The title, “coach,” never really described Shanice Stephens’ role in the life of Ravin Harrison or the other members of first team she guided after graduating from Oklahoma State in 1993.

Denton Record-Chronicle/Gary Payne

Ability to relate to players has served new UNT head coach Shanice Stephens well.

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North Texas’ new women's basketball coach was part mentor, part bus driver, but most of all a counselor for Community Link, a program she started for troubled teenagers. The small group of girls Stephens mentored would play AAU basketball and work through their problems in life that dwarfed those of many of their peers.

“I probably wouldn’t have made it out of the eighth grade if it hadn’t been for coach Stephens,” Harrison said. “She was the closest thing I had to a parent at the time. I was living with my grandparents because my mother was a drug addict.”

In some ways, life hasn’t changed much for Stephens since those days when she put her degree in social work to use in a private business. The coach with the ever-present smile has just taken her philosophies to UNT, where she landed her first job as a college head coach earlier this year.

These days, Stephens is helping players with a different set of problems, like adapting to a new system and coaching staff while trying to take a program that has had intermittent success to a higher level.

That process will continue Monday night when Stephens makes her UNT debut in a game at Marshall.

None of those challenges compare with those Stephens faced in her own life or those she helped troubled teenagers deal with before embarking on her college coaching career, an experience that helped shape her both as a person and coach.

“People come from different backgrounds, and what is important is how you relate to each person, how you work to motivate each person,” Stephens said. “It comes down to people, and relating to them. I got to see a different demographic that I didn’t usually see when I worked with those kids.”

Harrison is perhaps the best example of the impact that Stephens made on a series of teenagers long before she got into the coaching business.

The two met after Stephens completed her playing career at OSU.

Stephens spent a year working for Eagle Ridge Institute, which ran programs for troubled teenagers. It was then, while trying to convince young people to follow their dreams, that Stephens decided to follow one of her own.

“We had kids who were in trouble with the law, were in foster homes or group homes,” Stephens said. “I got the idea that I could provide the same type of services on a smaller basis. My first vehicle was a 15-person passenger van. I laugh at that now. It was the first thing I bought out of college because I was picking up kids.”

Harrison was one of the kids who ended up in Stephens’ program because they were in trouble and needed direction in life.

Stephens helped steer Harrison on the right path by letting her join the basketball team that was at the core of her outreach program.

“Coach Stephens used basketball as a way to teach life lessons,” Harrison said. “She related how you dealt with problems in life to how you dealt with problems in basketball.”

Stephens picked Harrison up in her van to take her to practice and helped her through rough patches in life. Harrison made a trip to Nebraska for an AAU tournament after Stephens paid all of her expenses.

“She was an ideal role model for a young person,” Harrison said. “Through all of the struggles she has been through, she has kept her faith in God. She always says that you can make choices to get out of a situation and she loves you no matter what.”

To understand how Stephens developed that faith and the ability to push young people to chase their dreams, one has to go back to a time in her life when that faith was tested and her dream appeared shattered.

One has to go back to when Oklahoma State’s coaches told her she wasn’t good enough to be a Cowgirl.

A life lesson for Stephens

Stephens grew up in Oklahoma and developed into one of the top high school players in the state at a time the game was in transition.

Stephens’ high school team won the state title her junior year when girls teams still played six-on-six, where players only played on one end of the court. The next year, Stephens’ team won again, this time in what is now the standard five-on-five full-court game.

Stephens assumed that history of success would land her a scholarship at OSU, her dream school.

For a while, that dream appeared to have faded away.

“Coming out of high school we didn’t think she could help us,” former Oklahoma State head coach Dick Halterman said. “Her overall skills needed to get better. She was a very good athlete and defensive player. She would not have gotten time as a freshman or sophomore because her offensive skills needed to improve.”

The news was devastating to Stephens, who had a choice to make. Halterman wanted Stephens to head to junior college for two years.

Stephens was unwilling to take that path. She signed with Austin Peay, a Division I school in Clarksville, Tenn., instead.

Stephens played two seasons at Austin Peay before getting a second chance to play for the Cowgirls when her head coach was fired for using a racial slur in the presence of his team.

Halterman jumped at the chance to sign an improved Stephens, who had two years of college experience.

Stephens finished out her career with the Cowgirls and played in a pair of NCAA tournaments.

