Marsha Sharp (born August 31, 1952) is the former head coach of

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

's women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team, the Lady Raiders. She retired after 24 years at the conclusion of the 2005–06 season. Sharp was inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's bask ...

in 2003.

Early life

Sharp went to high school in

Tulia, Texas Tulia is a city in and the county seat of Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,967 at the 2010 census; by the 2020 census, it had fallen to 4,473. The city is at the junction of U.S. Route 87 and Texas State Highway 86, ...

. She graduated in 1974 from

Wayland Baptist University Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is a private Baptist university based in Plainview, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Wayland Baptist has 11 campuses in five Texas cities, six states, American Samoa, and K ...

in Plainview. She procured her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1976 from West Texas State University (now

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Associat ...

) in

Canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

Coaching career

She became the head coach of the Lady Raiders in 1982. For most of the 1980s, Sharp's Lady Raiders were the second-best team in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

, behind the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

under

Jody Conradt Addie Jo "Jody" Conradt (born May 13, 1941) is a retired women's basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's team at University of Texas at Austin (UT). Her coaching career spanned 38 years, with the last 31 years at UT from 1976 to ...

. However, they dominated the last years of the SWC's existence, winning the last five regular season titles in a row (four outright, one shared) and three conference tournaments. Her best team was the 1992–93 unit, led by

Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2 ...

, which won the first NCAA championship by a Texas Tech team in any sport. After Texas Tech became a charter member of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

in 1996, Sharp added three more regular season titles and two tournament titles. Sharp's 24-year career won–lost records included a 258–89 record (.744 winning percentage) in conference play (Southwest Conference and Big 12 Conference combined) and a 572–189 record (.752 winning percentage) overall with no losing seasons. In 2003, Sharp was inducted into the

. The Marsha Sharp Center for Student-Athletes on the campus of Texas Tech and the Marsha Sharp Freeway in

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

are both named after Sharp. Following Sharp's retirement from coaching, she was named Associate Athletic Director for Special Projects within the Texas Tech Athletic Department.

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

* 1994—Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year * 2003— Carol Eckman Award

References

External links

Player BioRedRaiders.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Marsha 1952 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Texas Sportspeople from Lubbock, Texas Texas Tech Lady Raiders basketball coaches Wayland Baptist Pioneers athletes West Texas A&M University alumni