The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Video: Tina Thompson introductory press conference
05.19.2015 | Women's Basketball
Tina Thompson introduced as the newest Texas Women's Basketball assistant coach.
Photo Gallery | Video on YouTube
QUOTES
Opening statements…
Head Coach Karen Aston: This is just a tremendously exciting day today for Texas basketball. This has been a lengthy process and I think has puzzled everyone as to why we didn't hire someone any quicker than we did, but I had my sights set on Tina Thompson. It was an exciting process to get her to consider Texas and one that I feel like we've worked really, really hard in the last three years on recruiting, but this might be the best job in recruiting we've done so far. Her accolades speak for themselves. She is a tremendously successful person who I think is going to thrive at The University of Texas. Her mindset about the way you run your business, so to say, is exactly like the way we try to do things here. Also, it's the type of mindset that you can tell it is the reason why she's successful. She takes everything very seriously and her approach to everything is one of a champion, so I think she's going to rub off on us extremely quickly on our players and will be instrumental on our program moving forward. At this point, we want to welcome Tina Thompson to the Longhorn family.
Assistant Coach Tina Thompson: I'm really excited to be here. Coach Aston is right; it's a very exciting day for all of us. I have to kind of touch on the whole recruiting process. I don't think the tough recruiting job was getting me to come to Texas, I think that the recruiting was getting me to coach in general. I didn't foresee myself being in this situation. I was very comfortable just kind of coaching the club girls that I was coaching and just helping them in any way that I can, and watching them grow was very rewarding. Talking to Coach Aston, she changed my mind a lot. Her vision and how she runs her team here, but the passion that she has about the young ladies and wanting to see them grow. It wasn't just from a basketball perspective. It was from a perspective of building young ladies and seeing them grow and then continue to grow and be successful beyond basketball, and be true to the tradition of being at The University of Texas in general. We are like-minded in how we approach, not just the game, but life in a way that you give your absolute best in any situation that you can. In women's basketball, we have gotten away from that a little bit. With the way the game has grown with social media and so much other attention, we are forgetting about the work and what is necessary to happen before the lights are turned on. We share that in doing the work. You don't find the success unless you do the work. It's just kind of simple math in that way. She convinced me and I'm really excited that I took the chance in coming down here and meeting with Coach [Travis] Mays, as well as Coach [George] Washington and getting to know the staff. It worked right away, as well with the chemistry and alike personalities -- the goals that everyone has here are similar to how I've pursued and worked to get to the point where I am now. I'm really excited to dive in and get to working on what see and what he have in front of us.
On Tina Thompson's recruiting experience…
Karen Aston: [Lack of experience is] not a concern at all. She tapped on the fact that she had been working in the Houston area with several young people and a club team in general. She also had been doing some mentoring and training individually with some players. In this business, sometimes, you make moves because people find out about your work through word of mouth. Most often, it is through the young people. I didn't have a position open when I was hearing about her, but when it came open, it donned on me that this is someone I had been hearing a lot about from the young people and the parents. I've seen her work. I've seen the work she's done individually with some players and you just realize that this business is really about relationships, and if you have someone that you think can relay a certain skill or relay a way of doing things that can help them be successful, that's really what this business is all about. It really was a no-brainer, especially after I met her and had a chance to visit with her.
Tina Thompson: When you have the intentions of getting in and putting in the time and work, you can't help but have success and find your way, literally. It absolutely starts with work. The familiarity is I'm familiar with my kids. I was just focusing on my kids that were right in front of me. Of course, in process, you see a lot of kids in competition you're playing against and you become familiar, but again, my focus, again, is my new set of girls, the ones that are right in front of me, the ones that I am immediately able to touch and converse and have an impact on. That's my focus right now. All the other things will come into play, of course the recruiting. Basketball is something that comes very natural and is easy for me to talk about. I have a nine-year old myself, so I'm very familiar what goes on with young people. I'm excited. I have no fear at all. I think it's something that if I work at, I'll become pretty good at it.
