Mary Wise huddles with her team following the Gators' victory over Stanford in the national semifinals on Thursday night. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Gators, Wise Take Center Stage
Saturday, December 16, 2017 | Volleyball, Scott Carter
The UF volleyball team faces Nebraska on Saturday night for a shot at the program's first national championship, which would make head coach Mary Wise the first female coach in NCAA history to claim the title.
As the Gators unwound in their locker room following Thursday night's dramatic win over Stanford in the national semifinals, the looming potential of a win against Nebraska on Saturday night here at the Sprint Center was on everyone's mind.
The opportunity to win Florida's first national championship in volleyball includes a giant-sized caveat. Her name is Mary Wise, in her 27th season and the longest-tenured coach on UF's campus.
Since taking over Florida's youthful program in 1991, Wise has led the Gators to the Final Four eight times, but this is Florida's first appearance on the college game's biggest stage in 14 years.
Already the only female coach in NCAA history to lead a team to the national title match -- Florida lost to Southern Cal in the 2003 championship -- Wise has accomplished all there is to achieve as a head coach except one: win the final game of the year and take home the championship trophy.
"This is collegiate volleyball at its finest,'' senior middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan said. "We want to win it for Mary."
Standing a few feet away, sophomore Rachael Kramer echoed her veteran teammate's outlook.
"I love Mary so much. I came to this program to have a strong female coach,'' said the 6-foot-8 Kramer, who moved cross-country from Phoenix, Ariz., to play for Wise. "She has definitely been that. She is such a role model for me in everything that she does and just the pride that she brings to this team.
"The quality of women she is shaping us to be – we do so much stuff outside of just volleyball – trying to make us better people. For her to come back to the championship after so many years, I can't be prouder. I definitely want to win this for her."
"You came into that match thinking we were going to win." ????
— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) December 15, 2017
One. More. Time. For the 'ship. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/D5dJV7czXR
Clearly, the Gators have Wise's back.
In some ways, Florida's stay in Kansas City has been a tribute to Wise. She was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year earlier in the week and wherever she goes in a downtown overtaken by volleyball coaches and enthusiasts from around the country, Wise's bid at history is at the forefront.
Behind the scenes, Wise stays away from chatter about the predominant storyline entering Saturday's title game.
That's just not her style.
"Never,'' answered Mark Wise, her husband and an ESPN/Florida men's basketball analyst, when asked how much the topic arises away from the arena. "It might define a moment in coaching for women, but it's not going to define her, win or lose."
For her part, Wise accepts being the center of attention but tries to keep it at arm's length.
The Gators have come close in recent years to the Final Four, losing in the regional finals in 2014 and 2015. She prefers to share the spotlight with a team that enters Saturday's matchup on a 16-game win streak and 30-1 overall.
As successful as the program has been under her watch, the Gators have never ended a season with only one loss or less, and this team is on the doorstep of history.
She takes an analytical approach at the possibility of becoming the first female to claim a national title in a sport that first held an NCAA Tournament in 1981.
"I think the reality is that there is a number of well-funded, well-supported programs, who have the best opportunity to recruit the top players to get here, and by the numbers, most of them just happen to be coached by males,'' she said. "So the odds are forever, at this moment, in their favor. Just by numbers."
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— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) December 16, 2017
Let's do this, @GatorsVB! #ChompKC #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/bs7SyDeuxc
In fact, only 10 schools have won a national title, and Penn State is the only school east of the Mississippi River that has reached the pinnacle. No Southeastern Conference program has accomplished the feat. The Nittany Lions lost to Nebraska in Thursday's first semifinal. The Cornhuskers have won three titles, including two (2006 and 2015) since the Gators last appeared at the Final Four.
While Nebraska will have a dominant edge in fans at the Sprint Center, Cornhuskers coach John Cook knows facing a Wise-led team is never easy. When Cook was head coach at Wisconsin from 1992-98, the Gators went to Madison and defeated the Badgers for a Final Four berth 20 years ago.
Cook quipped that he might be one of the few not rooting for Wise.
"She's one of the great coaches in the game," Cook said. "She's obviously done a great job at Florida. She started coaching right out of college, and I started coaching football right out of college, so we were comparing stories the other night at the banquet. We certainly have a lot of respect, but they've punished my team several times, so looking forward to it."
What makes Wise so successful?
Once again, it's a question you can ask multiple people and get a similar thesis.
Longtime Florida volleyball radio play-by-play announcer Tom Collett considers Wise one of the most competitive people he has ever met. Wise's intensity ramps up the closer the match, something Collett deals with regularly during his pregame interviews with Wise.
"Sometimes I'll be talking to her and I'll have to tap her on the shoulder and say, 'hey, I'm here.' Because she is into it deeply,'' Collett said. "She wants to sit a certain way so she can watch the other team warm up to see what they are all about when they first hit the court."
Former Gators All-American Kelly Murphy has played for all types of coaches during her career, one that has taken her all around the world and to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio with Team USA.
Wise is one of a kind in Murphy's eyes.
"The thing I really respect the most about Mary is her sheer determination and passion,'' Murphy said. "She has such determination that her teams can do it. She is one of the hardest workers I've ever been around. It's infectious. She affects everyone around her with the passion to work and achieve goals.
"You just know it's going to happen. I'm so happy it's finally happening for her, to be this close to winning again and to make it back to the Final Four."
Wise's competitive spirit stretches beyond the volleyball court. Mark Wise and the couple's two sons, Matt and Mitchell, quickly learned that mom is wired in a certain way.
If a winner and loser is involved, approach with gloves when Wise is around.
"We never played board games with our children,'' Mark said. "She hated to lose. That's a true story. The kids were never raised around board games. No card games, no board games. "I think all great coaches, regardless of sport, have a real fear of losing."
While the eyes of the volleyball world and a national TV audience on ESPN2 will be directed toward Kansas City on Saturday, back in Gainesville, Wise's coaching colleagues at UF are as passionate about Florida volleyball as Wise is on this day.
Florida's roster of national championship coaches runs deep. Gators track and field head coach Mike Holloway is among those who have experienced looking down from the mountaintop with a grip on a national championship trophy.
He is rooting that it's finally Wise's turn.
"Mary likes to call herself the grandma of the group,'' Holloway said. "I refer to her as the queen. Nothing would make me happier than to see the queen wear her much-deserved crown."
Holloway is not alone in that sentiment. Just ask around.
Players Mentioned
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