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Feb. 3, 2009
By Courtney Agnew, Penn State Athletic Communications Student Assistant
History has always been a special part of Coquese Washington's life.
"I'm a historian," she says. "I got my undergraduate degree in history and I just love it."
February is Black History Month, a time that is important for Washington, both as a historian and as a successful African-American woman.
"Black History Month is a special time for me just because it's a time for me always to go back and reflect on my heritage and my culture and the accomplishments of people in this country that look like me," she says. "It's also a time for me, especially being in this position, to share with other people and have an impact on our players and their perception and perspectives of what they can become and what powerful women they can become as well."
Now, at Penn State, she has made herself a part of history, becoming the first female African-American head coach in university history. But Washington's story begins long before her tenure at Penn State.
Washington was born and raised in Flint, Mich., where her love of basketball began very early. She started playing in her neighborhood with her brother and the other kids in the neighborhood. In fourth grade, she began playing competitively for her school and "fell in love with the game." Still, she saw basketball only as fun thing to do in her spare time and a way to keep busy. Until she got into high school.
"I started realizing that you could get a scholarship to go to college," she says. "That was my motivation then because I knew I couldn't afford to just pay for college so I wanted to get a scholarship."
And that is just what she did. Washington attended the University of Notre Dame, where she was a four-year starting point guard under coach Muffet McGraw. She proved herself to be a standout player, leading Notre Dame to three MCC Tournament titles and serving as the team captain on Notre Dame's first-ever NCAA Tournament team. She had impressive stats throughout her career, leading in steals all four years and holding the top numbers of assists three times. Despite all of her success, Washington still knew that basketball was going to end for her eventually.
"In my mind, I always knew that when I was done with college, I would be done with basketball," she says. "I would get a job in business, make money, travel the world and those kinds of things."
"I definitely feel that I've had to work harder to get recognition for the things I've worked to do, the things I've accomplished, and things I wanted to do," she says. "Sometimes it was because of my race, sometimes it was my gender, and sometimes it was the socioeconomic background that I grew up in. I would say all three of those factors were obstacles that had to be overcome and had to be overcome with excellence, so that was the thing that pushed me."-Coquese Washington |
After finishing her undergraduate work in just three years, Washington went on to attend law school at Notre Dame. During her third year, she was working hard to complete her law degree when she was able to return to the court as a professional. Washington joined the American Basketball League's (ABL) Portland Power in Portland, Ore., for the 1997-98 season. Washington admits that sometimes she looks back and wonders how she managed to finish her degree while playing professionally.
"You look back and think, 'How did I do all of those all-nighters and still get As on those tests?'" she says, comparing it to a final exam week. "You just kind of make it through. It was tough and a lot of time management and being very focused and disciplined, but at the same time, it was a lot of fun."
Unfortunately, the ABL was disbanded in 1998 but Washington moved to New York City to become a part of the Women's National Basketball Association's (WNBA) New York Liberty where she spent the next two years. Washington led the team to the playoffs in 1999, before losing to the Houston Comets in the finals. Through it all, Washington could hardly believe her situation.
"I was playing and I couldn't believe they were actually paying me," she says. "That was my job. So I just felt really blessed and fortunate, and not like I was working at all."
During her time in New York, Washington utilized her law degree by helping to organize the WNBA Player's Association. The players had talked about unionizing and earning some basic rights for themselves, electing Washington to head up the deal.
"We had a couple of conference calls about it," she says. "It just so happened that they said, 'Well, you're in New York so it would be great if you could be our face and voice. Plus, you're a lawyer so you'll know what they're talking about.' I thought I could do it so that's how I got into that position. It was really my legal background and my proximity, being in New York, that helped spear that on."
On Nov. 6, 1998, the Women's National Basketball Player's Association (WNBPA) became the first labor union comprised of professional female athletes. Washington became the first president of the Player's Association and helped to negotiate its first collective bargaining agreement, which was reached on April 30, 1999.
In 2000, she moved to Houston and helped the team to their fourth consecutive title against her former team, the New York Liberty. In the 2001 season, Washington had a strong showing, finishing ninth in the WNBA in assists and fourth in steals. The Comets also landed their fifth consecutive playoff spot, but lost to the Los Angeles Sparks in the first round.
Washington started the 2002 season with the Comets before being traded to the Indiana Fever. She brought her success with her and led the Fever to its first-ever playoff spot, becoming the first player in WNBA history to lead three different teams into the postseason. In 2003, Washington said goodbye to the world of professional basketball and chose to focus on coaching.
In 1999, while she was still playing professionally, Washington began coaching at her alma mater, Notre Dame, alongside her former coach, Muffet McGraw. She served as an assistant coach for six years before being promoted to associate head coach in 2005. Her winning ways continued during her eight seasons on the bench as Notre Dame amassed a 188-69 record with eight NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sweet Sixteen runs and a National Championship in 2001. Her recruiting talents were also evident as the Fighting Irish secured eight consecutive Top 25 recruiting classes, an accomplishment only shared with two other programs in the country (Tennessee and Connecticut).
After her eight years with the Fighting Irish, Washington was offered the head coaching position with Penn State. Despite her attachment to Notre Dame, she accepted the position with excitement.
"When I got the call from (Penn State Athletic Director) Tim Curley and Penn State, it was a very pleasant surprise," she says. "This was the kind of place that I would leave Notre Dame for happily. A place like Penn State values success with honor, values competition with integrity and cares about the student-athletes' well-being. It's also very big on community service and the university community giving back to the overall community. Being here at Penn State is like being at home."
Her appointment as head coach of the women's basketball program was an important milestone as she became only the fifth head coach in the program's history. She also became the first female African-American head coach in Penn State's history, which she looked at in a positive manner. At her first press conference at Penn State, Washington said that she admired the university for doing something that is not common by hiring her, a female African-American with no prior head coaching experience. Looking back on that time, she still feels the same way.
"I never looked at it as pressure," she says. "I looked at it as a great opportunity and as a great honor."
She still hopes that her position will allow her to open doors so that others may follow in her footsteps and believes that she is only one of the next generation of minority head coaches to have this opportunity.
"I know that once we accomplish the goals we have set for this program, it will continue to open doors for other minority women to have opportunities like this, to be head coach at one of the premier universities, for one of the premier programs in the country," she says.
Washington knows that she is in the minority of her profession and says that, in the past, she has had to break through barriers to get what she wanted.
"I definitely feel that I've had to work harder to get recognition for the things I've worked to do, the things I've accomplished, and things I wanted to do," she says. "Sometimes it was because of my race, sometimes it was my gender, and sometimes it was the socioeconomic background that I grew up in. I would say all three of those factors were obstacles that had to be overcome and had to be overcome with excellence, so that was the thing that pushed me."
According to her, excellence is what makes all the difference in getting where you want to be. She refers to excellence as "the equalizer" but says that sometimes "you have to be even better than excellent."
"You can't make excuses," she says. "Things are going to be unfair and opportunities are not going to be as easily accessible, but if you give excellent work at what you're given, then more opportunities will come your way."
And judging from her past success, Coquese Washington is excelling with every opportunity that comes to her.