Kathy Marpe

Position: Head Coach (Minnesota, 1971))

Entering her 32nd year as a head coach and her 25th season at the helm of the University of San Diego women's basketball program, Kathy Marpe's name is synonymous with the success of the USD Toreros.

Marpe's coaching career began in Minnesota at Spring Lake Park High School in 1971 where she not only coached basketball, but also the volleyball and softball teams. In the combined three sports, the teams totaled an impressive 53-1 record.

Two years later, Marpe was coaching in "The Pit" at the University of New Mexico where the Lobos accumulated a 51-30 record in her final three seasons. She led the Lobos to consecutive finishes in the Associated Press Top 20 and made six AIAW Regional appearances in seven years. In addition, attendance records were attained with the women drawing over 1,000 a game with crowds reaching 2,000-3,000 - attendance figures that were unheard of in the 70's.

In 1980, Marpe brought her coaching expertise to USD. Over the years, she has witnessed many changes in the game of women's basketball including the skills and athleticism of today's student athletes. Coach Marpe's ability to embrace and capitalize on the changes in the athletic environment has resulted in many milestones that aspiring coaches admire including 372 career coaching victories, 112 West Coast Conference wins, two WCC coach of the year awards, two conference tournament championships and two NCAA Tournament teams. In addition under Marpe's tutelage, six Toreros, Susie Erpelding, Jessica Gray, Erin Malich, Chris Enger, Deb Weinreis and Marta Menuez have become professional basketball players.

Coach Marpe values the academic success and community involvement of her players. Her encouragement and support of her players are apparent as the Toreros teams have included 13 First Team All-West Coast Conference players, and 31 players have been honored as WCC Scholar Athletes. Coach Marpe states, "It is very important to remember who you are and where you come from, and also to give back to the people around you who are not so fortunate."

Marpe has successfully guided the USD Toreros to two NCAA Tournament bids. In 1993, the USD team earned their first trip to the NCAA Tournament by bouncing back from a 4-10 WCC record in 1992 to finish 8-6 and second in the conference standings. The second trip in 2000 came after the Toreros beat number the one seeded Pepperdine Waves 68-51.

On February 3, 2001, Marpe became the fourth coach in WCC history to reach 100 conference victories. She now owns 112 WCC wins, which ranks her third all-time for WCC career coaching victories. Marpe's 372 overall career wins places her in an elite class of about 60 NCAA coaches who have won over 300 career games. As "dean" of WCC coaches, Marpe was honored as Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1998. The 1998 honor came as a result of leading the Toreros to one of the largest single-season turnarounds in WCC history - an improvement of eight games.

Continuing to embrace change in the 2004-05 season, Marpe hopes to duplicate the Torero success of the past.