You know that lesson your parents taught you.
The lesson about how sometimes the good person does not come out on top, or the person that works the hardest comes up short. They emphasize how this should not deter you from becoming the best at what you do.
It is interesting how this story parallels the career of women’s basketball head coach Sue Gunter.
Often credited as one of the leading ladies in the push to make women’s basketball what it is today, Gunter’s success is evidence that sometimes the nice, hard working people of society are rewarded.
Gunter has 669 career wins in 38 years of teaching the game, 403 of which have come here on the banks of the Mississippi.
She’s a two-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year (1997 and 1999), a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted in 2000) and passed Rutger’s Vivian Stringer for third place on the all-time wins list.
Despite her numerous honors and accolades in her coaching career, there is an obvious omission on her resumé.
Gunter has never been to a Final Four.
With a deeper Lady Tigers’ team playing exceptionally well and showing itself to be a force in the toughest conference in America, it begs the question: Is this the year (Knock on wood, so I don’t jinx them)?
But the thing I like about Gunter, that so many people do not possess, is she has a good attitude and the right frame of mind. Many football fans believe that since Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl, his career was a failure. But Gunter does not see things this way.
“If we don’t, I’ve had the greatest career in the whole wide world,” Gunter said. “If I never get to a Final Four that would never be one of those things or woe is me.”
But she is quick to point out the significance of being one of the four left to fight for the national title.
“It would be great, it would be terrific if we could do that,” she said. “That’s always one’s goal. Perhaps that’s been my goal for 40 years.”
She has the full support of her players.
“That’s always the ultimate thing,” said junior guard Doneeka Hodges. “That’s what all coaches and programs strive for, but I think she’s been in the business a long time, and she’s done a great job, and eventually it will pay off for her.”
Maybe, just maybe, it will pay off for one of the nicest, hardest working ambassadors of the women’s game.