The Ball State University women's basketball team stunned fans Sunday night by dethroning the queens of NCAA women's basketball: Pat Summitt and her Lady Vols.
Leading the Cardinals to this unexpected achievement was first-year coach Kelly Packard.
After Sunday's game against the University of Tennessee, Summitt emphasized the importance of giving credit where credit is due; Packard deserves that credit.
The coach used the strong foundation set by predecessor Tracy Roller to turn a group of great basketball players into a history-making team.
And she did it all while being backed by an athletics department plagued by communication problems.
Women's tennis coach Kathy Bull commented this week on her frustrations and her colleagues' frustrations with the way the department communicates with its coaches.
Bull and other head coaches were asked to fill out a survey at a monthly meeting about an investigation of gender equity in the department.
"We had no idea that was coming," Bull said. "I know that was probably one of the biggest annoyances of all of my peers -¡- they felt like they were blindsided or they didn't have enough time to really think about some of their answers or gather some of the information that they needed."
Coaches were not even aware of the gender equity investigation until they arrived at the meeting Wednesday - an investigation that has been going on since October.
Bull said coaches viewed this communication void as "typical" of department administration.
More than a year ago, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins led a restructuring of the department that was supposed to consolidate power to improve communication.
Collins said the reorganization focused on the department keeping consistent messages and devoting more time to coaches.
The lack of communication between the department and coaches about the gender equity investigation, though, indicates these goals were not met.
This investigation began because of a complaint filed against the university, and it is a serious issue of civil rights.
Ball State has 11 women's varsity athletics teams and as many coaches who likely want to know the details of an investigation into gender equity.
Open communication is vital to the success of athletics programs. That the coaches were unaware of the investigation for months is a concerning oversight by department administrators.
What else do coaches need to know that is going on in the athletics department?
Collins and other department administrators have made good hiring decisions in recent years, as is evident by Packard's success with women's basketball.
The department does not seem to be making good decisions about communication, though.
Successful coaches deserve to have an efficient and open department backing them, rather than a department that doesn't share important information with its staff.
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