Story Originally Published in NAIA Balance, the Magazine for the True Student-Athlete, Spring 1992 Edition
 
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Even the best-schooled sports fan may not realize just how complex and elusive is the blend of genius, luck, and time that forges a dynasty in college athletics at any level.
 
All of which makes the story of Southwestern Oklahoma State University's women's basketball Juggernaut all the more galling to their competition – their phenomenal success was both instantaneous and enduring. 
 
In 1981-82, John Loftin inherited a 7-17 program that was, in his own words, "nothing." In 1982-83, the Lady Bulldogs won the NAIA National Championship, topping off a perfect 34-0 season. They repeated the next year. In 1984-85, they brought an 31-0 record into the quarterfinals, but were upset. It took them only one year to reclaim the championship crown, however, and they finished 1985-86 with their second unbeaten march to the top of the NAIA in four years. 
 
They would win it all again in 1987-88 and 1990-91, wrapping up five national championships in 10 years. The Lady Bulldogs fell to Fort Hays State University in last year's championship game in Jackson, Tenn.
 
The shortcut to infamy? Try this recipe: First, hire John Loftin, a coach from a sterling junior college program who's recruiting connections are secure… and many. Then successfully recruit Kelli Litsch, beating out big-time programs like USC to land the 6'1" Oklahoma native who played six-on-six for a senior class of seven students. You're not the only school who suspected she might be the best to ever lace up hightops in Oklahoma, but she chose your colors. 
 
As far as the "enduring" part, here's the spice: After Litsch leads you to three national championships in four years, wins three tournament MVP awards, and carries her approximate 4.0 GPA onto two All-American Scholar-Athlete teams, make sure you keep her around. Litsch earned her masters at Southwestern Oklahoma and became a full-time assistant coach and team academic advisor in time to help Loftin lead the Lady Bulldogs to their fourth championship in 1987-88.
 
That kind of organizational continuity not only reinforces a sense of history and a winning tradition, it also turns the heads of some of Oklahoma's bet high school basketball players. 
 
Jackie Snodgrass, a 1990-91 First Team All-American, put it this way: "When Kelli Litsch started showing up at my gym and actually speaking to me, I thought it was about the greatest thing that ever happened in my life."
 
And as the winning and academic legacy snowballs, the pipelines to Oklahoma high schools and junior colleges across the nation widen.
 
"From the beginning, we basically overhauled the program," Loftin says. "We brought in seven juco players I recruited through my contacts and I added Texas to my recruiting territory through the contacts I'd made coaching high school ball."
 
Loftin says getting to the top wasn't nearly as hard as staying there. "Bringing in the players we did, especially Kelli, and with the NAIA women's program just a couple of years old, we accomplished what we should have," he says. "But competition heated up quickly."
 
"It hasn't been easy, "Litsch agrees. "Since we won the first championship, every game we play is the other team's national championship."
 
And so, even with the intricate recruiting system in place, Loftin has had to coach. Consistent with his quarter-century of success on the high school, juco, and NAIA level, he's done so masterfully. 
 
"The kids who come here are winners, because that's all we'll accept," says the former Texas schoolboy all-stater and Texas Tech standout. "When you have kids who play to win, they're willing to subjugate stats and glory for a championship. And in our scheme, which I think bears resemblance to Dean Smith's at North Carolina, we don't focus on a go-to player. Ours is truly a team system."
 
"He's a taskmaster, "Litsch says more pointedly. "He's a winner and that's his only agenda. Each of our girls will strive to be the best-prepared player on the court or they won't be on the court."
 
She pauses with a laugh. "Sometimes part of my job is to soften the blow."
 
For Litsch's part, she wouldn't trade places with Loftin, or any other head coach, if she had the chance. "I'm not interested in the constant recruiting trips of focusing so much on the strategy," she says. "I'm most interested in working one-on-one with the girls, making sure their college experience is everything it should be. I enjoy the academic counseling part of my job as much or more than anything else I do."
 
"Women play college ball to enjoy it, because there's no gold over the rainbow, even for the best," she says, referring to the pro career's men can aim for. "They choose their school based on academics first, for the most part, so they're here to study. I don't have to lean on them much, but I can help them manage their time and achieve their potential."
 
And as a role model, you won't find a better prospect than Litsch, who recently became the first female basketball player inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame. 
 
"My dad was an educator, and I've always sworn that nobody would ever call me a dumb jock," says Snodgrass, who scored as low as a "B" only twice in high school. "Kelli is someone who knows and understands that, because he's been there. She's a winner on the court and in the classroom, so she knows what kind of discipline it takes. She's always there for us."
 
And speaking of being there, the Lady Bulldogs entered the 1992 NAIA Women's Division I Basketball Championship as the No. 3 seed looking for their sixth championship. The entire starting lineup that got edged in last year's finals is back, including Snodgrass and speedy six-foot gunner Linda Broomfield. 
 
Snodgrass says she can still summon the aches from her losing battle with Fort Hays' bruising center Annette Wiles, and welcomes the added inside size Loftin and Litsch are bringing in. "I can bang when I have to, but I'm at my best moving around the perimeter," she says.
 
"There's a mystique surrounding this team, now," Litsch adds. "So, we always believe we should win." (The Lady Bulldogs' 141-3 home record supports her Celtic-ensue allusion.)
 
Ever the realist, Loftin sums up this team's chances: "To stay on top, we've had to learn to adjust both to our competition and our personnel," he says. "Last year, we were small so we played quick. This year, we're experienced but not deep. We'll have to find a way to adapt and focus on our strengths.
 
"It's not a challenge we haven't faced before."
 
To the closing comment, Southwestern has that air of a dynasty.