The Times-Delphic sat down with Drake women’s basketball Head Coach Amy Stephens. Stephens is in her seventh season as head coach and led the Bulldogs to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Stephens is from Alliance, Neb. and resides in West Des Moines. She played at the University of Nebraska and professionally in Wuppertal, Germany in 1989-90. She also had a stint with the United States National Team.

TD: What are your best coaching memories?

AS: Winning four games in four days in the Missouri Valley Tournament in 2007. We lost three starters to injury, and we were the eighth seed. Watching that team compete and overcome adversity was a joy. In a society that measures success on the scoreboard, that team had the true spirit of how to compete. In the first round of the NCAA tournament, we lost to Tennessee. Even though we lost 76-37, 15,000 people gave them a standing ovation. One of our goals that game was to not let Candace Parker dunk, and she never did. Lauren Dybing held her to 13 points.

TD: What is your opinion of this year’s team?

AS: Parts have been good, and parts have been frustrating. The last three weeks of January have been a struggle. I was happy when February came because it meant January was over. We need to take ourselves out of the Valley and into the sunshine. We want to play to our potential.

TD: Do you think the adversity in the last few weeks will help your team down the road?

AS: Absolutely. Through great adversity comes great triumph. You never know when that’s going to come; it could be next year or sometime this year.

TD: How does the future look for the team?

AS: We’re excited about next year’s recruits, but we will still go through growing pains. We will grow into a day-to-day consistent team with experience. The off-season will be huge for returning players.

TD: What is your best memory from your playing days?

AS: The first was winning the conference championship at Nebraska, and a close second was making the U.S. national team. I overachieved as a player because I was not tall or very fast. I had a passion for basketball, which is why I love coaching and influencing the lives of young women.

TD: What was it like playing in college?

AS: It was a great experience and we had a good team. We were bad my freshman year, but had good sophomore and junior seasons. My senior year we were just over 0.50. I learned that climbing to the top is one thing, but staying there is another. I went through it all; my coach was fired, we went to the NCAA tournament when there were only 32 teams and I was on a talented team without very much chemistry my junior year. That’s when I learned that chemistry was important for being a successful team.

TD: What was it like playing in Germany?

AS: I loved living in a foreign country and seeing Western Europe, but it was a shift from being a college athlete to a professional athlete. As a pro, you are expected to perform and produce results more than in college. I was in Berlin 10 days after the wall came down and in Munich for Oktoberfest. I loved the travel and I saw a lot in 10 months.

TD: What do you like about Drake?

AS: There is so much right at a school like Drake; it is not so much the “win at all costs” mentality. I love Drake because you get the total experience. Athletes go to class like everyone else and eat in the same cafeteria. I don’t buy into the lie that athletic gifts make us more special. At Drake it is more important trying to teach how to become better people.

TD: Who was your basketball role model?

AS: Both my parents were my role models, but my dad was for basketball. He played college ball and also coached. He taught me how to shoot and develop my skills. I wanted to please him and emulate the things he showed me. He never forced me to be in the gym, but I wanted to be there. He and my mom were both teachers, and my dad eventually became the superintendent. When I was in fifth and sixth grade, he coached the girls’ high school junior varsity team because no one else wanted to do it. He let me practice with his team.