Episode 505 - Tracy Mason, Southern Utah

Hardwood Hustle

This week we’re joined by Head Coach Tracy Mason, formerly Tracy Sanders. She has a long list of accolades as a player and coach, most recently this past season, in her fifth season as a head coach at Southern Utah her team won the regular season WAC title, and the WAC Tournament Championship. In this episode we discuss turning around a program, building accountability and competitiveness, and helping your players perform at their best.
Show Notes:
• Coach Tracy Mason's journey into coaching
• Building accountability through structure and team buy-in
• Developing a competitive edge and changing a loser culture
• Listen, Be on time, No drama
• Developing leaders
• Finding what motivates individual players
• Basketball family culture
• Empowering Your Staff
• Managing Expectations - First 5 minutes
• Off the court challenges
• Best Advice for coaches
• Rapid fire tips on Leadership, Culture , Player Dev., Systems & Strategies, and Teaching
More on Coach Mason:
As a head coach, Tracy Mason (Sanders) has led her team to 4 consecutive winning seasons in 5 years. She joined the Thunderbirds from Saint Mary's College where she served on staff for 12 years under head coach Paul Thomas. Mason held the title of Associate Head Coach for her last five seasons. Her duties included coordinating all aspects of recruiting, opponent scouting, game preparation, and player development.

Mason worked primarily with the post players during her time with the Gaels, which led to the development of two WCC Players of the Year, a two-time WCC Defender of the Year, and a WCC Tournament MVP amongst many other accolades. The two-time WCC Defender of the Year, Louella Tomlinson, is the Gael's all-time leading scorer, taking the title from Mason herself, and holds the NCAA record for career blocks per game average.

Before starting her coaching career in 2000, Mason was a four-year letterwinner for the Gaels from 1996-2000. During her time as a member of the team, Mason was a three-time All-WCC First Team member, two-time WCC Tournament Team member (including Tournament MVP in 1999), WCC Freshman of the Year in her inaugural season, and WCC Player of the Year her junior season. She led the conference in scoring for three straight years and finished her career as the WCC's second all-time leading scorer.

In addition to her individual achievements, Mason led the Gaels to the program's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1999 and the WNIT in 2000. In 2007, Mason was inducted into the Saint Mary's Hall of Fame and in 2014 she was inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor.

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