“The experience helped shape me,” Stephens said. “It showed me different roles. I was the starting point guard at Austin Peay. When I went to Oklahoma State, I wasn’t the big dog any more. I was one of the role players. You find out that the world does not revolve around you. It prepared me to work with my student athletes, whether they are role players or star players. It’s important to know how you fit in the scheme of things.”

Getting into coaching

Stephens thought her experiences in college basketball were over until the connections she made at OSU provided an opportunity to get into coaching.

In 1996, Cristy McKinney, then the head coach at Rice, was looking for a new assistant coach and called the coaches at OSU to see if they had any ideas of who would be a good fit.

Halterman and his assistant coach, Jack Easley, immediately thought of Stephens.

“Cristy was looking for someone who was very personable, knew the Texas-Oklahoma region and was involved in AAU basketball,” Easley said.” I thought Shanice might fit well with her.”

McKinney hired Stephens a short time later.

“A lot of the reason I hired her was her personality, work ethic and that she was good with kids,” McKinney said.

Stephens gradually took on more and more responsibility and eventually became an associate head coach after following McKinney to Clemson. It was during that time that McKinney tapped into Stephens' ability to relate to players that has been her greatest asset in coaching.

"The kids liked her," McKinney said. "She can relate to them, which is invaluable now. Kids have changed over the years. You can't motivate them all the same way."

Taking on a new challenge at UNT

During her time at Clemson, Stephens began to feel more comfortable coaching on the college level and developed the desire to be a head coach.

"I started getting that hunger to be a head coach around year five or six because my knowledge of the game grew," Stephens said. "I just wanted to make more of my own calls. You get more confident as you prepare."

Stephens was intrigued by the opening at UNT, which was looking for a new head coach earlier this year after deciding not to renew the contract of longtime coach Tina Slinker, who led the Mean Green to the WNIT in 2001 and 2002. Her interest in the job continued to grow the more she found out about the program.

"Everything seemed right from my favorite color being green to it being a happy medium," Stephens said. "I had established some great ties in Houston while I was at Rice and I am from Oklahoma. North Texas is perfectly nestled between the two. It's a great school that has had some success that you can take even higher."

The first steps in what Stephens hopes will be a successful stint have not always been easy. Amber Jackson, a preseason first-team all-conference selection, was suspended over the summer. Another recruit signed by Slinker left the program.

"It's not exactly how I dreamed it, but it is what I wanted," Stephens said. "Transition is difficult sometimes. My plan is to put things together with recruiting and helping my players get better and where I think we can be as a team."

UNT's players are adapting to Stephens’ style and are benefiting from her ability to relate to them that has been the greatest strength throughout her career.

"Coach Stephens is like my mom off the court," UNT guard Brittney James said. "You can talk to her about anything."

Harrison believes that personal approach will serve Stephens well at UNT. After going through the Community Link program from 1994-95, Harrison went on to play at South Plains College in Levelland and the University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma.

After a stint in the Army, Harrison is going to school again at Mid-American Christian and finishing out her degree.

Harrison said she wouldn't be on course to finish a college degree if it wasn't for Stephens, who she still talks to on a regular basis.

Stephens is taking on a whole different challenge at UNT than she did back when she was working with Community Link. Those who know Stephens best say it is one she will meet because of her ability to connect to people.

"Coach Stephens is going to be excellent," Harrison said. "She cares about basketball, but also cares about people's lives. Her players will know that she cares about them and their education, not just the way they are playing."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

UNT roster

00        Niqky Hughes 6-0            Jr.            G*

3          Tricia Lee      5-8            Sr.            G

4          Jeanee' Thompson            5-10            Fr.            G

5          Jo Hall            5-8            Sr.            G

10        Kelli Buckley            5-5            Sr.            G

14        Ninye El         5-7            Hr.            G

15        Brittney Hudson            5-7            So.            G*

20        Brittani Bailey   6-3            Fr.            P

21        Mimi Goodman            6-2            Jr.            P

23        Yari Escalera            5-7            Sr.            G

30        Brittney James   5-8            Jr.            G

31        Amber Jackson            6-2            Sr.            F

33        Mansa El         5-8            Fr.            G

34        Tamara Torru    5-10            Fr.            G

42        Torrian Timms  6-0            Jr.            P