Boulder – In what was as much a tribute to the legend she’s replacing as it was an acceptance speech, Kathy McConnell-Miller became the women’s basketball coach Wednesday at the University of Colorado.
McConnell-Miller knows she can never be another Ceal Barry. But that, she said, is what she would like to be.
After 14 years of working her way up the coaching ladder – eight as an assistant coach and six as the head coach at Tulsa – CU came calling.
“I’m ready,” McConnell-Miller said. “I’m ready for the opportunity to continue what Ceal Barry, the legend in our game, has done.”
What Barry did in 22 years on the job she did mostly with the triangle offense. That is not McConnell-Miller’s style. She prefers more of an up-tempo pace.
Other than that, similarities between the two are striking.
“She’s one of eight children, large Catholic family from a Midwest city (Pittsburgh),” said Barry, who announced in February she would resign at the end of the season to become an associate athletic director. “I’m one of eight children, large Catholic family, from a Midwest city (Louisville). We bonded immediately. She gets me. I get her. It’s going to be fun for me to watch her.”
After Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Kevin Borseth backed out of the job two weeks ago, the Buffs lucked out in finding McConnell-Miller this late in the search, Barry said.
“I think there was a little bit of divine intervention,” Barry said. “It worked out exactly the way it should have worked out. You know what I see with Kathy? I see her being here 22-plus years.”
McConnell-Miller never applied for the job, CU athletic director Mike Bohn said. He went after her upon Barry’s recommendation.
“She’s been a head coach, and I think that’s one of the wise moves Mike made,” Barry said. “Six of the eight kids in her family are coaches, so she knows exactly what she’s getting into.”
McConnell-Miller said she understands the challenges of the Big 12, having worked near the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State programs. She’s eager to compete against Jody Conradt at Texas, Kim Mulkey-Robertson at Baylor, Sherri Coale at Oklahoma and Marsha Sharp at Texas Tech.
McConnell-Miller said “the tools are in place” at CU to compete at a national level.
With a husband and three children age 5 and younger, McConnell-Miller, 37, said she knows balancing her family with her job could be an issue.
“It takes a lot of sacrifice from everybody,” she said. “But I think we do it pretty well.”
It will also help to be bringing two of her assistants with her, Mike Neighbors and Bethann Ord. Two other openings will be filled after interviews.
With two scholarships still available, McConnell-Miller said she hopes to bring in one more player this spring to complement a Buffs roster that includes nine scholarship players and four incoming recruits.
As for her offensive philosophy, McConnell-Miller said she likes point guards who “can look at me and know what I want to do,” which is play the game at a fast pace.
“If she likes point guards, I’m going to do whatever I have to do so she’ll like me,” said Yari Escalera, the freshman from Puerto Rico who was the Buffs’ starter at the end of last season. “She said she likes motion (offense). We have a young team. Everybody knows triangle (offense) is more for seniors, and we don’t have so many seniors now.
“We’re young and we can all learn this stuff really fast. I think it’s going to be fun.”
Staff writer Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
