Kris Huffman knew she had a lot to pick up when she arrived in Greencastle 25 years ago to take over the women’s basketball program.
592 wins and two NCAA national championships later, the former Iowa Miss Basketball star admits she is still learning. “The program and I kind of grew together throughout this journey here,” said Huffman, who had only served as an assistant coach for Wartburg College in Iowa before coming to DePauw University.
When she is not running drills on winter afternoons, Huffman often finds herself on the other side of the curtain at Neal Fieldhouse, listening in to men’s head coach Bill Fenlon as he leads his practice.
“If I can watch for five minutes, I’ve picked up three things. Whether it’s terminology or a new way to think about something, or a new drill to do. [Fenlon’s] been really helpful,” Huffman said. “I admire his ability to teach.”
It has been a perfect working relationship for the two veterans given Fenlon only joined DePauw a year before Huffman. Regardless of Huffman’s lack of experience as a head coach, Fenlon knew that Huffman’s talent and love for the game would make the University of Northern Iowa graduate a good fit.
“I should probably get on more hiring committees, because that was a pretty good hire for old DPU,” Fenlon said with a smile.
The two have since shared thousands of hours on the court and countless miles on the bus for road games. Before DePauw switched to the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), the Tigers’ time in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) frequently saw the two teams splitting double-headers.
Fenlon has even taken a handful of Huffman’s players overseas for DePauw’s May Term trip to work with PeacePlayers International-Northern Ireland to learn of the country’s political divide and play against local basketball players.
It does not take much to realize why Huffman has become such a respected figure on campus. She always finds a way to connect with people, athlete or not. “She is someone who can meet someone for the first time, and she will be engaged in a conversation with them for twenty minutes,” said Athletic Director Stevie Baker-Watson. “She’s just a genuine, honest person.”
But as a natural leader, Huffman can be intense and passionate when she needs to be. Her drive is especially prevalent in the relationships she keeps with her players, whom Huffman pushes to chase their potential day in and day out.
“There’s a lot of different gears you can choose to play with, and trying to get them to play with the highest gear and do it to the ultimate level, that’s what we attempt to do,” Huffman said of her players.
One of those players is senior Emily Budde who has developed into one of the team’s biggest threats on offense. However, it will be what Huffman’s taught Budde off the court that the senior guard plans to take with her after DePauw.
“Some of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever been able to learn in my life have mostly been thanks to her,” said Budde, who remembers noticing how much players looked up to Huffman when the senior visited DePauw as a recruit. “She’s taught me how you should go about life… how to push through things and how you should do things the right way.”
But it is hard to ignore what Budde and the rest of the team have done on the court this year under Huffman.
The Tigers are currently riding a 17-game win streak and remain undefeated in conference play.
It’s long been foolish to expect anything less from a program that has not seen a losing season since the mid-90’s. “Watching Kris’ success for the last 25 years, I think she’s easily one of the best coaches in the country at any level,” said Felon. “She’s proven that over and over again.”
