April 25, 2008
WACO, Texas - Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore has joined the Baylor women's basketball staff as an assistant coach, Lady Bear head coach Kim Mulkey announced Friday. Mulkey and Barmore, both members of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, will join forces to again form one of women's basketball's most successful coaching tandems. Prior to Mulkey's arrival as Baylor's head coach, the duo coached together for 15 seasons at Louisiana Tech.
"Words can't express how excited I am that Coach Barmore has decided to join the Lady Bear staff," Mulkey said. "This has to rank as one of my best recruiting jobs, albeit in a different way. I'm confident that Coach Barmore will have an immediate impact with our players and staff as we continue to build upon the success we've enjoyed the past eight years."
A 2003 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Barmore orchestrated one of the most dominant programs in women's basketball history, guiding the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters to 13, 30-win seasons and 19, 20-plus win seasons. Barmore, the fastest coach in women's basketball history to reach 500 wins, retired Aug. 22, 2002, after 20 years as Louisiana Tech's head coach, posting an amazing career record of 576-87. In fact, his .869 winning percentage still ranks as the best in women's college basketball history.
In his 20 seasons at the program's helm, the Lady Techsters made 20 trips to the NCAA Tournament, which included a national championship in 1988, four NCAA runner-up finishes and nine NCAA Final Four appearances. During his tenure, the Lady Techsters were ranked among The Associated Press Top 25 for 179 straight weeks and fashioned a 54-game winning streak. In addition, Barmore coached 12 WBCA All-Americas, four Olympians and 37 first-team All-Conference selections.
Prior to joining the Baylor staff, Barmore spent his entire career at Louisiana Tech as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
"I am really looking forward to working with Coach Barmore again. I have always thought that he got out of the game too early. He has a wealth of experience and a tremendous basketball mind that will greatly benefit our program. It is exciting that he thinks enough of me and this program that he would come out of retirement; we have high respect for each other. He's a Hall of Fame coach that has many more contributions to make to women's basketball. I welcome him to our program and look forward to him becoming a part of our Baylor family," said Mulkey, who is also expected to make another hire to her staff in the coming weeks.
"There are only two schools that could have gotten me out of retirement, Louisiana Tech and Baylor. At this time in my life I have no desire to be a head coach but I missed the game and still wanted to coach. After several talks with Kim, I decided Baylor was a perfect fit for me. I get to work for someone I know and respect, someone that has the same `doing it right' attitude that I have and someone I know will take care of me. What Kim has done at Baylor is one of the most amazing success stories of all times and for a few moments, I'll get to be a part of that. I appreciate Kim and Baylor for giving me this opportunity," said Barmore.
