Marsha Sharp Freeway, Lubbock, TX IMG 0231

Marsha Sharp (born August 31, 1952) is the former head coach of

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

's women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team, the Lady Raiders. She retired after 24 years at the conclusion of the 2005–06 season. Sharp was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Early life

Sharp went to high school in

Tulia, Texas Tulia is a city in, and county seat of, Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,967 at the 2010 census; in the 2018 census estimate, it had fallen to 4,682. The city is at the junction of U.S. Route 87 and Texas State Highway ...

. She graduated in 1974 from

Wayland Baptist University Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is a private Baptist university based in Plainview, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Wayland Baptist has 11 campuses in five Texas cities, six ...

in Plainview. She procured her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1976 from West Texas State University (now

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on Se ...

) in

Canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

Coaching career

She became the head coach of the Lady Raiders in 1982. For most of the 1980s, Sharp's Lady Raiders were the second-best team in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

, behind the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

under

Jody Conradt Addie Jo "Jody" Conradt (born May 13, 1941) is a retired women's basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's team at University of Texas at Austin (UT). Her coaching career spanned 38 years, with the last 31 years at UT from 1976 to ...

. However, they dominated the last years of the SWC's existence, winning the last five regular season titles in a row (four outright, one shared) and three conference tournaments. Her best team was the 1992–93 unit, led by

Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 20 ...

, which won the first NCAA championship by a Texas Tech team in any sport. After Texas Tech became a charter member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

in 1996, Sharp added three more regular season titles and two tournament titles. Sharp's 24-year career won–lost records included a 258–89 record (.744 winning percentage) in conference play (Southwest Conference and Big 12 Conference combined) and a 572–189 record (.752 winning percentage) overall with no losing seasons. In 2003, Sharp was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

. The Marsha Sharp Center for Student-Athletes on the campus of Texas Tech and the Marsha Sharp Freeway in

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwe ...

are both named after Sharp. Following Sharp's retirement from coaching, she was named Associate Athletic Director for Special Projects within the Texas Tech Athletic Department.

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

* 1994—Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year * 2003—

Carol Eckman Award The Carol Eckman Award is an award given annually since 1986 to the women's college basketball coach that "best demonstrates the character of the late Carol Eckman, the mother of the collegiate women's basketball national championship". Given by th ...

References

External links

Player BioRedRaiders.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Marsha 1952 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Texas Sportspeople from Lubbock, Texas Texas Tech Lady Raiders basketball coaches Wayland Baptist Pioneers athletes West Texas A&M University alumni