Woodson, now Tamarah Sanders, hopes she can rekindle that success - from the sidelines.
Pending approval by the Temple ISD school board at its July 14 meeting, Sanders will be hired as the Tem-Cats’ head basketball coach and assistant track coach.
“I had always told myself that if the job came open, I would come back and I would get it,” said a determined Sanders, who will be a head coach for the first time in her career after spending the previous four years as an assistant at Class 5A Houston Westbury. “I wasn’t being cocky about it. It’s just something that I have a passion for. I enjoy kids. When that job came open, I was on it.
“I can instill into the girls the tradition. They don’t really know the tradition of Tem-Cat basketball and I think with my experience, I can show them the tradition that we had.”
The 32-year-old Sanders would replace Don Layton, who went 147-83 in seven seasons before resigning on June 17.
A 1994 Temple graduate, the 5-3 Sanders averaged 14.3 points and 7.6 assists per game her senior year when the Tem-Cats finished 30-7. During her three varsity years, Temple went 87-20 and reached the playoffs each season.
After high school, Sanders spent one year at Oklahoma State before transferring closer to home to Mary Hardin-Baylor, where she enjoyed an illustrious career.
In 1998, Sanders was named a NAIA Kodak All-American and led the Lady Crusaders to the NAIA Division II championship game before losing to Walsh (Ohio) 73-66. She was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, one of only two players to be named MVP while playing for the runner-up team.
Sanders scored 1,224 points in her three-year UMHB career and still holds the American Southwest Conference record for most steals in a season with 151 in 1997-98.
She taught at Travis Middle School for five years before moving to Houston.
“Obviously, we knew her as a middle school coach and what a great job she did with our seventh- and eighth-grade girls and how important that is in developing those young athletes,” Temple girls athletic coordinator Steve Prentiss said. “Secondly, her experience is top-notch. Her desire and focus and charisma about this job stood out. She came in here focused and determined and very confident. And it never hurts when you can bring a Temple kid back.”
Temple athletic director Bryce Monsen said that while Sanders’ local ties did factor into the decision, it was her preparation that convinced him she was the right choice.
“Her background being from here and her ability to work with our kids was not the determining factor because you can have all that and still not be a good coach,” Monsen said. “She has all that and she’s very prepared and that was the determining factor that she was prepared to be a head coach and not just because she’s from here.”
The Tem-Cats have featured a half-court, man-to-man defense in recent years, but Sanders said she expects to play a variety of defenses from man-to-man to a 1-3-1, 2-3 zone or full-court press. Temple returns senior starters Ferniqua Johnson, Shantae Hewins and junior Terris Goodwin to a squad that finished 18-13 and fell one game short of the district’s final playoff berth, the first time the Tem-Cats missed the postseason since 2004.
Sanders hopes to help the Tem-Cats return to their winning ways and make the postseason an annual ritual.
“Winning is the only thing I know,” Sanders said. “That’s what I want to instill in the girls. It’s not the only thing, but it’s a good feeling.”
