Truly Bleeding Blue
Alex Semadeni
Prior to every Boise State women’s basketball team road trip, assistant coach Heather Sower comes prepared with three inflight entertainment options.
Option 1: She’ll ensure that she has game film loaded so that she can continue scouting the opponent the team is about to play.
Option 2: She makes sure a movie or television show is downloaded, oftentimes asking her fellow assistant coaches and support staff for recommendations.
Option 3: Her self-proclaimed most important life accomplishment: Candy Crush.
“I have to be in the top 1% of Candy Crush levels out there,” Sower joked. “Between that game and coaching for this program, it’s the entirety of my life’s work.”
The obvious underestimation of Candy Crush addicts in the world aside, Sower does boast accomplishments in both areas. Aided by the numerous flights in her 23 years on the bench for the Broncos, Sower is currently on level 11,598.
Her numbers with the Boise State women’s basketball program are more impressive however. The only person to be a member of all six of the program’s NCAA National Tournament appearances, she has coached 705 total games for the Blue and Orange, holding a 398-307 record. When adding in the games she played as a student-athlete for the program (she only missed one game during her four-year playing career), Sower has been a representative of the program for 816 total games.
Put another way - Sower has been a member of the team for 54.3% of the games in its history.
“When I realized the actual amount of games, it’s really something,” she said. “It’s pretty neat to think about coaching over 700 games at your alma mater. That’s pretty cool and pretty special. I owe everything to my time here, I really do.”
Sower is one of two former Broncos that have joined the Boise State coaching staff following their playing days. After donning the Blue and Orange as a player from 2001-05, Cariann Ramirez joined the program as the director of operations in 2010, and six years later was promoted to an assistant coach.
The duo's longevity marks a key selling point to the Boise State women's basketball program - a consistent model of tradition and success led by a staff that is completely bought into the team's success. In his 20th season at the helm of the program, head coach Gordy Presnell - never one to seek out the spotlight - quietly boasts the fifth-most collegiate wins among Division I women’s basketball head coaches (765) and is the program’s winningest head coach (369) by a wide margin. Sower, who spent three seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater before Presnell was hired as the head coach, is in her 23rd season. Ramirez is in her ninth season as an assistant coach after spending six years as the team’s director of operations.
| Coach | Games Won (Player) | Game Lost (Player) | Total Games (Player) | Games Won (Coach) | Game Lost (Coach) | Total Games (Coach) | Total Wins (Program) | Total Losses (Program) | Total Games (Program) |
| Gordy Presnell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 369 | 248 | 617 | 369 | 248 | 617 |
| Heather Sower | 75 | 36 | 111 | 398 | 307 | 705 | 473 | 343 | 816 |
| Cariann Ramirez | 39 | 79 | 118 | 174 | 88 | 262 | 213 | 167 | 380 |
The continuity of the coaching staff has clearly paid off. Under Presnell, Boise State has won four regular season titles and six conference tournament titles. Since joining the Mountain West prior to the 2011-12 season, the squad has won five MW Tournament Championships, which is tied with New Mexico for the most in league history. The Broncos won four consecutive MW tournament titles from 2017-20, the only four-year championship run in league history.
“There’s a massive trust level because of all our years together,” Presnell said. “A lot of assistants are always looking to see what the next move is and figure out the next way to get up the ladder. Those two are so passionate about Boise State, passionate about their program and look back at the program in a fraternal way. They’re proud to be a part of something great, and they want that for the future Broncos. They want this program to succeed more than anybody and we're fortunate to have them on our staff. I really appreciate the two of them, how much they mean to me personally in terms of friendship, and also in terms of coaching this program.”
Presnell was raised in Lapwai, Idaho, a small town 20 minutes east of Lewiston that serves as the seat of the government for the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Basketball was a way of life in his hometown, and as an avid sports fan, grew up with his bedroom walls adorned with posters with the likes of Pete Maravich and Joe Namath.
He got his first collegiate head coaching gig at Seattle Pacific, then an NAIA program, in 1986, beginning an 18-year tenure with the Falcons. Presnell built the program into a dynasty, garnering 396 career wins and reaching the final of the 2005 NCAA Division II National Championship game with the squad. When the job at Boise State opened up, Presnell had considerable interest in returning to his home state.
“Boise State had always been a dream of mine to coach at,” Presnell said. “It's always been a place that I appreciated and admired and loved, and the community is terrific. It’s been a great 20 years.”
