Bibbs has only had four losing seasons in her career

GREENSBORO, NC, November 23, 2007 – North Carolina A&T women’s basketball coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs hasn’t come this far in her career by being naïve. She knows there are some who will call her too abrasive. You will find some who will call her ruthless. 

There are some colleagues who may say she’s a little too arrogant for their taste.

Then again, there are many players you will find that will tell you Bibbs taught them how to be a lady. She taught them how to walk with class, talk with class and how to be first-class. Players from the three programs she has led – Grambling State, Hampton and North Carolina A&T – will also tell she can tell you how to be a winner.

She earned career win No. 400 against UNC Asheville at the UNC Greensboro Thanksgiving Tournament on November 23, 2007.

“It’s a great feeling to know you hit a milestone,’’ said Bibbs. "Being in it this long you have to have coached good kids. I let every young lady who comes through my program know if you set your goals toward something and see them through, if you don’t let people deter you, you can reach milestones in your life.”

Bibbs made history by being Patricia Cage-Bibbs, someone willing to take chances, someone who is not always conventional and someone who doesn’t mind dropping a few jaws to get a point across.

There was the time she become the first coach at Dubach High School in Louisiana – boys or girls – to start an all-black starting lineup. There was the time she did not bring her Grambling Tigers team back on the floor for the second half because she didn’t feel they were being treated fairly by the officiating.

Against all doubters, she started five guards all season at Hampton and won a MEAC Championship doing it. After her first season at N.C. A&T, she replaced most of the team. Those might not have been popular decisions, but it was Bibbs being Bibbs. 

“People don’t understand what I like to do,’’ said Bibbs. “I like to take programs and build them. It’s like starting a business. You’re not always going to do what’s popular; you’re going to do what’s effective.”

Bibbs knows all about starting a business. She and her husband Ezil own two successful car rental shops in Louisiana. But Bibbs didn’t start out with nine championships, six NCAA appearances and a successful business.

She started without assistant coaches, a recruiting budget and name recognition. A small high school in Ruston, La., Ruston High School, gave Bibbs her first head coaching opportunity in 1974. The championships, however, began at Dubach. She spent six years there, made six playoff appearances and won two state titles – 1981 and 1983.

After the 1983 championship, she received a call from friends at Grambling. Every call asked her to come down the street to her alma mater and help ignite the sport of women’s basketball at Grambling.

In the early 80’s, women’s basketball was still trying to get off the ground at major schools. Therefore, if the schools with huge budgets are still trying to get the sport off the ground, what can a historically black college like Grambling offer? It didn’t seem as if Bibbs was concerned about it. She came in under Bob Hopkins as an assistant at Grambling. After one season, Hopkins moved to be an assistant men’s coach, giving Bibbs the opportunity to rebuild her first program.

She walked in confident and ready to take on the establishment. Alcorn State coach Shirley Walker, the only other coach to reach 400 wins at an HBCU, owned the Southwestern Athletic Conference for several seasons. Bibbs had a message for her.

“I told her I came to take her territory,’’ said Bibbs. “When Shirley Walker from Alcorn and Patricia Bibbs were facing each other? It was standing room only. We battled. I remember the first time I coached against her at Grambling…she beat me. She kept beating me. After the game she would hug me and say welcome to the SWAC. When the tides changed I would tell her I’m happy to be here.” 

Six tournament championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances later at Grambling, Bibbs proved the Tigers had plenty to offer. After 13 years at Grambling, Hampton and the beautiful waters that surround the campus started calling. Not even the great Eddie Robinson (legendary Grambling football coach) could convince her to stay.

“When I went to Grambling I was 33 years old and coach Robinson took me under his wings and taught me so much,’’ said Bibbs. “I would look up and there he was at my games. For someone like him, who is one of the most famous persons in the country, to take time out to be at my games meant so much. But I needed another challenge.”

It was Bibbs doing what she does best, which is not doing what someone else thinks is best, but doing what is effective for her. The challenge of building another program was too great for her to resists. The Hampton Pirates were still making the adjustment to Division I. At the time Howard led by head coach Sanya Tyler owned the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. When Bibbs arrived, she let it be known again she didn’t come to play nice.

“I called Sanya and told her I was coming to take her territory,’’ said Bibbs, who was again not being conventional and was attempting to jaw drop.

In year one, however, she did lead the Pirates to the MEAC title. She went on to win two more titles at Hampton before taking on another challenge. She retired after seven seasons at Hampton and 20 years of coaching that yielded 371 wins. She began the car rental business with her husband and was not eager to get back into coaching.

Former N.C. A&T chancellor James Renick found her phone number and invited Bibbs to visit the Greensboro campus. He wanted her to take over a program that had won just 35 games in seven seasons, and a program that had at one point played with just four players during a game.

This time it was Bibbs’ family who wanted the challenge. “My family missed it,’’ said Bibbs. “They missed going to the games, they missed the competition. When my (husband and I) visited the campus, we fell in love with it. When you come here as an opposing coach you really don’t get to see the campus. I was blown away by A&T’s campus.”

Bibbs’ team struggled in year one at N.C. A&T. She revamped the team by brining in players who were ranked highly as prep standouts. Amber Bland, a two-time Ohio state Player of the Year, was the cornerstone.

Bibbs also has UC-Santa Barbara transfer Brittanie Taylor-James. There are two players on the roster – Ta’Wuana Cook and Tyronnica Alford – who have won four state championships at their respective high schools. She also landed one of the best players in Pennsylvania when she signed Jaleesa Sams.

Now there are big expectations for Lady Aggies basketball. After winning game No. 400, Bibbs summed up Bibbs.

“I’ve basically gotten a lot of things I’ve wanted because I was willing to go after the things I’ve wanted,’’ said Bibbs.

Is that over confidence or arrogance? Maybe. Is it a woman not afraid to be successful? Definitely.