To Stephanie Ready, it was simply a job that she enjoyed to the fullest. To basketball fans across the country, it was history in the making. Stephanie Ready made history from 2001 to 2003 as the first female coach in men's professional sports when she was introduced as the assistant coach of the now defunct Greenville (South Carolina) Groove of the NBA's minor league, the National Basketball Developmental League (NBDL).
Ms. Ready said the experience was nothing but positive. And despite what detractors may have believed at first, the team responded to her with mutual respect.
Before joining the coaching ranks of the Groove, Ready had just made history as an assistant men's basketball coach at Coppin State College. She was the first woman to recruit for an NCAA Division I men's basketball program. Ron (Fang) Mitchell, the director of athletics and men's basketball coach at Coppin State, which is Ready's alma mater, says he hired Ready because he believed that she could handle the job with grace and excellence. "I saw her as a person who had a lot of potential and ability when I had the experience of watching her play and coach," Mitchell says. "You don't have a lot of people who have her intelligence--she graduated cum laude--and her work ethic.
Ready first experimented with coaching while a high school student in Takoma Park, Maryland when she coached an eighth-grade basketball team at a local Boys and Girls Club. She later attended Coppin State and became a two-sport star in basketball and volleyball. She was a four-year starter and captain of both teams during her senior year. She finished her basketball career ranked in the school's all-time top 10 in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
Ready graduated from Coppin State in 1998 and was named the head women's volleyball coach. Mitchell added Ready to his staff as an assistant men's basketball coach in 1999. While serving as both the women's volleyball coach and assistant men's basketball coach for two years, she attracted national attention. It was in the spring of 2001 when Ready received a phone call from National Basketball Developmental League executives who called to inquire about her services.
Ready was hired last August 2001 as the assistant coach of the Greenville Groove in the then new National Basketball Developmental League. As an assistant coach, she performed a variety of duties, including scheduling practices, breaking down film on upcoming opponents and compiling scouting reports. Ready participated in all drills on the court.
"The players saw me more as a big sister than anything else, which is how it was at Coppin also," Ready said. "I was the buffer between the head coach and the players and front office. If there was something that they needed, more likely they were going to come to me first."
The ultimate test for Ready came when Groove head coach Milton Barnes was suspended for a game. In his absence, Ready handled all coaching duties --selecting the starting lineup, inserting substitutions and calling plays. Greenville defeated Huntsville (Alabama) 84-82 in overtime. The victory proved once again that Stephanie Ready was indeed ready and capable of handling her own.
Stephanie Ready is currently a TV sideline reporter for the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA. She was an assistant coach with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. Ready was also a sideline reporter for The NBA on TNT during the 2006 and 2007 NBA Playoffs, and the WNBA Playoffs on ESPN2 during 2006. Also in 2006 and 2007, Ready worked as a sideline reporter during the first and second rounds of the Women's Final Four of college basketball for ESPN2.
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