Hungate- Girls Basketball Dynasty

Mary Kay Hungate

 There have been many good girls basketball teams in western Illinois over the last 40 years. And there have been some “dynasties” during that time- schools/teams which had extended championship teams.

Whenever a great team or a new “dynasty” comes along, some seem to react like it is the first time there has been a great team in the area. When I think of some of the great runs by teams, there were Moline’s teams in the late ‘80’s and again around 2008. UT had some great teams in the ‘80’s. Quincy was a power house for years in the mid-‘90’s. Limestone was great in the ‘80’s and again in the ‘90’s. And of course, we would like to think our Galesburg teams of the ‘90’s and early 2000’s would qualify as great teams. As I list these teams off the of my head- I am sure I have failed to mention some, there is no insult intended. So, there is indeed a rich history of girls basketball in western Illinois.

While all of these teams had great success, when you think about “dynasties” in the area, the teams you have to start with are Mary Kay Hungate’s teams in the 1970’s and ‘80’s at Richwoods. They were a power house every year she coached- no exceptions.

Her teams were intimidated. Yes, they had talent but other teams had talent too. They were very well coached. I have never seen teams who had a better understanding of what was a good shot and what was a bad shot than her teams did. The big thing was that Richwoods under Hungate was intimidating. She created a program that was ahead of everyone the area. She demanded a greater commitment and got it. Everything was first-class. Even their uniforms were better than other teams.

Hungate had huge expectations. She had a returning starter on a team that had gone to state. She told the player if her ft percentage that was under 70% did not improve, she would not start her the next year.

Hungate was a GHS grad. After she left Richwoods, I asked her to come and speak to our Galesburg players. I asked her to simply describe what her players did in the off-season, and what their approach was in-season. She talked for an hour- her message to the players- “don’t let anyone outwork you.”

I had a chance to ask to people about their perspective about Hungate and the Richwood’s years. Jane Miller was a reporter for the Journal-Star, and Cindy Stein (now coach at SIU) played on her first team.  

Jane Miller Sands- retired reporter

Massey: What were your first impressions of the Hungate and Richwoods?

Jane: I didn’t cover Richwoods until the end of Nora’s freshman year so I wasn’t in on the early years of the program. I did hear about Kendra Gant and of course saw Paula Buscher and Linda Martin at ICC but I never saw them play in high school. But of course, Nora’s sophomore year they won the state title so it was quite apparent the talent level as a whole at Richwoods was above and beyond. When their first player off the bench got a Division I scholarship, you know what kind of depth that team had. They were always well prepared, naturally, but they just had so many gifted athletes. 

Massey: Do you think Hungate fully got the credit she deserved, or being a female did she not get as much credit for her achievements?

Jane: You know, in the realm of girls basketball, I didn’t see a lot of different treatment. I mean, Lorene Ramsey was coaching in the area and the respect she commanded trickled down, I think. There were some good female coaches in Peoria at the time and I don’t remember anyone thinking lesser of them. I’m sure they faced some difficulties that I didn’t see but publicly, I wasn’t aware of it. 

Massey: Richwoods had some good teams right from the start of Hungates tenure, but it just seems like things took off. Her teams at the end of her tenure were not competing to be the best in the area, their sights were on State Championships. How did she take them to a different level?

Jane: Yes, and I’m sure they would have gotten there regardless because of the kind of coach Mary Kay was, but you have to remember the talent level in Peoria at that time was off the charts - Jodi Rathbun, Jonelle Polk and Carla McGhee, Cindy Bumgarner - these kids all went on to star at top-level Division I programs. Then at Richwoods there was Nora and Tracy Krick. That was an extraordinary time. The bar was constantly being raised. What made Mary Kay different? Her absolute devotion to being completely prepared at all times. And yes, there was a plan for everything. It really was her life. She really did create the culture of the winning tradition that exists at Richwoods to this day. Ralph Gallo is still on the staff and Todd Hursey ran the video camera during the Nora years. It’s a pretty straight line. 

Massey: What are some of your best memories of this era?

