Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Ewing, Palmer an experienced crew for Estes

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Sunday, November 14, 1999

Ewing, Palmer an experienced crew for Estes
Unlike team, Isles women's assistants have plenty of history
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times

On a team littered with inexperienced players getting their first crack at major college basketball, it is hard to imagine that the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball coaching staff could be any more experienced.
   Head coach Sheryl Estes has produced winners for years, both on the collegiate and professional levels. But just as important, Estes' two assistants - Dana Ewing and Brent Palmer - bring their own wealth of experience to the Islanders, giving the first-year squad a much-needed veteran coaching presence.
   "A lot of people when we've been out recruiting have been real impressed with how professional the program seems," Ewing said. "It doesn't look like a rag-tag program from the get-go. Instead of getting a real 'green' coaching staff, we do have experience, and I would have to say winning experience."
   When Estes was hired in July 1998 to build the A&M-Corpus Christi women's program from scratch, she knew there would be many tough decisions to make along the way. When it came to selecting her staff, though, there was virtually no decision-making process. She knew who she wanted, and she made sure she got them.
   In Ewing, Estes has her second-hand woman of the last four years, a loyal assistant who spent two years with her with the ABL's Colorado Xplosion, then followed her to A&M-Corpus Christi, where she has been now for a year and a half.
   "It really helps, particularly when you have Dana on the staff, because she's worked with me the last four years," Estes said. "I don't have to go through and explain everything to her. She can do just about everything that I can do. That's really helpful."
   In Palmer, Estes has an old friend as well as a successful college coach. Palmer was a student assistant at West Texas State in the mid-1980s when Estes was a senior on the basketball team. And for the last 10 years, he built a top junior college program as head coach at New Mexico Junior College.
   "One of the reasons I wanted to hire Brent is we have very similar philosophies," Estes said. "We both learned from the same college coach (Bob Snyder at West Texas State). We believe the same things, we teach the same way. So it just makes it a lot easier."
   The move to Corpus Christi has allowed both Ewing and Palmer to tackle different roles than perhaps they were used to in the coaching business, but each has been more than willing to make a few personal sacrifices for the benefit of the entire program.
   "One of the things I've enjoyed so far is I've got some different responsibilities now here than I did at the junior college level," said Palmer, who compiled a 161-135 record at New Mexico JC, "just because it's on a much bigger scale here. I'm having to do some things that I haven't had to do in the past, which is good for me from an experience standpoint."
   In Ewing's case, the difference has been adjusting to the college game from the pros, where coaches' roles are centered around bringing a group of good players together as a team, as opposed to the heavy instruction required on the collegiate level.
   "The biggest thing is the players are so young and eager to learn," Ewing said. "You're teaching them these things, and they want to know why. At the professional level, a lot of them come from experienced programs, the top programs. They know why, and they can see the big picture. Here you have to break down the big picture frame-by-frame and tell them this is how it's going to work."
   You won't find a lot of longtime head coaches who take assistant jobs at other schools. And you won't find a lot of top assistants who are willing to put their own career advancement on hold to remain second banana to their head coach.
   But that's what distinguishes the Islanders' trio. It's that sense of loyalty to one another that has kept Ewing from wanting to pursue her own opportunities to become a head coach.
   "I'd have to say the biggest thing is Sheryl is so well-respected in the coaching arena," Ewing said. "And she's taught me so much about the game. People have been like, 'When are you going to move on? When are you going to make your mark?' Well, I'm still learning, I feel. Being here, in this situation, is a big learning experience for everyone because it's so new. So I don't see myself leaving at least for a few years, because I want to see it grow and prosper."
   Palmer, out of force of habit from being a head coach for so long, admits he gets the urge to stand up and try to take control every once in a while.
   "Oh yeah, I've had to get used to that," he said. "But I understand my role as an assistant coach and what I need to do. There are some days where Sheryl wants either I or Dana to take a lead role in something, and that's fine with me. And some days she doesn't want it, and that's fine too."
   For Estes, this sense of unswerving dedication has made her job all the more pleasurable. The respect she has for her two coaching mates is obvious.
   "One of the most important things to have on a coaching staff, I think, is to have loyalty and to hire people with integrity," she said. "And I couldn't have a more loyal staff or a more honest staff. I'm really lucky there. I would trust either one of them with anything."



Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com

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