Presnell arrived on campus in 2005, eager to begin his Division I career. His first priority was to quickly develop relationships with everyone on campus, including both the athletic administration and the team. He quickly retained Sower, who had been on the staff for three seasons prior to Presnell’s arrival.
Sower was the perfect coach to bridge the gap under new leadership. Originally from Mead High School in Spokane, Wash., Sower committed to the Broncos as a forward in 1990 and contributed to a decorated four-year stretch in the program’s history. By the time she hung her jersey up for the final time in 1994, she was a two-time Big Sky Regular Season Champion. As a senior, she was named Big Sky Honorable-Mention, and to this day is ranked seventh in the program’s record book in career field goal percentage (49.8%).
After graduation, Sower held brief assistant coaching stints at College of Idaho and Regis. However when the job at her alma mater opened up, she moved to join the Broncos under first-year head coach Jen Warden. Presnell joined the program three years later and retained Sower to his staff.
“I remember him being so low profile,” Sower said. “I would ask him something and he would tell me that he wanted to think about it. He likes to put a lot of thought into everything. I was used to the head coaches that I had worked for previously just telling me what to do. He was just a little more thoughtful about every single thing to do with our program. And I struggled with that a little bit to start just because I was ready to get on to the next thing. I eventually realized that he wants to be thoughtful. He wants to make the right decision all the time.”
The duo (alongside assistants JR Payne and Toriano Towns, who now serve as the head and associate coach at Colorado, respectively) went 15-15 in their first year together, a five-win improvement over the previous season. The squad took off the next two years, winning 24 games in each of the next two seasons.
Presnell and Sower have developed a good rapport with each other over their 20-year history. Sower is usually the first to crack a joke to Presnell after a tough loss, and is the only person besides his late grandmother that routinely calls him Gordon.
“I have always appreciated her loyalty and appreciated her,” Presnell said. “She's very, very organized, and I am not so that part I really appreciate. I really have enjoyed working with her. She has a wonderful sense of humor. She passionately cares for our players and has a very soft heart.”
Following their fifth season together, the program’s director of operations job opened. Sower knew that Ramirez was coaching at the College of Idaho at the time and recommended her for the job.
Ramirez played for the Broncos from 2001-05, spending her last three seasons playing under Sower. A high IQ player, she was known as someone who knew the scouting report upside down and could recite the offensive and defensive responsibilities of every position on the floor. Initially recruited as a point guard, Ramirez ended her career playing every position on the court.
“I did all the little things as a player,” Ramirez said. “I'd come out of the game and tell Coach Sower, ‘Hey, when they call this, they're running that play that you said was this.’ I knew the scout through and through. I wasn't the most athletically gifted by any stretch of the imagination but I understood the game. A lot of what I was able to do was because of my IQ.”
Following her graduation in 2005, Ramirez stuck around the Treasure Valley, taking up a variety of club coaching jobs. Club coaching jobs turned into high school coaching jobs, which eventually turned into an assistant coach role at the College of Idaho.
Eventually, when the director of operations position opened up prior to the 2010-11 season, she took it. Ramirez spent six years with the program as the director of operations. She knew she still wanted to coach, so when Presnell gave her the offer to move up to an assistant coach role, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I knew that I wanted to coach and obviously since I had been here for five years, I knew how Coach P worked,” Ramirez said. “I knew what he wanted and what he didn't want. If I would have just jumped in as a coach somewhere else, I think I would have gone nuts. But being able to see how the program moved and how it all worked was probably the best thing for me.”
Ramirez was initially tasked with coaching the guards, and under her tutelage, developed arguably the best backcourt play in Boise State history. Under her leadership, Bronco guards earned five All-MW honors and two all-defensive team nods. Her position group also showed up when the lights were the brightest, with three guards claiming MW Tournament MVP honors (Brooke Pahukoa – 2017, Riley Lupfer – 2018, Braydey Hodgins – 2019).
These days, Ramirez is in charge of the team’s defensive philosophy, and is responsible for all in-game defensive decisions and adjustments.
“It's a big responsibility,” she said. When you think of it in football terms as a coordinator, and the other one is the head guy, that's a lot of pressure. And I feel that pressure. I want us to be the best. I feel like we've been pretty solid and been able to do some really good things.”
