Way to go, Steve-O!

[giacfsp]

SMU women's basketball coach Rompola gets new 5-year deal

11:13 PM CST on Friday, January 23, 2009

SMU women's basketball coach Rhonda Rompola has received a new five-year contract that runs through the 2012-13 season.

Rompola's contract was set to expire in 2010. She said Friday a new deal had been in the works since last year.

"SMU is the place I want to be," said Rompola, a former SMU player in her 18th season as coach. "I would love to finish my coaching career at SMU. That's how strongly I feel about what we're doing and what we're capable of doing."

Rompola is 323-204 and has led the Mustangs to the NCAA tournament seven times, including 2007-08 when SMU won a school-record 24 games.

She received interest from a Pac-10 school after the latest tournament run but said she has no interest in leaving the Hilltop.

"I've been at SMU for a long time. I'm not one of these coaches who is looking to move," Rompola said. "We have built this program from the ground up and I really believe we can make it a national program."

Bobbi Roquemore

[George S. Patton]

Oustanding! Glad we have secured her. And the better thing is that she wants to be here.

Best coach we have on this campus.

[Pony_Fan]

Can we get to Championship level in Women's hoops? Didn't Baylor win it a few years ago. Seems like they are always on the brink and getting killed by BCS type teams.


Sorry, I don't follow women's hoops at all - don't think I have ever even watched a full game.

[Tipoff96]

Agree - good news! She's a good coach, a good person and more than anything, as a fan, you have to appreciate her dedication and love for SMU. I have to say that I think this has been her best year of coaching. Losing Dodds, Cobb, Gross, Shepherd = a rebuilding year. Players that had limited minutes last year are playing significant roles this year. Add in 4 Freshmen. What a job she's done in my opinion. Nice to see Steve-O reward her.

[mustangxc]

Well deserved! Great news!

[PoconoPony]

Agree - good news! She's a good coach, a good person and more than anything, as a fan, you have to appreciate her dedication and love for SMU. I have to say that I think this has been her best year of coaching. Losing Dodds, Cobb, Gross, Shepherd = a rebuilding year. Players that had limited minutes last year are playing significant roles this year. Add in 4 Freshmen. What a job she's done in my opinion. Nice to see Steve-O reward her.

Can she coach a men's team?????

[EP Pony Fan]

Congratulations, Coach R. After watching your team beat UTEP today - and it was no upset, either - it's clear how much you deserve this.

Hats off to Steve-O for making the right move and locking up a great coaching staff for years to come.

[Jumpshooter]

Congrats to Rhonda.

First smart thing Orsini has done regarding head coaches in his tenure.

Women's soccer, men's soccer and men's basketball hires haven't done a thing. Jury is still out on JJ.

[ClassOf81]

I'd even go so far as to suggest that the job Coach Rompola and her staff have done this year might be their best yet. If this team had crashed and burned this year after losing Dodds and Shepherd and the rest, nobody who knows the game would have ripped her, and then after starting slowly this year, it would have been a matter of "that's what we expected." Instead, she has helped her team right the ship and they're on a major hot streak and tied for first in the conference. We're not blowing teams out - probably will resume doing that next year - but the performance over the last few weeks has been nothing short of remarkable, and shows how lucky we are to have Coach Rompola running the show.

I urge everyone to come out to Moody Thursday and help the Ponies BEAT COUGAR HIGH!

[Dooby]

She still married to Dement?

[EastStang]

Yep. That long distance marriage must work for them.