Commentary: Kamie Ethridge lifted Washington State to new heights, but is snubbed for Pac-12 coach of the year

Kamie Ethridge built a strong case last season for Pac-12 coach of the year. She didn’t win the award but very well could have after guiding Washington State’s women’s basketball team out of obscurity and into the NCAA Tournament field.

This season, it seemed like an open-and-shut case. Again, she didn’t take home the honor. But she probably should have.

The Cougars have all but locked up their second-consecutive NCAA tourney berth. They had qualified for the Big Dance just once – in 1991 – before Ethridge took over the notoriously difficult coaching position in Pullman and, as they say, “did more with less,” quickly shifting the program’s trajectory.

Bolstering our argument, WSU (19-9, 11-6 Pac-12) set its single-season record this year for wins – both overall and in conference play – in the NCAA era. The Cougs, who in 2020-21 finished seventh in arguably the nation’s most competitive conference, climbed into a share of second place a season later.

It’s their highest finish ever in the Pac-12 standings. For the first time in program history, they have secured a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

The evidence suggests that this is the Cougars’ best season since the team was established 52 years ago. In four short years under Ethridge, they have risen from a Pac-12 afterthought to a contender.

All that wasn’t enough to convince the league’s coaches, who selected longtime Stanford boss Tara VanDerveer as the Pac-12 coach of the year for the 17th time in her 36 seasons.

“We’re a little undervalued, but isn’t that how it is being a Coug?” Ethridge said Tuesday.

This is certainly no knock on VanDerveer, the winningest coach in D-I women’s hoops history who is one of the most revered coaches in all of American sports.

But it feels as though there are conflicting opinions on what makes a “coach of the year.”

In the Pac-12 women’s basketball world, the most important factor is apparently win-loss record, regardless of the circumstances. Nine of the past 10 Pac-12 coach of the year awards have gone to the conference’s regular-season champion.

VanDerveer’s Cardinal (25-3, 16-0) are the reigning national champions who returned almost every piece from that outfit. Entering this season, they were heavily favored to repeat as Pac-12 champs.

The Cougs, meanwhile, were picked in the preseason to finish sixth in the league.

Instead, they soared above expectations – again. Shouldn’t that mean more than meeting expectations?

It was the prevailing sentiment among social media users after the Pac-12 released its postseason honors Tuesday morning. Dozens of people, not all of them WSU fans, were baffled by Ethridge’s snub.

“It’s really rewarding, and unexpected to see the response,” Ethridge said later in the day, acknowledging the outpouring of support. “It makes you feel appreciated.”

Coach of the year is an ambiguous award without a set of guidelines to define its prime candidate. But many would argue that Ethridge was the perfect fit, a representation of what a “coach of the year” should be.

She lifted a perennial underdog to new heights and stunned the pundits.