Coach Kris Huffman maps out a play for the Tigers during a game last season.
Their record in this year's season thus far is 4-1.
THE DEPAUW ARCHIVES
When head coach Kris Huffman came to DePauw in 1992, the women’s basketball program was at a low point, to put it lightly.
Besides having had to play for two different coaches during the season, the Tigers finished a meager 7-17, which marked their 14th losing season in the last 16 years.
“It was a unique situation to come into,” Huffman, who had previously been coaching at Wartburg College in Iowa, said. “I had a team that was kind of bruised and battered from their previous experience. The advice I was given was ‘just be very, very positive this year’”.
Huffman, who is now in her 22nd year at DePauw, has done much more than that. Under Huffman, the Tigers have gone 500-105, made 11 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, and won two Division III championships, coming in 2007 and 2013. It’s fair to say that Huffman turned this program around without ever looking back.
The 500th win for Huffman came this past Sunday in Jacksonville, Illinois, where the Tigers defeated Illinois College 70-39 in the Midwest Challenge.
“It’s a great accomplishment, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do here in this program,” Huffman said. “I think of all the players who have played here… and then a loyal coaching staff that we’ve had… We’ve been so fortunate in so many ways.”
Kris Huffman, DePauw University
women's basketball head coach.
COURTESY OF DEPAUW UNIVERISTY
Despite the milestone, Huffman carries herself selflessly, knowing that there’s more basketball to be played.
“I think about the great coaches out there who have 900 [or] 1,000 wins, and I admire them,” Huffman said. “The journey is long, and I call it the ‘grind’, so what they’ve done is absolutely incredible.”
Her respect and love of the game is never lost on her players, especially those who she has been able to coach for the past four years.
“She cares about every single one of her players and pushes them to be the best player and best person they can possibly be, “senior guard Savannah Trees said. “Her coaching style drives players to work their absolute hardest and to never be satisfied.”
Player development is an aspect of the game that Huffman has become very familiar with, as she has time and time again been able to help players grow over the course of their four-year collegiate careers.
“It’s one of the most rewarding parts of the job,” Huffman said. “You get those freshmen who are just finding their way, and trying to figure out a major, and having the highs and the lows that every student has… and you watch them walk across the stage and grab their diploma in the end, and who they’ve become as a young woman and as a speaker and as a thinker, I really love what DePauw does for these young people, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.”
A player still in the beginning stages of this process is first-year guard/forward Hannah Gardner.
“[When] going from high school to college, you must learn a lot of new things,” Gardner said. “She has helped me improve in ever aspect of the game.”
Trees can also relate to Gardner’s player-coach relationship with Huffman.
“Over the past four years, Coach Huffman has helped me more than she probably knows,” Trees said. “The work and time she puts into our team is reflected in the program’s success over the last 20 years.”
Despite the obvious achievements already noted, it’s worthy to mention that none of Huffman’s past teams have had worse than a .500 record, a finish that, before Huffman’s arrival, would have been hard to come by for the program.
But having the success that the Tigers have repeatedly had is nowhere as easy as Huffman makes it look. Like players, coaches have their fair share of challenges and setbacks to overcome, along with having to maintain the success they’ve already found.
“I think you really have to adapt… to the environment, the new players, your colleagues in the office… and continue to put the student-athlete first, and to take the responsibility of being that leader for that team,” Huffman said. “Those are some things that I think are important to who we are here.”
The Tigers will recognize Huffman’s 500-win milestone this Saturday in a pregame ceremony before DePauw takes on The College of Wooster at 1 P.M. Following the game, a reception for Huffman will be held in the Lilly Center lobby.
It doesn’t take being a sports fan to be able to recognize what Huffman has done for the women’s basketball program. Huffman is one in a million, and DePauw is reminded of that in every season she coaches.