Hoyt’s presence is bigger than basketball

Tessa Dorrell Staff Reporter

Jacie Hoyt’s trailblazing goes beyond basketball.

Hoyt, in her first season at OSU, is the seventh coach to lead the Cowgirls. Hoyt’s presence allows for the “Jacie’s Gems” mentorship program for young girls in kindergarten to sixth grade. The girls who apply watch the game in a section directly behind OSU’s bench.

Hoyt’s exposure to leading woman began with her mother, Shelly Hoyt, a celebrated Kansas High School coach. Jacie spent her high school career playing for her mother, then played for Wichita State.

“I wouldn’t be where I am at if I didn’t have that in my life,” Hoyt said. “So I think it’s incredibly important. I know I wouldn’t be where I am professionally or be the person that I am without that.”

Not only does the women’s basketball team feel Hoyt’s presence, but she is the only female head coach at OSU. Of the 12 leaders for each sport at OSU, Hoyt stands alone.

“I think the struggles that I face are just the struggles that women everywhere face,” Hoyt said. “It’s definitely not something I look at as a struggle. Maybe it’s a just challenge and an opportunity. I am so passionate about just pouring into our players and pouring into females, mentorship, leadership... that’s so important for young females to have… I really take it as just a great opportunity for me to use my platform to empower other people and show them what they can do if you work hard, and you don’t play the victim.

“It’s really important for me to help our kids understand we could all play the victim at some point in time. That’s not who I am, that’s not how I was raised and that’s not what I am about. I love being able to use my platform to help people understand that.”

Lexy Keys, a junior who is one of four players back from last year’s team, is having her first experience with a female coach.

“It’s really been an adjustment for me,” Keys said, “ It’s been a good adjustment, but she’s just so passionate, so energetic, and so intense that it’s just contagious. It’s been a really great experience.”

Although the Big 12 leads other conferences with six female coaches, only 13.6% of college women’s basketball coaches are women. At 35, Hoyt is the youngest head coach in Big 12 women’s basketball. Hoyt is also the second newest hire behind Dawn Plitzuweit of West Virginia.

Hoyt’s first Cowgirl team is 13-6 and second in scoring in the Big 12. The team averages just more than 77 a game. This offensive success comes from the many recruits that Hoyt has brought in with her arrival. Claire Chastain, a fifth-year senior from UT Arlington, is one of the Cowgirl’s offensive leaders, averaging more than 11 points. Chastain feels that Hoyt empowers and prepares her for life beyond basketball.

“She’s a woman’s woman for sure, constantly telling us to stand up for ourselves and have a voice for ourselves,” Chastain said, “I think that is important for our team, being young, but also with me being 23 about to transition from the college world to the real world. She’s empowered me, showed me strength, and how to find my voice and who I am outside of basketball.”

“I think women’s basketball is in a good place right now where the game is growing,” Hoyt said, “I think it is super important that females have strong females leading them and mentoring them. So, I think it is just an awesome testament to where women’s basketball is right now.” sports.ed@ocolly.com