DALLAS (SMU)--SMU women's basketball assistant coach Deneen Parker said that former head coach Rhonda Rompola broke the mold.
 
Synonymous with SMU women's basketball, Rompola coached every team that received an NCAA Championship berth or conference championship trophy. Her storied 25-year tenure as head coach and 35 total years spent with the program earned herself an induction into the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame last September.
 
During Saturday's 75-58 victory against UTSA, she was honored alongside other women's basketball alumni at halftime.
 
While women's basketball hosts a game honoring alumni every season at Moody Coliseum, this year's event felt particularly special. In addition to SMU alumni- all of which played for Rompola- celebrating her induction, the program got to flaunt new upgrades to the coaches offices and host a casual brunch in Miller Event Center.
 
For Parker, it was her second alumni day since Rompola and her good friend, former assistant coach Lisa Dark, retired in 2016.
 
After graduating from Stephen F. Austin in 1994 and briefly playing professional basketball overseas, Parker was hired to Rompola's coaching staff in 1995 after coaching a summer camp hosted at SMU. While Rompola has always prioritized hiring former players of hers- and had an alumni she was ready to hire as her third assistant- Parker notched the job after that alumni realized she wasn't a good fit. Parker, Rompola and Dark coached together for 21 years, winning three regular season conference championships and a pair of conference tournament titles.
 
As far as coaching, my career turned a huge corner when Rhonda retired, I had to go off on my own," Parker said. "Nobody could hold a candle to her, but I still learned under all those coaches I worked for." By the grace of God and some pushing from Rhonda and Lisa I'm back.
 
When Parker ventured out to Northwestern State, and later, Indiana State and the University of Houston, she soaked up all the knowledge she could manage from her head coaches in colleagues she worked with, but continued to keep Rompola's coaching philosophy at the center of everything she did.
 
Rompola believes that if you can build a genuine relationship with everyone on your team--players, coaches, training staff, etc.--then you can safely conduct honest conversations with your team. That trust allows for communication about the good, the bad and the ugly, which is a quintessential quality necessary for building a winning culture.
 
Also, a coach knowing their players as people and vice versa is way more fun. Parker said that graduate transfer Tiara Young, who played for her at the University of Houston, loves Now and Laters, and began keeping some around for her after Young transferred. While Young already loved walking in Parker's office and chatting about her day and her basketball, the surefire stash of Now and Laters was an additional treat.
 
The rest of the team caught on, and now approached Parker to claim "sweet treats" stashed away in her hoodie pockets during practices as a little pick-me-up for her players.
 
"Sometimes they will flock to me like birds," Parker said. "It has become a thing, so I got to have (the candy), but whatever it takes to make the players relaxed."
 
While Rompola didn't directly claim relationship building is best done by giving out candy to players or being the "cool coach," as SMU Hall of Fame forward Karlin Kennedy referred to Parker as, the Hall of Fame-inducted head coach sees how her efforts in making her players comfortable with her then has translated into now. During the brunch, she mingled and chatted with all of her former athletes and coaches, taking pictures and reminiscing on their days in red, white and blue.
 
"It's just not basketball. It's the relationships and the individual realities," Parker said. "It's about bringing these kids in as girls and making sure they leave as young women."
 
Rompola, Parker and current head coach Toyelle Wilson all see the value in having an annual alumni day, and have plans to grow the program. Parker is utilizing Facebook to gather contact information from all former alumni to better communicate with the SMU family so that after SMU officially joins the Atlantic Coast Conference, they can celebrate with even more of its former student-athletes.
 
"This is about Rhonda wanting to be here with her part of this wonderful university," Parker said. "My goal being back here is to be able to have 50 (alumni) next year, and the following year, 75. I want to get it big."
 
While Parker would love to double the amount of alumni attendees by next season, Saturday's alumni day was plenty fun with the crowd of about 25 alumni. After the brunch, which was lively with children toddling and current student-athletes like sophomore Ella Brow chatting it up with former accoladed basketball stars, the alumni headed to watch the game commence.
 
Shortly after sophomore TK Pitts sank a layup at the beater to extend the Mustangs' lead over the Roadrunners, the alumni flocked over to half court from section 105 for their recognition. Standing in a line, each alumni flashed a smile and waved to the audience when they were introduced by name.
 
Of course, their kiddos were welcome, too. Former second-team Conference USA guard Alisha Filmore's toddler, Alana, entertained the fans and alumni alike when she was put down by her mom during introductions and took off towards the stands, dodging a couple of production assistants and a cameraman. Mallory Singleton, who has her own toddler, giggled at the scene, among many others.
 
Scenes like children of alumni hanging out at games and her own players flocking to her for candy like birds are just a couple of things that makes SMU feel like home for Parker. Despite never playing at Moody herself, she has seen many of her former student-athletes grow up and mature in front of her, and considers the opportunity to gather both a gift and an easy way to recognize all the alumni have done for the university.
 
"They're the ones who set the foundation. They are the reason that we're still here," Parker said. "Now what I'm trying to do is help Toyelle (Wilson) bring those championship years back. We owe it to our university, and with the alumni invested, I think that makes our younger generation want to keep it going."