Dorothy Gaters insists she isn't considering retirement. ButMarshall's girls basketball coach admits this has been the mosttrying and frustrating season of her 26-year career 'because ofinjuries and not having kids we needed to get an edge on good teams.'
'I'm very happy I haven't gone through many seasons like this,'Gaters said. 'But that is the way it is sometimes.'
So she pinned a sign to the bulletin board in her office. Itreads: 'When you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and holdon.'
'I feel like that for many days,' she said. 'So I wait for thegood days. They will come.'
One of those days was Saturday when Marshall beat Fenger forGaters' 700th victory. Let's put that achievement in perspective.Only 11 boys coaches have won more. No other girls coach has won morethan 530.
But Gaters isn't into milestones. She said she didn't have time tocelebrate. Not a cake or a pizza or a Gatorade dunking. She had tosee her grandson Darius play in a grade school basketball game.
'I'm not much for records,' she said. 'It says I put a lot ofyears into this job. It seems as if it is someone other than myself.I don't think I have been around that long. Time has flown by.
'I'm proud of my record. But I'm more proud of the young ladieswho have competed in our program and allowed me to reach thismilestone. My great satisfaction is seeing kids getting together andgoing to college, then hearing from former players after they leave.'
Gaters never thought it would come to this. A Marshall graduate,she grew up in an era when there were no sports for girls. She wantedto be a teacher, not a coach. The truth is she became a coach becauseno one else on the faculty volunteered for the job.
'In the beginning, I had no clue what I wanted to do. I didn'tknow anything about basketball at the time,' she said. 'But I wantedto get involved. I got input from a lot of people. I put piecestogether.'
Her mentors were Marshall coaches Luther Bedford and Al Williamsand Nick Seabrook, coach of the Chicago Debs' AAU team, who taughther about discipline and strategy. In the early 1980s, she met Hallof Fame coach John McLendon, who shared his philosophy and theoriesof the game.
'The most important thing I've learned about basketball is thateverything in life has to do with discipline,' Gaters said. 'I had toget the kids thinking the way I wanted them to think. Then executionwould be there.
'I have always been an orderly person. As a student, I wasn't loudor rambunctious. That isn't the kind of behavior I like to see inathletes. Without knowing what I wanted to do, even if I was 100percent wrong, I had to have order.'
Gaters' uncompromising devotion to her program and her girls haspaid off with an unprecedented seven state championships. She hasearned widespread respect and created a legend. She has become,whether she likes it or not, the Morgan Wootten of girls basketball.
'The way she gets girls ready to play and interested in playingbasketball is so phenomenal to me,' Bedford said. 'Some kids don'tfit in, some are out of control, but she knows how to nurture themand discipline them. I don't know how she keeps going. The kids likeher but not because she is easy on them but because she is strictwith them.'
Maine West coach Derril Kipp, who has competed against Gaterssince 1982, said the hallmark of her program is discipline.
'What is so impressive is the way she gets her kids to play hardat all times,' he said. 'When you play her teams, you realize youmust adjust to a lot of pressure.'
Joe Smith of New York-based Women's Basketball News said Gatershas been able to maintain consistency over the years, which he arguesis virtually impossible in a public high school environment.
'It reflects her ability to successfully develop players andpersuade them to want to go to high school,' Smith said. 'Her kidsexecute offensive and defensive schemes, which many city schoolsdon't do.'
Marshall principal Don Pittman, a former boys coach at Carver, ismost impressed by Gaters' work ethic.
'I was a hard worker as a coach but when I look at her work ethic,it amazes me how hard she works,' Pittman said. 'That's whatseparates her from other coaches who think they are doing a good job.It is amazing how she is able to maintain her energy. I can see why Inever won a state title because I couldn't maintain her energylevel.'
It takes a lot of energy to hold onto that rope.
