The Colorado women’s basketball team has a new dynamic this season. And it has nothing to do with the players on the court, but rather the coaches on the bench, who also happen to be siblings.
In what may be the only brother-sister coaching duo in all of college basketball, Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller has added her older brother, Tom McConnell, to her coaching staff. McConnell, who joined the women’s basketball coaching staff this past summer, has over 20 years of coaching experience in both the men’s and women’s ranks.
McConnell’s main responsibilities for the Buffs’ basketball team will include be player scouting, player development and game day preparation. McConnell said that when his sister first approached him about the idea, he was a little unsure of how it would work.
“I said, ‘You’re crazy. You’re not serious, are you?’ She said, ‘No, I’m very serious.’ And the more that we talked and the more she explained what she was looking for, I was interested enough to really come out and take a look,” McConnell said. “And once I did, once I met her staff and some of the players and got to meet people in the athletic department, I really thought this was something that would be exciting to do.”
The job for McConnell is one stop among many that he has made during his career as a basketball coach. McConnell, 46, was most recently the men’s head basketball coach at St. Francis University in Pennsylvania, where he left following the 1998-99 season. When he left, he was ranked second on the school’s all-time wins list with 85 victories. McConnell also has worked as assistants at prestigious basketball schools like Wake Forest and Marquette.
Even though most of his coaching experience is on the men’s side, McConnell said he does not believe that the transition to the women’s game is going to be a problem.
“It’s the same. You don’t see a guy, you don’t see a girl. You see an athlete. The game is the game. It’s the same drills and techniques,” McConnell said.
By having so much experience as the head coach of men’s basketball programs, some would have a problem taking a backseat in authority to their younger sister. McConnell said he doesn’t worry about that.
“She’s very good to work with. As a coach, she gives you a lot of freedom and she wants input. She wants you to coach, and she’s good at delegating everything,” McConnell said. “It’s been fun for me to see her in action and see her in this role. To really get a chance to work with her everyday is a lot of fun. She does a great job.”
McConnell said he does not want to step on his sister’s toes, but he just wants to help the players.
