Chicago-reared All-American candidate Dominique Canty and her Alabama teammates converted some local fans into Southeastern Conference believers last weekend when the Crimson Tide dealt DePaul a 20-20 defeat: 87-67 in points and 50-30 in rebounding.
A prevalent postgame feeling among deep thinkers in the Blue Demon Room in Alumni Hall was to agree with DePaul coach Doug Bruno, who labeled the SEC “clearly the best conference.”
Plenty of evidence supports this thinking.
In the 17 years the NCAA has conducted the Division I women’s tournament, the SEC has won the most titles–six–all by Pat Summitt’s Tennessee Lady Vols. The SEC also leads other leagues with seven second-place finishes, 20 appearances in the Final Four and five schools with Final Four appearances: Tennessee 11, Georgia 4, Auburn 3 and Vanderbilt and Alabama 1 apiece.
The Pac-10 ranks second among conferences with four NCAA titles, two apiece by Southern Cal and Stanford, and eight Final Four appearances. The Big Ten has cracked the Final Four only twice, when Ohio State finished second in 1993 and when Purdue reached the semifinals in ’94.
The No. 2 school in NCAA tournament success is coach Leon Barmore’s program at Louisiana Tech. The Techsters won NCAA titles in 1982 and 1988, finished second four times and made the Final Four nine times.
“I agree with those who call the SEC the best,” said Tim Eatman, the new women’s basketball coach at Illinois-Chicago. “And it’s No. 1 because of their recruiting.”
Despite all this, Wisconsin coach Jane Albright-Dieterle isn’t quite ready to anoint the SEC as basketball’s super league.
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Albright-Dieterle respects Tennessee, Alabama, the SEC and Southern basketball. She grew up in North Carolina and began her coaching career as a graduate assistant on Summitt’s staff in Knoxville in 1981, and considers the Lady Vols and Crimson Tide the 1-2 teams in the SEC.
“But Tennessee is a cut above everybody else,” said the Badger coach. “They carry the flag for the whole SEC. Look at the record. Nobody else in that league has won an NCAA championship.”
Albright-Dieterle pointed out that, through the years, one reason women’s basketball in the South has prospered was because of stars it recruited from the North, particularly Chicago.
Canty, who can drive to the hoop with anybody, played high school ball at Young. Alisa Burras, star of Louisiana Tech’s 1998 national runners-up, played at Marshall. All-American Tamika Catchings at Tennessee started high school at Stevenson.
The practice has been going on for a generation and hasn’t stopped. Janet Harris from Marshall helped put Georgia basketball on the map. Kim McQuarter from Marshall starred at Old Dominion.
“I’m tired of the hierarchy,” said Albright-Dieterle. “Tired of the same five teams on top: Tennessee, Connecticut, Stanford, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion. If we sell Midwestern players on staying at home where their families can see them play in college, it could help break up the hierarchy.”
“There’s enough talented players around Chicago to make the colleges here successful if we kept that talent at home,” Eatman said.
Albright-Dieterle has done her part in selling Midwestern players.
LaTonya Sims, a 6-foot-3-inch prep All-American from Racine, Wis., was named No. 1 newcomer in the Big Ten last year as a Badger freshman. This year, Wisconsin added Tamara Moore, No. 1 player in Minnesota a year ago. Next year, Nina Smith from Waterloo, Iowa, tabbed the nation’s No. 1 prospect, becomes a Badger.