From Ryan High to the Wings: Coach Latricia Trammell’s journey to the WNBA

Trammell wanted to be prepared and carefully eyed her players as they ran through drills at the College Park Center. Every once in a while, though, she would steal a glance at a gaggle of women gathered courtside.

As soon as the Wings finished up, Trammell headed over to greet the members of the first teams she coached at Ryan High from 2000-02. Trammell pulled several into an embrace as the tears began to fall.

“Don’t let my players see this,” Trammell said.

That batch of former high school players, several of them clad in red and blue Ryan T-shirts, helped set Trammell on course for her rise in coaching. She worked as an assistant at Texas Woman’s and North Texas after excelling at Ryan, guided Oklahoma City to a pair of NAIA national championships as a head coach and later jumped to the WNBA as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Stars and the Los Angeles Sparks.

Trammell is getting her shot to guide a team at the highest level of women’s basketball and wanted her former Ryan players to be a part of it. She invited them into the team huddle at the end of practice and introduced them to her current players.

“It’s unbelievable they all came,” Trammell said. “I didn’t know that half of them were going to be here. That’s an incredible surprise.”

More than 15 years had passed since some of the members of the team had seen each other.

Eight attended the reunion, which had been in the works for weeks, including seven who played for Trammell at Ryan. Necy DeVance, one of Trammell’s former OCU players, was also there.

Trammell had blue Wings T-shirts to pass out, so her former players had a memento to take with them.

Tiffany Martino Rosenbaum flew in from Arizona for the occasion and grabbed one.

“I wanted to see everyone again,” Rosenbaum said. “I haven’t seen coach Trammell in a long time. She had a big impact on my life. I got my work ethic from her.”

Erin Hallman Taylor spotted Rosenbaum shortly after they arrived.

“That’s my point guard,” Taylor said of Rosenbaum. The pair played together from the third grade until they graduated from Ryan.

The members of the group quickly turned to marveling at the size and talent level of the Wings’ players as well as reflecting on their days at Ryan.

The wins and losses weren’t what jumped to mind. It was the relationships they formed, how hard Trammell was on them and how the experience shaped them that stood out.

Several recalled Trammell kicking players out of practice for being late and other transgressions.

“There were so many days we hated her,” Taylor said. “You couldn’t be lazy. She has an intensity about her. We used to think we were going to die in practice. When I got older, I realized the impact she had on me.”

Trammell’s hard edges were offset by her caring nature. The team spent time at her parents’ vacation home on Lake Texoma.

That balance of being demanding on the court and caring away from it convinced Teneisha McKinney, who played for Trammell both at Ryan and at TWU, that her coach had a bright future.

“I absolutely expected coach to continue rising through the profession because of her work ethic, leadership and style,” McKinney said. “She’s a no-nonsense coach. What she wanted was non-negotiable, but she was also compassionate.”

That approach helped Ryan excel. The Lady Raiders finished 67-30 under Trammell.

“Hard work pays off,” Trammell said. “We talked about that. We had a group of young women who people thought weren’t as talented as other teams when they came in, but we were the first Ryan team to make it to the state tournament.

“If it wasn’t for their discipline and work ethic, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Ryan’s path to that goal under Trammell wasn’t always easy. Her former players remembered the tough practices and how they paid off with memorable wins.

Trammell has changed a lot since then. She used to jump into drills with her players at Ryan. Those days are in the past, but the fire she shows is the same.

“There was never a dull moment,” DeVance said. “Coach Trammell was always fired up, whether it was game time or practice. She was always talking, upbeat and encouraging. That’s part of what makes her successful.”

It’s also part of what fostered the long-term bond Trammell shares with her former Ryan players.

They don’t talk as frequently these days, but they are there for each other. When Trammell’s parents died, several of her former players attended their funerals.

The group remembered the times they shared as they watched practice.

“I have this big smile on my face that won’t go away,” Peyton Krueger Juarez said. “I forget how much I love basketball.”

The lessons Trammell taught about how important working hard is and how it pays off are what haven’t faded.

Thera Dietz Jones jokingly dropped into a defensive stance when Trammell walked over after practice.

“She taught me everything I know,” Jones said. “And not just about basketball.”

Having so many of her former players attend the reunion convinced Trammell that they learned the most important lesson of all.

“It means everything to see them together,” Trammell said. “As coaches, we always talk about life after basketball and tell them that you want them to be friends forever. You want them to be in each other's weddings and get to know each other's kids. When adversity hits or life gets hard, you want them to still be teammates.

“They told me that they continue to stick together. That’s what it’s all about.”