On her reaction when Karen Aston first considered her for the position…
Tina Thompson: I actually hadn't heard that she was considering me. Actually one of the [signees] that you guys have here is one of my [club] kids and I have had a long relationship with her in Jordan Hosey. Initially when Coach [Aston] called me, I thought that's what she was calling me about to just kind of see the progress and where she was. She actually complimented me on the some of the things that Jordan had improved on and where she was headed. That's basically what I thought the conversation was about and then we started having a basketball conversation about the history and the present state of the game, and that's when she broke it to me. I was silent for a little while because I was a little shocked. I was like, 'Did she just say what I think she said?' Then I kind of sat there and she was like, 'Well I don't need an answer right now. There's definitely some getting-to-know that needs to happen and us familiarizing ourselves with one another. We continued to talk for quite a bit. We were on the phone for a little while and then we arranged to meet and then it was all she wrote from there. I was a little hesitant. I'm going to be totally honest, just because you kind of make plans for yourself, and things that you see happening for you and your future. But sometimes God laughs a little bit when you make plans for yourself and the plans that He has for you are complete and utter opposite. But I knew it had a little bit to do with of divine intervention and the fact that it wasn't something that I had thought about at all but then when I got here, everything just kind of fell into place. There were so many familiar faces, first, but also the like-minds and how we see the game and how we pursue success and work ethic. There was so much familiarity that it was kind of overwhelming, in a sense, because even when I left, I was like, 'Did that really just happen, like that, so easily?' Then you have time to let things settle in and I was like, 'There's no reason for me to continue to fight it because this is the place I'm supposed to be.'
Goals of coaching at the college level…
Tina Thompson: To do well. That's in anything that I set my mind to doing. I always want to do well or be the best that I absolutely can at whatever it is that I'm setting my mind to do. I'm going to work. Just like the kids, we have three freshmen that are coming in, and I'm a freshman myself, in this position, so we're all kind of starting at the same time, and we're working. I'm going to be learning and teaching at the same time, and I'm okay with that. So much of what we're doing and what we're going to do just falls right into place with what I've basically been doing all my life. I think the things that I'm probably a little anxious about, a little nervous about, are the rules. The NCAA regulations, there's a whole lot of them, so I'm definitely going to have to do a lot of studying, but the basketball stuff and getting to know the kids, I definitely think will come pretty easy.
On UT's recent success…
Tina Thompson: It didn't really weigh much in just my decision. It definitely helps when you're ahead of the curve when you're trying to reach a certain goal. So it seems like we're halfway there already to the ultimate goal of being a prominent program again and winning a national championship. Recruiting is a big part of it, and the staff has done a great job in just recruiting and getting in great kids with an unbelievable work ethic but also a high level of talent. When you have talent, it makes it a little easier, but at the same time, you still have to work.
On the current Texas Women's Basketball coaching staff…
Karen Aston: This was a huge home run just because of the total package. The ability for her to connect with young people is a given and I've seen that with the young ones that she's interacted with and their responses back when you ask about her. Her ability to understand a high level of competition is a given. When you look at the things she has accomplished and her accolades, then you know that she knows how to reach at a completely different level than most know how to reach. And the third part is just her ability to teach the game. We've talked a lot about it and that's been part of our conversation is her having the ability to impact on the floor. One part I really didn't think about at all during our conversations, because it's just beginning to happen is the changes that could occur and most likely will occur in our game, which is going to the four quarters. I'm really interested in picking her brain with that because she's just been removed from the WNBA. They play the four quarters and it is a different philosophy, so I'm anxious to hear her take on that and she'll have great input from it. Again, not to discredit anything Jalie [Mitchell] did, because she was tremendous, but it was really critical that we replace those qualities when Jalie left. So many of those had to do with relationships and mentorship. Those are the things that we really see eye-to-eye on tremendously is that this is a place where you really need to help young people grow. With Tina, you see her smile and you shake her head when we talk about that because it's important to her, and that's where the whole package comes in because I think she can add so much in each area.
On if Jody Conradt ever recruited her…
Tina Thompson: She may have, but to be honest, I am a California girl at heart, so it was very hard to get me away from the west coast at all. I really didn't take many visits that went further than maybe Washington. I definitely wanted to stay close to my family, so I didn't consider it much. I did get a lot of letters, but I didn't open many of them just because I didn't want to be swayed in any way, but I'm very familiar with Coach Conradt. She is one of our pioneers and greats in this game, and she's done so much. So hopefully, I know that our work ethic will match the fact that we're trying to get to the point in which she had this program. Hopefully we'll reach it but that is definitely our goal. She has done some tremendous things, not just here at Texas, but for women's basketball in general.