Tight-knit coaching staff helps add team success

What separates the elite teams in women's college basketball from the almost-elites and wannabes isn't just great players.

Sure, that helps. A lot. But stable coaching staffs also figure heavily in the equation.

Interestingly, the DePaul women, ranked 18th in the country last week, recently played two of the top dynasties in the game in No. 1 Connecticut and No. 3 Notre Dame. And not only do those programs typically snag up the most All-Americans each year, they also feature coaching staffs that have stayed intact for years, particularly with the head coach and top assistant.

At Connecticut, where the national title count is 10 in the last 20 seasons, head coach Geno Auriemma has been at the helm for 30 years. And lead assistant Chris Dailey, who works under the title of associate head coach, has been along for all 30 of those years.

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw is in her 29th year as head coach. And her top assistant, former Chicago prep star and Northern Illinois standout Carol Owens, has been around for 16 years and has been a part of all 7 Final Fours (since 1997) that Notre Dame has participated in, including the 2001 national championship. Owens is also an associate head coach.

Stanford has a similar setup, as did Tennessee, when Pat Summitt was the head coach. Both programs are national powers.

"It is very rare in today's game," Owen said of her long relationship with McGraw. "But chemistry within the coaches helps. When you have a flow and you trust each other, it helps the team."

Owens values her place in the McGraw hierarchy so much that, after a stint as head coach at her alma mater, she returned to Notre Dame to become an assistant again, rather than seek another head coaching position.

"It was a no-brainer to come back to Notre Dame after Northern," Owens said. "It was tough leaving Northern Illinois and the kids there, but it was a no-brainer overall to come back.

"Just working with coach McGraw and seeing how the program has grown over the past several years and seeing what she's done here, it's been amazing. For me to be a part of it, I'm excited."

McGraw, who just turned 60 last week but hasn't thought about retirement, points out that Notre Dame has never been to a Final Four without Owens, a well-respected recruiter and an expert in teaching post play.

"Clearly, we can't do it without her," McGraw said of Owens. "I'm just so glad she came back (to Notre Dame). She brings so much to the program and the staff. She has the experience of being a head coach. She knows how to handle things. She's a great support to me. I know she's always got my back."

And yet, McGraw also knows that Owens will someday be a head coach again. And likely not at Notre Dame.

"I think she will go back to being a head coach. She's more than ready," McGraw said. "But … I also think there's a lot to be said for being a part of something big."

So does Owens.

She has never talked to Dailey about what has kept her at Connecticut all these years, but she can imagine. She's had similar thoughts herself.

"I do have aspirations of being a head coach again when the program is right and when the time is right," Owens said. "But then there's this (Notre Dame). It's a great situation. I've never talked to (Dailey) about her situation, but I understand it.

"Why should she (leave Connecticut)? Why should she go and be a head coach? Geno (Auriemma) takes very good care of her and they're in a very good position, a great situation. Not a whole lot of programs are the perfect situation like that. It's like why I came back. This works."

• Follow Patricia on Twitter @babcockmcgraw, and contact her via email at pbabcock@dailyherald.com.