After his Siena team lost to Purdue 72–64 in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament to end its 27-7 season, Saints coach Fran McCaffery casually spoke to reporters in a Spokane Arena tunnel.
There was a sense at the time that, after three straight MAAC titles, he was saying goodbye.
Later in the month, Iowa hired McCaffery to coach its men’s basketball team.
After her UAlbany women’s team lost to Syracuse 76-59 Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Great Danes coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson casually spoke with a reporter in a Carrier Dome tunnel.
She was not ready to say goodbye. In fact, she did not want to discuss her future, not then anyway.
She wanted to enjoy the moment, even though UAlbany had just lost.
The Great Danes’ had completed another epic season. As a No. 12 seed, they upended No. 5 Florida 61-59 Friday, despite UA star Shereesha Richards stuck on the bench in foul trouble, for the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win at the Division I level.
At least one courtside writer had prepared to write a column on Abrahamson-Henderson making a grave error keeping Richards on the bench so long . . . until the Danes started coming back Friday afternoon.
And when UAlbany won despite Richards fouling out in the fourth quarter and the Danes still trailing by 7, the appreciation for the five-time America East champions and this coach rose to another level.
So you could not blame her for wanting to bask in the accomplishment of the Danes’ 28-5 season — just as you can’t blame her if in the coming weeks she decides to take a job elsewhere.
That is not based on anything she said. Rather, there are some big jobs open — Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, SMU, to name a few — and a coach with Abrahamson-Henderson’s pedigree would have to merit consideration.
There is a reason more has been written about this Great Danes team this year than perhaps all its previous seasons combined. It’s a testament to the individual squad, and what this program has accomplished under Coach Abe.
Five straight America East titles, five straight NCAA appearances. An overall record of 146-47 with a tough out-of-conference schedule, and 83-13 in conference, in her six seasons in Albany.
Remember: UAlbany women’s basketball did not have a winning Division I season until Abrahamson-Henderson arrived in 2010. (The D-I Era dates back to 1999-2000.)
The D word — dynasty — has been used, and it can’t be questioned. The Siena men’s heyday of the late 2000s — three straight MAAC titles, a rocking Times Union Center, was remarkable. This? More so.
Not to push her out the door, but to think that a major college program won’t go after Abrahamson-Henderson after her latest season is just naïve. And the timing would be right. UAlbany says farewell to Richards, its all-time greatest and three-time America East Player of the Year, and Erin Coughlin, who is pretty much guaranteed a coaching spot somewhere someday. A new era is dawning regardless.
But the Danes’ will not be in free-fall. With Imani Tate, Zakiya Saunders and Tiana-Jo Carter among the returning players, UAlbany will again be contenders, regardless of who leads them. Coach Abe would not leave a bare cupboard.
Simply, Abrahamson-Henderson is a winner wherever she goes. As head coach at Missouri State from 2002-07, she took the team to three NCAAs, and won the 2004-05 WNIT. She served as the associate head coach at Indiana and Michigan State, and as an assistant at other stops. Her resumé is beyond stellar.
UAlbany will obviously try to keep her. And if she chooses to stay and continue to build the program, more power to her: She is already an iconic figure among Great Danes’ coaches through the years.
But if she goes, she goes without rancor or regret. She turned around a program that had never amounted to anything and made it a dynasty. She made UAlbany women’s basketball one of the most entertaining sports brands in town.
If it comes to that, all you can do is shake her hand and say goodbye.
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