Where in the world is Lisa Stone'
July 13, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Most Badger fans know that the UW coaches are busy in season with practice, scouting and competitions. But what many don't know is that the coaches are often the busiest during the summer months.
'I think it's interesting because when you meet people, they talk about your profession and they think it's only six months long and two hours a day ' you roll the ball out and coach the team. In actuality, our time outside the season is the busiest for all of us,' said UW women's basketball coach Lisa Stone.
While the basketball season runs from mid-October to late March, the coaches are just as busy off the court the rest of the year.
For Stone, the months of April and May are spent doing speaking engagements, participating in clinics and booster golf outings as well as the year-round job of recruiting. No team practices are held during this time, so the coaches have time to promote the UW and their programs.
'I think it's very, very important that I, as the head coach and face of the program, get out to as many groups as I can across the state, across the Midwest, to sell our program, to sell the University of Wisconsin and tell people a little bit more about me than they see on the sidelines,' said Stone, who does as many as three speaking engagements a week during this time.
'I think it's important that they know that I'm a wife of 21 years, a mother of two, my philosophy of family and time management and the important things in life ' to live everyday to the fullest, to overcome adversity and to be the best person you can be. It gives me an opportunity to tell people my story. It 's amazing when you leave how many people get to know you better. It's really a time that I can tell people who I am.'
In addition to promoting her program and the UW, Stone enjoys these outings since she 'll usually run into someone she hasn't seen in a long time. In fact, earlier this year she ran into a former neighbor while in Manitowoc as well as her third-grade teacher.
Stone will also use these opportunities to donate to a worthy cause as was the case of a speaking engagement in early May at the Elks Club in Two Rivers, Wis. She served as the auctioneer for a benefit to raise money for Camp Wawbeek, an Easter Seals camp in Wisconsin Dells. Stone donated three honorary coach for a game prizes, where winners will sit behind the Badger bench for a game during the 2009-10 season. For her appearance, Stone received a beautiful wood carving featuring Bucky Badger and a motion W. Unfortunately, the carving had a typo as it was in honor of Wisconsin 'Woman's' Basketball.
'I looked at it and felt embarrassed to send it back but they caught (the typo) in a newspaper picture so I ended up sending it back and I got a new one,' said Stone with a laugh. 'That was funny.'
Stone also gave back when she participated in the Easter Seals Golf Outing for Kids at the end of June.
A variety of other duties also keep Stone occupied during the summer. She attended three days of meetings at the Big Ten Conference office in Park Ridge, Ill., participated in all three Badger Days, did a student job shadow and was a featured presenter at a coaching clinic in the Dells, addressing a specific on-court topic.
'When you're at a clinic, you're in coaching mode,' explains Stone. 'You have an hour to talk about a specific topic.'
That coaching mode continues into the month of June when the Badgers have their annual camps. Between the preparation for camps, the camps themselves and reviewing how the four camps went, Stone and her staff have a busy period.
And then comes the busiest month of the entire year ' July.
'It's not during Big Ten season - it's during July,' says Stone of the coaches' busiest month. 'We are on a 10-6-10 schedule where we are out 10 days, home six (and) then out 10 days. But even when we're home, we are preparing for the next round of where we are going to go recruiting wise. '
NCAA rules allow three coaches to be out recruiting at one time. Stone and assistant coach Ty Margenthaler, the Badgers' primary recruiter, are out the entire time while assistant coaches Kathi Bennett and Oties Epps tag team their recruiting trips.
During the first part of the month, Stone traveled to Cincinnati, Orlando, Chicago, Bloomington, Ind., and back to Chicago. After a six-day 'dead period', in which no recruiting is allowed, the second half of the month will be spent in Washington D.C., Kansas City, Savannah, Chicago and Ohio.
'You might be in a city for one day and then you're on the next flight,' explains Stone. 'You spend a lot of time in airports. I read a lot of books when I'm flying but you have to get to events and you have to see kids. In my case, they need to see the head coach. It's long and grueling. '
Stone and her staff appear at a variety of tournaments all around the country sponsored by Adidas, Nike, Hoops the Gym and the AAU. In addition to watching student-athletes who are seniors or juniors in high school, the staff works to develop a recruiting list, all the way down to freshman.
'We recruit all the way down to 14-and-unders,' explains Stone. 'We go to where those kids are and other coaches keep building that list. It 's observation and evaluation and in some cases, you have to be there because you 're one of their top choices and you need to be there.'
The official end of the summer for the Badger staff is the annual golf outing. This year 's outing will be held Aug. 3 at University Ridge Golf Course.
'I'm very, busy during that time out meeting people and thanking them for their wonderful support,' says Stone.
You won't find too many people in the women's basketball office after the golf outing as the staff takes a well-deserved vacation to recharge for the rapidly approaching season.
For Stone, she and her family will enjoy a week of vacation up in Hayward, Wis., 'where there is no cell phone service,' says Stone. 'I will be sitting in a boat fishing for a week. It's good family time.'
For more than 20 years, Stone and her family have been vacationing in August. Past trips have been in Breckenridge, Colo., but in recent years, the family has stayed on a lake, enjoying fishing, relaxing and watching the wildlife.
'It's a little closer, there are no mountains but it's absolutely majestic,' says Stone. 'It's very, very quiet right on the lake.'
With batteries recharged, the staff returns, ready for the upcoming season.
'We'll come back and have our annual staff meeting, preparing for next season,' says Stone. 'Our players return and we start the season all over.
'We're busy all of the time; it's just a different kind of busy when you're out of the season.'
