June 4, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - After a 17-year association with the Western Kentucky University women's basketball program, including the last four seasons as the Lady Topper head coach, Steve Small announced his retirement on Monday. Associate head coach (and former Lady Topper standout) Mary Taylor Cowles has been named interim head coach while WKU conducts a national search to identify a permanent successor.
"The time has come for me to look for other challenges in my life," Small said. "I joined the Lady Topper program when it was just a seed. In my time at Western, that seed developed into a wonderful tree and I feel fortunate to have been able to help that tree take root. Now that those roots have taken hold, it's time for someone else to come in and help this tree grow and branch out even more. The future is bright for Lady Topper basketball and it will continue to grow and prosper thanks to the foundation we helped build over the past 17 years.
"I will treasure the memories and accomplishments of my career at Western Kentucky," Small continued. "When I look up on the wall at Diddle Arena and see those championship banners hanging there, it fills me with a great deal of pride and joy. Many young women came into our Lady Topper family and put on that Western Kentucky uniform during my time. Each of them can also take pride in those championship banners because without them, Lady Topper basketball would not be where it is today. And, each of those ladies will hold a place in my heart forever.
"I have also had the chance to meet some very special coaches and administrators over the years, and I will always be grateful for their friendship and guidance," Small added. "They say you can tell a lot about a person by the company he keeps, and I feel I'm one of the luckiest men in the world to have the friends and family that I do. Their support means everything to me."
During his 17 seasons as an assistant coach, associate head coach and head coach at WKU, Small's teams compiled an overall record of 410 victories against only 142 setbacks, an impressive .743 winning percentage. Fourteen of his 17 Lady Topper squads won 20-or-more games, including the 1985-86 outfit that notched a school-record 32 victories (32-4) en route to its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Final Four. That stellar mark included a string of 14 consecutive postseason tournament appearances for WKU between 1985 and 1998 -- 13 in the NCAA Tournament (11 of those in a row) and one in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
In fact, Small's association with WKU women's basketball made him a part of 552 of the 912 games in the program's history -- an amazing 60.5 percent of all Lady Topper contests!
Small came to the Hill in 1984 as an assistant coach under Paul Sanderford and immediately became part of the Lady Topper tradition of success. Western reached the NCAA Final Four in Small's first two seasons (1985 and 1986) and then returned to the Final Four in 1992, finishing that season as the national runner-up after losing to Stanford, 78-62 in the title game. Those Final Four visits are the crown jewels in a storied career which also included three NCAA Regional championships, six NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances, six Sun Belt Conference regular-season titles, and seven Sun Belt Tournament trophies.
In 1997, Small was elevated to the head coach position when Sanderford left to take the same post at the University of Nebraska. With Small walking the sidelines, the Lady Toppers logged an 88-40 (.688) record, reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament twice, made the WNIT quarterfinals this spring, and posted three 20-win seasons (part of an impressive streak of 16 twenty-win campaigns in the last 19 years). He ranks second in career wins (88) and games coached (128) at Western, and he owns the best record of any Lady Topper coach after 50 games (38-12). And, of the 44 Division I first-year head coaches in 1997-98, Small placed first in total wins (26) and total games coached (35), fourth in winning percentage (.743), and fifth in fewest losses (9).
Small also had an uncanny ability to produce talented players during his head coaching career. Former Lady Topper standouts Danielle McCulley, Leslie Johnson, Shea Lunsford (Mahoney), and ShaRae Mansfield all moved on to the pro ranks after playing for Small, and Johnson and Mansfield also garnered All-America honors under his tutelage.
Back in March, Small completed his fourth season as head coach of the Lady Toppers, guiding Western to a 19-14 record, marking the program's 19th consecutive winning year and its 24th successful campaign in the 28-year modern era of Lady Topper basketball (1973-74 to present). He wrapped up the season by leading WKU to a berth in the quarterfinals of the WNIT, the Lady Toppers' best finish in a postseason tournament in nine years.
"On behalf of the University, I would like to compliment Coach Small on his effort to sustain the Lady Toppers at a high level of national competitiveness," Western Kentucky president Dr. Gary Ransdell said. "Coach Small was able to attract quality young women throughout his career as both an assistant and head coach. We truly appreciate Coach Small's dedication and commitment to Western Kentucky University and Lady Topper basketball."
"Today is a sad day for Lady Topper basketball," WKU athletics director Dr. Wood Selig stated. "The common thread that has connected the program over the past 17 successful basketball seasons has been Steve Small. Coach Small has been part of the Lady Topper coaching nucleus that has attracted dozens of talented student-athletes over the last three decades and brought great enjoyment to tens of thousands of followers.
"Coach Small will be remembered as much for his great personality and love for Western as he will be for his successful teams and terrific graduation rates, all while helping to nationally brand WKU Lady Topper basketball," Selig continued. "Western Kentucky University thanks and compliments Coach Small for a job and a career well done."
"There is absolutely no one in women's college basketball that I respect and care for more than Steve Small," Louisiana Tech head coach Leon Barmore said. "He has had a remarkable career and will be greatly missed in our profession. Steve is a great coach and an even greater man."
"Steve's record speaks for itself," Sanderford said. "He has done a wonderful job of continuing the tradition of success at Western Kentucky. I have tremendous respect for Steve and his coaching staff. I wish him and the entire Lady Topper program the best of luck."
Small began his 27-year coaching career on the junior high school level in 1974, spending six seasons as the head boys' basketball coach at Mount Washington (Ky.) Junior High School where he posted a sparkling 66-19 record and was named the 1979 Mid-Kentucky Junior High School Coach of the Year. In 1980, he took over as head coach of the girls' basketball team at Bullitt East High School in Mount Washington, Ky., spending four seasons with the Lady Chargers and guiding his team to a 75-33 record.
Small is a 1970 graduate of Campbellsville University, earning his bachelor's degree in health and physical education with a minor in drama and speech. He returned to his alma mater in 1999 to receive the school's Distinguished Alumni Award. In 1978, Small obtained his master's degree in education from Western Kentucky.
Small and his wife, Merigay, have two daughters, Heidi and Mericate (8). Heidi is married to John Cantrell, a Louisville firefighter, and they have three sons, John Joseph (9), Jackson David (6) and Cooper Allen (3).
-- WKU --
