LUBBOCK, Texas — Monterey girl’s basketball coach Jill Rankin Schneider reached an important benchmark in her storied career, surpassing 600 wins in December.
Schneider has coached the Lady Plainsmen for 22 years, and credits those who worked with her for helping her reach that total.
“To me individual accolades… I like to downplay those,” Schneider said. “Because there are just so many players, so many assistant coaches that this is credited to just as well.”
Her success as the Lady Plainsmen coach is continuing into this season. Her team has a 25-3 record as of Monday.
That impressive mark is surely aided by having someone with the experience and pedigree of Schneider at the helm.
Schneider started her college career at Wayland Baptist before transferring to play under Pat Summit at Tennessee. In 1980, she was on the Olympic team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics.
Her remarkable career earned her a spot in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
After Schneider’s playing days finished, she joined Summit’s staff at Tennessee. She went on to be an assistant coach at the University of Texas, where she won a national title in 1986 before opting to become a high school coach.
Ultimately, the move to high school was a family-based decision.
“I got into high school coaching because I’d gotten married and wanted to have a family,” she said. “At the college level it’s tough to have children and feel like you’re doing justice to both.”
Schneider coached Borger High School for 12 years before taking over at Monterey.
She’s won more than 400 games as head coach of the Lady Plainsmen, continuing the school’s legacy of running an elite girl’s basketball program.
“I just know when I took the job that I was so excited to be able to coach here because of the tradition and the legacy that is Monterey,” she said. “I love my job. Monterey is the best.”
