to forget about it and just play as you, it's best that you can and I respect it for it. Do you all consider yourself celebrities now? You are going to Washington to meet your president this afternoon. You are invited to the Capitol to meet with Governor Mark White. Has life changed that much in the last three days as we look around the room?

Annette? Well, I really don't know how celebrity feels. But I feel great. It feels real good because, like I said before, it's one of the goals that I've set and I've achieved it and now we're getting the opportunities to go to Washington and in a lot of national coverage, so it feels great. Beverly, you're closer to home, have you? Been home since you returned and reaction you received from your friends and family? Yes, I have been home but I haven't seen any friends, not even the ones down the street. I've just been home and just spend some time with my folks. But it's great being here in the fans that looks at me, enjoy what I do and enjoy what the lady long on do and it's just wonderful and we get a lot of publicity. When you just can easily walk down the street and somebody can easily recognize you and it feels wonderful

but being a celebrity, you really don't know how it feels. Good friend. Well, I won't feel like a celebrity until I'm in the room with Bill Cosby and some other great actors and actresses because to me, that's what celebrity is. Going to a dinner party with some people who have a name for themselves like that, no seriously, but I think within the past three days I felt more important to the city of Austin because I know that people recognize what me and my team have achieved and for that reason, I feel blessed at the same time very fortunate because I know that basketball has given me some opportunities that I wouldn't have otherwise had and I'm very appreciative for the opportunity to have come to Texas and at the same time to be on the national championship team. We hear a lot and read quite a bit about the athletic part of college life but there's also a more important part and that's the academic part of the situation. Was it difficult for you to balance the two

being a basketball player and also being a student athlete, Fran? I think the transition from high school to college both athletically and academically was difficult for me because in high school, I never had to worry about my grades because I always made great grades and I never had to worry about basketball because I was always good at whatever I did but when I came to Texas, it was different in that there were a lot of things that were demanded of me both physically and academically because we had so many social engagements to attend as Lady Longhorns and for that reason I didn't realize how much I needed to study or how much time had to be spent studying to maintain the type of grade I'd like to and at first it was difficult because it was something I wasn't used to but with discipline and just really taking time to assess my weaknesses, I really found the way to do the best I could to get the best out of me

athletically and academically. So I think by the halfway of my sophomore year I had mastered it and I had realized how you could be a good student and a good basketball player at the same time. Chris, was it difficult to make an adjustment from high school to college? Yes, it was. It was. Yeah, it was because like Fran, I didn't really have to study that much in high school and when I got here my bees were turning into seas and high school you have a lot of time to sit around and watch TV and relax and being here and with all the social engagements that we have and practice and games and everything you really don't have time to sit around and waste and every hour you have to pick up a book because sooner or later it'll be 10 o'clock and it'll just roll around real quick and I think that being with a tight schedule that we do have it also it enables you to budget your time more wisely and then when the season's over then you're able to go ahead and do your work and get it over with and you have free time.

And that? Yes, it was difficult for me too because like Fran and Clarissa said that in high school I could just go in and take a test and I'd make a good grade but I realized when I got here that it was a lot harder that I had to budget my time a lot more and we had a study hall group and by going to study all it helped me to manage my time real well. Beverly? Well, I agree with all three of them. It's the same as that's high school. I really didn't hit the books like I should have hit it but I passed and I was always at a recreation center playing basketball or anything but here at Texas they have a study group and I have to attend and I have pretty good grades and I'm proud of what I'm doing and I'm continuing doing and studying as hard as I can to manage the grades that I want to get. Okay.

Winning the most valuable player at the Southwest Conference tournament this past season, what did that mean to you? To me it feels great but I really don't have any meanings to it and it was a nice award that I received and I think everybody should receive the same award. And that being the senior senior here in this interview, what are your future aspirations and plans? Well, my major is communications and I plan on living here in Austin and looking for a job and just enjoying life here in Austin. Fran, have you thought about it? Sure, I've given my career goals. I guess a lot of thought, especially in the last year. Hopefully I'll pursue a career in broadcast journalism. I'm not particularly tied to being in Austin or in Dallas. I just want a job that pays well and a job in which I can grow.

