It this was a stunt, than the trick’s on the opposition

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Maybe she can coach after all.

Critics scoffed when Ashley McElhiney was selected as the first female coach of a men’s pro basketball team. They called it a mere publicity stunt, a ploy by a new ABA franchise desperate to make a splash.

McElhiney turned 23 in July and had never coached before taking this job, but she has been much too busy with the Nashville Rhythm to worry about detractors.

“Honestly, it really doesn’t matter right now,” McElhiney said. “To me and my players right now, I am just the coach. As far as what everyone else says, it doesn’t bother me either way. On this job or any other job, I’ll know what my purpose is.”

McElhiney couldn’t have started much better, coaching the Rhythm to six straight wins to open the season and a 9-2 record.

Owner Sally Anthony, a singer who also has her own record label and a Web site promoting female artists, wanted to hire a woman to break down another barrier. General manager Daniel Bucher insists they found the right person for this market.

“If it was a publicity stunt, we would have done something really wacky,” Bucher said.

The key to McElhiney’s early success has been a 10-man team that cares more about her as a person than as a woman. The roster is stocked with players who either already knew McElhiney or had mutual friends.

The biggest signing was Dontae Jones, the 21st overall pick in the 1996 draft by the New York Knicks. Out of the NBA since 1999, Jones had been playing around the world the past few years, most recently in Greece.

Jones couldn’t pass up the chance to return home. He also wanted to be a part of history while making a final attempt at the NBA, which might just come — he’s leading the ABA with 31.3 points per game.

“It’s going to go a long way toward how women succeed from here on,” Jones said. “If I can help her continue to raise that bar, then I’m doing my job. If I can help her, it helps me a whole lot being able to work with her and being able to show people I’m very coachable no matter what the circumstances.”

Whether McElhiney could coach at all, let alone handle a men’s team, was the biggest question when Anthony announced the hiring May 17.

Sure, McElhiney has been a star point guard most of her life — she set a handful of records at Vanderbilt — but coaching from the sideline isn’t running an offense on the floor.

So McElhiney picked other coaches’ brains for details — how to run drills, warmups, rotations, defenses and even handling players on and off the court.

Her mentors include former Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster, now at Ohio State, Vanderbilt men’s coach Kevin Stallings and Belmont men’s coach Rick Byrd.

“If I’ve done my homework and preparation and I’m confident in what I’m presenting to my players, there should be no questions and no doubts,” McElhiney said.

McElhiney handles most situations with an even-keeled approach, raising her voice only when necessary. The Rhythm have found having McElhiney as a coach helps them control their emotions.

“It’s an instinct to take one second to think because any little situation between myself or any other player with her will be so magnified that it’s a negative,” Jones said. “So you have to kind of watch yourself.”

McElhiney didn’t keep any mementoes from her history-making debut Nov. 13. To her, being the first woman to coach men is special, but it’s not something she thinks about everyday.

“I know what I’m in it for, and I’m pretty sure the guys are in it for the same reason,” she said. “We love basketball.”