Ronald Hughey: "I say 'yes' because I don't want to be anywhere else."

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October 17, 2018 -- 7:15 a.m.

The last few days have been notable for Ronald Hughey, the head coach of the Houston Cougars women's basketball program: October 12th, the University of Houston announced a three-year contract extension for Coach Hughey. Next, on October 15th, the Coogs were picked third in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll.

The success and raised expectations come from a change in the culture of the basketball program. Juniors Dorian Branch and Angela Harris discuss the change in culture October 9th.

First, obviously, Coach Hughey is appreciative of the contract extension.

"I love being a part of the University of Houston. One of the things everybody has told me about getting a contract extension is you're starting to get invested in where you are," Hughey commented. "I say 'yes' because I don't want to be anywhere else.

"And, for Chris (Vice President for Athletics, Chris Pezman); President Renu Khator; and (Senior Women's Administrator) DeJuena Chizer to work as diligently as they did to help me; and, they can see the things that we're doing to build the program is tremendous. I can't put it into words. Simply blessed for myself and my family. They believe in us like they do in all the women's sports. Because, I have friends who have trouble getting extensions. Or, in other sports, that they don't feel value on that campus.

"That's why I said what I said: I love our administration. I love our team. I love our staff. And, I'm thankful for the contract extension; and, they're all part of it."

Hughey went into detail about the comments Branch and Harris made about the change in culture -- especially, Harris' comments about disciplinary issues during her freshman season.

"Coming in as an assistant and being a first-time head coach, you're trying to figure out the culture; and, you're trying to figure out the kids and you're trying to figure out the chemistry and all that," Hughey acknowledged. "It's not always going to be right especially because it's your first time. It's like getting on the bike. You're going to fall some. It's like a baby trying to walk. You're going to fall some. And, we fell some.

"But, we had enough in us; and enough love; and enough caring to keep the good kids," Hughey continued. "And, the ones that weren't the good kids kind of weeded themselves out. So, what they (Branch and Harris) said was simply correct: we had a lot of issues at the beginning. We worked our way through it; and, we got to a place, now, where we're almost a complete family of about 85 percent of where we are culturally, we're building this program. Now, we're not at one hundred percent; so, we're still a work in progress. But, we don't have the problem anymore off the court. We don't have the problems of going to the clubs. We don't have the problems of people being selfish and not caring about their teammates. We don't have those outside structural problems that comes with not having a great culture."

Hughey credits his coaching staff for changing the culture.

"Part of the staff is doing a great job with that. Coach Vicki (Associate Head Coach Vicki Picott). They (the players) already know. It's going to be on everything. That starts with culture every single day: from the way you dress; from the way you talk; the way you carry yourself. Every, single thing we want you to be confident. We want you to understand how great you are as a person. Women run the world. We want them to understand that. We want them to feel empowered everyday. So, I'm glad they said what they said. I think they're right on point: the culture is ten times better than it was when we first took over."

The Coogs open the 2018-'19 season at Cal, November 6, before beginning the home portion of the season by welcoming Georgia Tech for a 7 p.m. CT, tipoff November 9. The Coogs will play their first three home games on the campus of TSU before moving into the Fertitta Center with a matchup against Texas A&M on December 6.

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