Kristy Curry: 10 Years in Tuscaloosa
Reaching 10 years as a head coach is a major milestone.
Coaches don't just get longevity without reason; it takes a combination of on-court success and administrative support (and maybe even some luck) to maintain the position for a decade or more.
Knowing that makes sense when looking at the University of Alabama women's basketball program. Before the 2022-23 season began, only one head coach held the position since the program's inception in 1974 - Rick Moody, who coached from 1989 to 2005.
While Moody's name is attached to a number of coaching accolades, he is no longer the only one with a decade or more at the helm of the women's basketball program. He is joined by the woman who's been in charge for the last 10 seasons:
Kristy Curry.
"It means a lot," Curry said about reaching the milestone. "Love making [Tuscaloosa] home. It's been a lot of fun to work on rebuilding the program back, and to see the steps that we've moved the program forward is really special."
Curry was formally introduced as the head coach of Alabama on May 16, 2013, but what's most interesting about her arrival to Tuscaloosa, is that it almost came much earlier. Before getting to that, however, let's briefly review Curry's coaching travels.
In 1999, Curry earned her first head coaching job at Purdue, becoming the first women's basketball coach in NCAA history to inherit a national championship-winning team. After a successful stint there, Curry became the successor to Hall of Fame coach Marsha Sharp at Texas Tech in 2006. After seven seasons in Lubbock, Curry became the head coach at Alabama.
The interest that got Curry to join the Crimson Tide took place while she was at Texas A&M, but the original interest came during her time with the Boilermakers.
"Alabama actually called me during my time at Purdue, and I had said no," Curry said. Then I go to Texas Tech for seven years and 'Bama called back.
"The second time around, I couldn't say no."
The first time Alabama called Curry, she was only in her third year at Purdue, the team just made to the Final Four and she had her first child, so to her, the timing wasn't quite right. But Curry followed the program and always had respect for its academic standard as well as its athletics, and when she received another call while at Texas Tech, the timing was right.
Curry has finally taken over the reins for Alabama women's basketball, but unlike the other two programs she's led as a head coach, the Crimson Tide was a losing program. From the turn of the century to Curry's hiring, Alabama had only three winning seasons. Adding insult to injury, Moody's legendary tenure ended with back-to-back losing seasons, and the program went through two coaches in eight seasons after only having one coach for the prior 16 seasons.
Alabama's program had also struggled mightily in conference play. In the same timeframe, the Crimson Tide never won more than five SEC games, including an 0-14 slate in the 2006-07 season, and a three-year stretch where the team only won three games.
After Curry's first season, the team amassed seven SEC victories, the most since the 2001-02 season, while simultaneously breaking long losing streaks against Kentucky and Georgia. The second season ended with double-digit victories for the first time since 2010. Year 3? An appearance in a postseason tournament for the first time in five years.
"It's been a joy just to see the progress," Curry said about the success early in her tenure. "You're often judged on wins and losses, but early in our time here, it was just the progress we made every day with the little victories.
"It's been really fun to watch where we were and where we're at now."
Curry has continued to turn the program around, from multiple 20-win seasons since the 1990s, to finally making a return to the NCAA Tournament in the 2020-21 season, the first time since 1998-99. She said making the tournament was probably her most favorite memory.
"At each place you have a really special moment, but at Alabama, it's definitely seeing the name called and knowing that we got back to the tournament," Curry said.
The team still has a ways to go in terms of becoming one of the elite programs in the country, but Curry has the program on the right track.
Off the court, she's become deeply involved with the community, leading a number of initiatives to support the residents of Tuscaloosa. During Curry's tenure, Alabama women's basketball has partnered with Habitat for Humanity, Walk to End Alzheimer's, DCH and VA hospitals, and more.
One of the program's most recent community service efforts is Hoops, Heels, and High Tops, a program dedicated to connect women in the community.
"There is nothing more powerful than when women support women, and I think just an opportunity for our young ladies to spend time with very successful moms and professionals in our community," Curry said.
She brought the idea from her time at Texas Tech, and the event did very well, but that's just one example of how Curry has impacted those around her.
Curry has been a collegiate head coach for over 20 years, and she's had the opportunity to build an extensive coaching tree, from Brooke Stoehr at Louisiana Tech, to Alesha Robertson at San Angelo State, to Shereka Wright at UT-Arlington.
Wright played for Curry during her time at Purdue, but her words are a strong indication of any player or coach under Curry's tenure: a supportive leader.
"I learned a lot of valuable lessons as far as being able to connect with young people," Wright said. "Her players love playing for her, and I got a chance to watch it up close both as a player and as an assistant coach on her staff."
Wright also said she still contacts Curry to this day, just to check in more than anything. And Curry still reaches out to a lot of her former player who've become coaches.
"The most comical thing right now is they'll go 'Ooh now I understand more of the things you tried to tell us as a player or an assistant'," Curry said. "I just try to continue encouraging them and supporting them."
Curry's also coached her fair share of talented players during her time at Alabama;
- Ashley Knight led the SEC in blocks in 2016-17
- Hannah Cook graduated in 2018 in the top-five of made 3-pointers for a career
- Ashley Williams ended her career fifth in total rebounds
Many talented players have passed through the program, and that is the case with the most recent roster, led by All-SEC guard Brittany Davis.
"We've had some amazing individuals come through this program," Curry said.
Her most successful player, however, is Jasmine Walker, who is currently playing for the LA Sparks of the WNBA.
"To see where she was when she first got here, it's awesome," Curry said.
Walker is another person Curry still talks to currently, as the former No. 7 pick is playing in Puerto Rico during the offseason. Her former coach is proud of her basketball success, but what Curry said she is most proud of is how Walker left Alabama with two degrees.
"I'm probably as proud of that as I am her basketball career," Curry said.
Academics have always been a priority for Curry, and it shows as her team usually maintains a 3.0 or better each academic year and a large amount of her players leave with two degrees.
Still, Curry remains humble during all the academic and athletic success of her players and coaches past and present. And while basketball, like any sport, is a game of wins and losses, she cares more about their successes in life, from starting families, to finding success in their own careers.
"I'm so proud of what our young women have gone on to do, from lawyers, to doctors, to just being a mom," she said. "It's a lot of fun to support them. So to see the success they've achieved from the traits they learned as an athlete, their 'grit, love, and gratitude', is really special. It's why we do what we do.
"Like I always say, the greatest victories we can have every day is seeing these young people leave and be successful off the court."
Coaches are judged by wins and losses, but while Curry her share of those as well, it is abundantly clear that the only thing that surpasses success in basketball, is achieving success in life.
She's instilled that in both the program and the community for the last 10 seasons, and it doesn't look like Kristy Curry is slowing down.
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