UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012 - (Page 13)

In the last decade, UT Dallas Comets volleyball coach Marci Sanders and men’s basketball coach Terry Butterfield have led their programs toward national prominence. UT Dallas volleyball coach Marci Sanders didn’t think she would ever pursue a career in coaching. UT Dallas basketball coach Terry Butterfield never wanted to do anything else. Sanders is a soft-spoken, unassuming West Texan who almost has to take on a different persona on the court, “amping up” her personality in order to bark out directions to her team. Butterfield, on the other hand, is the highenergy son of a revered New York football coach, often finding himself in situations where his team is better served by toning down his personality. The paths they took to success were different, but the results have been the same as each has built their respective program into “success stories” in a very short time at UTD. Entering the 2011 season, Sanders’ volleyball teams have won more than 20 games five years in a row, earned back-to-back American Southwest Conference (ASC) titles in 2008 and 2009, and were the only NCAA Division III team in the country to finish a regular season undefeated when they went 25-0 in 2009. Butterfield’s men’s basketball team also has a pair of ASC championship trophies, and finished each of the last three seasons with 20 or more wins and a berth in the NCAA Division III national playoffs. Twice during that span, the Comets advanced deep into the tournament, finishing among the nation’s elite and coming within a narrow overtime loss of representing UT Dallas at the national “Final Four” in 2009. Sanders and Butterfield recently discussed their backgrounds, the intricacies of coaching young men and women and what it takes to build a successful program. COU The University of Texas at Dallas T R A conversation with the leaders of two of UT Dallas’ most successful athletic programs Winter 2012 13 U S CC by Bruce Unrue SI DE ESS

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012

UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012
Contents
On Campus
From the Lab
Arts and Culture
Courtside Success
Athletics
Research Is Teaching
Town and Gown
In Your Footsteps: An Alumni Perspective
Alumni Notes
In Memoriam
Hindsight

UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012