Jaci Clark is more than a competitor. She is more than a coach. She is a lot of things, but the thing that Jaci talks about the most is being a teacher. She wants to win and she wants to win with all of her heart, but helping her players become better is most important to her. She wants them to become better not only at their game, but also in their lives.

“I get them in their transitional years. There is a big difference between 16 and 18 and an even bigger difference between 18 and 21,” she explains. “I get to watch them transition into adulthood. One year of college can really make a difference in a person. It’s not just the challenges academically, it is the independence of being away from home and the appreciation of everything that your parents have done for you over the years.”

Almost all of us work for someone. As a result, we all have a boss. That boss can be a lot of things, but they usually do their best to stay out of your private life. They do their best to get the most out of you from 8 to 5 and don’t really want to hear about the rest. Coaches are different. In reality, they probably have more control over their players than a typical boss might have, yet they can and do become more than a boss. John Cooper was fired as the Ohio State football coach for a number of reasons but one of the biggest was the way that he handled his players. Here is a man that couldn’t tell you a great deal about the individuals that made up his team. He certainly didn’t know what they did in their time away from the football field.

If anything, Jaci Clark is the anti-John Cooper. These kids are very important to her and not just because her success rides on their very whims.

“If I thought too much about the fact that my entire career is based on the decisions of 17 year olds, I probably wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning,” says Clark. “I don’t really look at them as kids, but young adults. I deal with them every day, so I don’t get surprised very often. I really like the age group — it keeps me young. They think that they can make a difference and that is what is so wonderful. They are excited about what lies ahead of them and it is exiting for me working with people like that. I have these players for a 4 to 5 year period of time and I get to see them not only evolve at basketball players but as people as well.”

Women basketball players [for some reason] are thought of differently than the men. Little thought is given to the fact that they go through the same training, the same practices, and the same travel as their counterparts. Although this is certainly not the only reason that the women have to fight for attention that seems to fall in the laps of the men, it may have an influence. It’s certainly a frustration for someone that played the game herself, but Jaci is more concerned about the perception that it’s easier for the women.

“The misconception is that our players don’t really work for their education. They have to make sacrifices. Their friends go out in the middle of the week and they really can’t afford to do that. They make a commitment to be in the weight room or running everyday. Our days are really full. They start classes at 8:30 in the morning followed by practice at 1:30 in the afternoon. At 4:00 they lift for an hour and then possibly a night class after that plus their study responsibilities. Then when you throw in the travel time, they really don’t have a great deal of personal time during the season.”

Perception is not the only situation the women face that differs them from the men. The most popular female sports figure in 2001 is Anna Kournikova. She graces the covers of both sport and non-sport magazines every month. If she had the success of a Martina Hingis or Venus Williams, it might be expected, but the fact remains that she has never won a single tournament. She is there for one reason and that is because sex sells. The University of Dayton is a conservative Catholic University. Jaci Clark is a conservative coach that is more interested in winning basketball games than getting her players on the covers of fashion magazines, but it is something that she must deal with.

“We are constantly wrestling with women and their images. What is appropriate and what isn’t as a society. It finds its way to sports because sports are the first look at what society is about. Am I for promoting the sexuality? No, I’m not. You have to realize why it is done. It is to get publicity of either the sport or the individual. We try to do a number of promotional events around our games to try to get more families at our games. There should be a line drawn as to what is appropriate and what is not. Often when this is done, it is done to show that there is another side to the girls. As with everything in life, you have choices to make and it is important to make good choices.”

This brings us to the question concerning the attendance at games and how can it be improved. When Clark first arrived at UD, it was not uncommon to see 500 people in attendance. If 500 fans showed up for a mens game, the coach would be fired the next day. Certainly, the University would like to see more people in the stands and not just for the money that it brings in.

“Last year we started the season with 500 people in the stands,” she says. “We ended the season averaging 1,400. At the last game of the year we had 3,000 people. It has been an educational process for us, getting our product out there. I think that it’s just a matter of time. We will have the NCAA tournament here again in 2003. The last time, we had the highest attendance of all the Regionals. I feel that if we build it, they will come. The administration has really put forth the opportunity for us, it is our responsibility to capitalize upon it.”

Jaci is happy with the progress that is being made. She is also happy with everything that the administration has done to help the program, “We have an opportunity to be very competitive in women’s basketball here at a high level, at the highest of levels. We are making steps in that direction. My players get whatever it takes to be competitive. Wonderful facilities, a great education, and a great basketball community. I love the games and so do a lot of other people around here. That is what is so exciting for me,” she says.

I asked Coach Clark about what it was going to take to get to that next level. Was it going to take just one player or a type of player to play basketball the way that she envisions it? Her response says just as much about herself as her ideal player. “In a perfect world I would want players with athletic ability but they also have to be coachable. They have to be competitors to do what we ask them to do and it has to be for the right reason. You have to do it for yourself. Not in a selfish way, but it has to be because they want to be here and not because of mom and dad or someone else. It is about team. This is a team sport and although you can excel as individuals, it is the team that has to excel.”

The University of Dayton is on the brink of moving to that next level. We are not talking about expecting a trip the Final Four every year, but a more attainable goal. The women have yet to make it to the NCAA Tournament, and this may not be the year, but it won’t be long before we can expect to start seeing the women sitting around on Selection Sunday worrying about who and where they are going to play.

There is a catch-22 in sports that Clark must fight everyday. The rich get richer and the poor fight among themselves for the leftovers. Become rich and it becomes easier to stay rich. Get into the tournament and it’s easier to go back the next year. Keep winning and the stands will fill and you don’t have to worry about what image your players should portray.

The University of Dayton made a great choice three years ago in selecting Jaci Clark. Her love for the sport and her genuine caring for her players puts her miles ahead of many that make it to the Final Four.

“Now that I look back on it, I can’t imagine what I would have done without sports. It has helped me become the person that I am and develop the characteristics that I have. It has become a wonderful occupation for me and I have enjoyed my time thoroughly. It is wonderful for me to be able to watch my players go through the same experience. Sport can teach us a lot of things. We all think about the physical toughness, but it can also teach us how to be mentally and emotionally mature. It allows us to attain a consistency that helps in the maturation process. That is what sports point out to us in a hurry.”