Thursday, Jan. 29, 1998

Grentz moves Illini from Big Ten doghouse to penthouse

By CHRIS MASSE
Collegian Sports Writer

The date May 15, 1995, may one day be celebrated as much as New Year's Day by the Illinois women's basketball program.

That was the day the program received the gift that saved their program -- coach Theresa Grentz. The former Rutgers coach was hired to resurrect a dormant program. Grentz inherited a team that struggled through seven straight losing seasons and annually competed for last place in the Big Ten.

"A lot of people told me if I took this job I'd ruin my career. Now, I don't hear too much from many of them anymore."

-- Theresa Grentz, head coach of the Illinois women's basketball program

With the odds stacked against her, though, Grentz pulled off a miracle and in only two short years took Illinois from the Big Ten outhouse to its penthouse. Last year she led the Illini to their first-ever Big Ten championship and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament's regional semifinals. Along the way, Grentz also helped develop guard Ashley Berggren into the Big Ten Player of the Year.

"I didn't put a time clock to how long it would take to turn things around. We had a strong recruiting base and we just had to do it," Grentz said. "We did have a plan going in. We just didn't fly by the seat of our pants. Where all the credit belongs is with the players."

Midway through this season Grentz has No. 8 Illinois (14-5, 8-1 Big Ten) in prime position to capture another conference crown. Heading into tomorrow's game with Iowa the Illini reside alone in first. At 2 p.m. Sunday Penn State will get the opportunity to gain a game on the league's front-runner when it hosts the Illini at The Bryce Jordan Center.

"Illinois had made one of the biggest turnarounds in women's basketball history," Northwestern coach Don Perrelli said. "(Grentz) turned it around from a lowly program to a top 10 program and that's absolutely fantastic."

Before turning the Illinois program around, Grentz established Rutgers as a national power. The eighth-winningest coach in NCAA history directed the Scarlet Knights to four Atlantic Ten titles and nine NCAA Tournament appearances while racking up 434 victories in her 19 seasons with the team.

Grentz's resume is the kind coaches dream about. In addition to her accomplishments at Rutgers and Illinois, she has also led the United States to gold medals in the World Championships and the Goodwill games. In 1990, Grentz was given the highest honor a coach can receive when she was named to coach the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.

"She's won wherever she has gone," Perrelli said. "She's very dynamic and she's a terrific coach."

Grentz's impressive track record made many wonder why she agreed to accept the job at Illinois. The critics thought it was coaching suicide to take over a program that had been so bad for so long. Establishing the Illini as a national title contender in two years, though, has silenced the nay-sayers.

"A lot of people told me if I took this job I'd ruin my career," Grentz said. "Now, I don't hear too much from many of them anymore."

In her three years with Illinois Grentz has not only turned the team around, but she has also increased fan interest in her team dramatically. Last season's home attendance total of 52,294 shattered the previous record by more than 32,000. The Illini also broke the Big Ten attendance record when 16,050 fans packed Assembly Hall to watch Illinois battle Purdue in last season's finale.

Although Grentz has used a tireless effort to rejuvenate the Illinois program, she said it has been quite enjoyable. So enjoyable, in fact, she thinks what she does may be illegal.

"I love everything about this job. I love the school, the students, the band and the cheerleaders," Grentz explained. "There should be a rule about me having this much fun."