Is there any advice you can give young, aspiring women basketball players on some of the do's and don'ts if they're really considering being prolific in this game of basketball, women's basketball. Fran? The best advice that I could give a player that's coming to high school would be to start disciplining themselves right now and making the commitment to themselves before they try to make a commitment to someone else or to a college. Make the commitment that you're going to be the best that you can be whether it's the star in the basketball team or whatever your career goals may be just to go into the class and assert yourself as well as on the athletic field and just to go in and have the confidence because I think that's the key to have the confidence in yourself and in God that you can do anything and that with him all things are possible. Correct. I would think for a young student athlete which would have to really get hit the books and to really concentrate on that

because if they do go to college and they are successful, it's kind of a dead end. There's no pro women's basketball so I think that they have to really hit the books and concentrate on their career and just to try to get ahead. Annette? I think that the youngsters should put thinking about getting an education first before basketball because like for instance, I had a knee operation and if there was a point that I couldn't play again, I had my education to lean on so they should emphasize getting an education first. Beverly? I think that they should set a goal and achieve it and to really hit the books because there's a lot of things that you have to participate other than being in school and playing basketball and if they are a great study, have great study habits, I think they should do well. You ladies are now changing the tide where younger women

have someone to look up to and to emulate. When you are coming up, what basketball players or persons you try to emulate or try to style your pack of play behind? Beverly? The person that I admired was Dr. J. I really focused on him a lot and you know he did some great plays and still doing the great plays and my second person is Michael Jordan. He's a very talented player and I just admire everything he does. Okay. Annette? Well I used to always watch a lot of basketball on television but most of all I really admired my older brother because he went to college and he played basketball and I wanted to do the same thing and there were a lot of times that we played together while when we were a lot younger so that's why I'm here today.

Okay. Karissa? I admired my aunt Regina Reed and she played for North East so I kind of wanted to achieve her goals and to do better. It was like I was trying to be better than she was and she helped me out a lot and I always wanted to strive to be the best. Fran? I have to agree with Annette because she was the most influential person to me as far as basketball goes and I think I admired him so much because he was real. He was more real than any professional basketball player. I thought about the prospect of me ever meeting a professional basketball players and the odds were low. So my brother was very real to me and for that reason I could learn more from him whereas just watching on television you see what they do but it's not as real as someone who goes out and says he's done so for that reason my brother is very important to me. How great a role did you all as family play in shaping the person that you are today? Fran?

Basketball? What, everything? You're a personal life and basketball. Well my family had a great deal of effect on my life and we've always been a close knit family and we've always done things together and we've always tried to help each other grow. As much as we can and we still are a close family. And we've always gone to church together, we've always gone to athletic events together, social events, things that happen in the city and I think for that reason I've grown and I matured faster than people my age and I was exposed to a lot more than people my age were and I've also had to go through a great deal more than people my age would have had to. So I think my family has definitely helped me mature and become the person that I am. And that's one reason why I decided to stay in Texas and play basketball because they would always try to attend as many games as possible. And so I'm grateful for that and I appreciate everything they've done for me. Beverly? My family was always behind me all the way and my brother was always pushing me when I played with him and I learned a lot from them.

But my mother always focused on me getting a good education from the University of Texas. A lot of attention has been focused on the East Coast and the Midwest. What teams did you all find the most competitive this season and possibly last season except for the course because she was in high school? The different style of basketball. Beverly? Last year? Well this year. The teams that you all played this year. Was anyone certain team besides USC that stood out as far as having a good caliber game? I can say Rutgers. Rutgers was a good team and we learned a lot from them and a lot from us. And we had to work together as a team to overcome that revenge. Okay.

And that? I thought it was Northeast Louisiana because they had as much talent as we did and they really gave us a good game. Fran? The team that sticks out in my mind is Tennessee because I think they realized that they didn't have as much talent as we did but they used that to work harder and they used that as an incentive to beat us. I think we realized that they weren't going to quit because they have a great coach in Pat Head Summit and whenever you play a team that may not be as good as you are but has a great coach, you can count on them as competitive as they can be and you can count on them to give the best effort. And for that reason, they gave us a great game. You know, we were victorious but at the same time they never laid down and just died for us. Fran Harris, Beverly Williams, Clarissa Davis, and Annette Smith, members of the 1985-86 University of Texas Lady Longhorns winners of the NCAA Women's Division I basketball title. If you have a comment or would like to purchase a cassette capratus program, write us.

The address is in Black America, Longhorn Radio Network, UT Austin, Austin, Texas, 787-12. For in Black America's technical producer, Cliff Hargrove, I'm John Hanson. Join us next week. You've been listening to In Black America, Reflections of the Black Experience in American Society. In Black America is produced and distributed by the Center for Telecommunication Services at UT Austin, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Texas at Austin or this station. This is The Longhorn Radio Network.