Jane: I have a lot of very great memories from that time. I guess one of the top ones was going to Washington D.C. with Nora and Mary Kay when Nora won the Dial award for female high school athlete of the year in 1985. The banquet was impressive and we got a tour of the White House. I covered every Richwoods game Nora’s last two years, which was a lot of fun. She was so talented, but Mary Kay always made sure Richwoods didn’t embarrass anybody. And just the experience of being able to cover all those kids I mentioned above. Since I was new covering girls basketball, I didn’t realize what a special time that was - those girls were superstars - and I thought it was going to be that way all the time! I feel very fortunate to have been a witness to all of that. 

Cindy Stein- Head Coach at SIU

Massey: What were your memories of the new coach coming into Richwoods?

Cindy: I was going into my senior year at Richwoods when they hired Coach Hungate. For those of us that were hitting our senior year, it was our 3^rd coach in 3 years so we were a bit skeptical.  It became very clear from day one that she knew what she was talking about and she was serious about winning and she brought a new approach to us being disciplined in the fundamentals, in doing things the right way, paying attention to details and taking care of academics.  The most profound thing was that she really cared about us and knew how to talk to us.  She was very easy to relate to and never really had to yell to get her point across.  We knew we had some raw talent. Coach Hungate brought the work ethic needed and discipline and was a great teacher of the fundamentals. She also brought 2 a day practices, suicides and the conditioning piece that was always missing.  Although, we hated that part, we knew it was to make us better because now we were doing it for a purpose instead of someone just mad at us.

Massey: Every coach tries to create a championship culture, obviously Hungate did create a championship culture. How did she establish this culture?

Cindy: Coach Hungate brought an air of confidence of what she was doing that carried to the players.  She always talked about “ these are the things we are going to do to beat this team, when we attack this team here, we will win, we have to shut these two players down, etc”  We never talked about losing.  We just talked about our expectations of wining and how we would do it.  So when we lost, it would be devastating because we never thought we would. 

Massey: In my forty years coaching, I have never seen teams with more discipline than her teams exhibited. Everybody seemed to understand what was expected, how did she get this done? 

Cindy: I never heard Coach Hungate ever tell someone ‘not’ to take a shot but there were certain people that she wanted us to get the ball to.  I know I would take a crazy shot or two and she never yelled at me about it, but I would get that look……… like a stare where I needed to read her mind pretty quick.  She would be very subtle at the time out with “hey Cindy, why don’t you try looking for a good pull-up off two feet instead of one.”   She really emphasized not missing layups, shooting 80% from FT line, and knowing where your best shot was from.  Our plays were all designed to get certain people more touches.  I still coach many of these same principles and ideals when I coach my SIU team. 

Massey: How did your experiences with Coach Hungate influence you in your career?

Cindy: Influence me today:  As I mentioned there were some offensive things that I still carry on.  I think one of the things that she demonstrated really well was that we can practice extremely hard but if something that happened was funny….laugh.  It wasn’t so strict that we also didn’t have fun.  And that she cared about us off the court.  I try to make sure that I am very similar in my approach to practice, games and running our program at SIU.  Coach Hungate was also very calm during stressful times (although her voice would get pitchy) but it was a great example to me. 

Massey: You have to have a lot of great memories.

Cindy:  I have so many great memories at Richwoods. I had so much fun with so many great people.  I think the thing that stands out, was that I never knew how good I was until Ty Franklin (our AD/baseball coach) pulled me aside my junior year and said ‘you know you can get a scholarship for softball or basketball’.  And of course I had no idea so he sat me down and told me about Title IX and that I could get college paid for.  Well, being from a family of 5 kids, this was great news.  I had never really thought about college at all or if I could go due to finances.  He also told me that a new coach was coming in that he thought would really help me.  He was so right!  Coach Hungate took many of us to college games to watch the women’s teams and opened up a whole new world to us.  She also took me to several college campus to look at and see the campus and talk to the coaches.  Her willingness to assist me in these things were huge because both my parents worked and didn’t always have the time to do it.  I owe Coach Franklin and Coach Hungate so much for the time they invested in me.  Without their mentorship I would not have had the opportunity to go on and play at Illinois Central College and the University of Illinois.   They also solidified my strong desire to be a coach and help young people and try and make a difference through the athletic arena. 

 I also want to mention that I remember big games vs Limestone, Galesburg, and Peoria High.  I remember Coach Hungate teaching us our warm-up and we had to do behind back passing and some “show boat” stuff as some opposing coaches said and loving every minute of it.  I remember singing on the bus on the way to and from games and laughing with my teammates.  Good times!!