The responsibilities have shifted in the present day. Currently, Presnell is responsible for the offensive playcalling, while Ramirez assumes defensive responsibilities. Sower is primarily responsible for developing the post players, while assistant coach Mike Petrino works with the team’s backcourt. Assistant coach Jackie Robinson works with the “tweeners," or the stretch fours that Presnell likes to utilize.
The structure allows each assistant their area to own. In games, Ramirez will focus on making in-game adjustments defensively. Sower will watch the game from a post player perspective, watching for screen angles and pick-and-roll coverages. Petrino will watch the guard play, while Robinson will help the power forwards.
“We know everyone's intentions,” Sower said. “We all care about our program. Sometimes there is overlap, but we're all there to get the job done. Coach P doesn’t let us have an ego as coaches. We can get through the tough times a little easier because we have these deep-rooted relationships with one another as a staff. We’ve known each for so long.”
The ultimate goal of the structure is the freedom for each assistant to own their respective area. The responsibility should generate pressure, but also allow each assistant to grow in their own accord. The same philosophy that Presnell shares when it comes to developing his players.
“He allows us so much room to just coach and do the fun things as he calls them,” Ramirez said. “For that, I am so thankful. I have a lot of friends in the business that don't get a lot of court time. It’s a fun way to structure it and allows us to just be invested and be involved. We’re able to grow those relationships with all those players more. Because we all have expanded responsibilities, we get a lot of one-on-one time. We’re able to have meaningful conversations.”
Coach P knows what he wants. He knows who he is as a head coach and he knows his style. That makes our jobs a little easier. We want to recruit high-character kids and he wants people that want to win. We pride ourselves on being a team and I love that part. I do really love that part of who we are and as a program, and who we are as a team. We want to find the right niche of people that want to be here, because they want to be a Bronco and they want to make Boise State women's basketball the best that it can be. That’s because of him. That's why he wants to be a coach. I think it’s rare to truly have that.Assistant Coach Cariann Ramirez
Through the success that the program has seen, Presnell has maintained his famed humility, deflecting nearly all the credit. He has unquestionably built a culture where the coaching staff can grow, develop and thrive. That attitude obviously trickles down to the players.
“What makes him different is that he actually cares about our players and our staff and not just trying to use them to get to the next championship," Sower said. “We all aspire to win the league again. We want to go out on top. But he wants everyone in our program to have a great experience, whether they're starting or never playing a minute. He wants everyone to have the experience of being a part of college athletics.”
That attitude was on display at the end of the 2017-18 season. In the team’s senior day against San Diego State, senior Brooke Wheeler was unable to suit up for her senior night due to injury. In an effort to honor her, Presnell donned her jersey for the entirety of the game.
“Never have I seen that,” Sower said. “She didn't get the opportunity to start on senior night that he had hoped to have for her, and she was just a great person. It was maybe a little snug, but he wore it the whole game. That is a perfect example of what he's about.”
Another aspect that contributes to the success is the balance. The program emphasizes a balance between basketball and the rest of your life, which allows both players and staff to properly balance their priorities.
“The one thing that you can't undervalue is the importance that Gordy places on the other parts of your life,” Sower said. “When family issues rise up, or there is an issue with one of your classes, or whatever it is that’s going on in your life needs to take priority, it’s not even a question. We allow our players to be people and not just student-athletes. We let them be who they are. And me, as an assistant coach, I can be who I am.”
Assistant coaches have been drawn into the team-first culture. Petrino joined the program four years ago with 28 years of coaching experience to his name. When a new position opened up this summer, former NAIA head coach Jackie Robinson took the gig.
“We've been very fortunate over the years that for the most part, we've had staffs that everyone's here for the right reasons,” Sower said. “Gordy wants to win and develop our players into impactful young women. Cariann and I are alum for the program so we have a lot at stake. It’s personal. Mike wants to win. Jackie wants to win. We all want to contribute and help when we can.”
The most exciting part about the program is the future. Though Presnell is 20 years in his bag, he’s still evolving as a head coach. He routinely encourages the staff to pick the brain of their friends in the industry to stay on top of current trends. In a world filled with NIL and the transfer portal, Presnell, who recently signed a contract extension that will keep him with the Blue and Orange through 2028-29, is adamant that the program stays up to date.
“What’s been impressive for me is watching him grow through the years,” Ramirez said. “He’s been around forever but we’re still changing, we’re still evolving. We’re still doing everything that we can to succeed. And that’s all on him. He’s the one that is leading that charge. He’s a competitive guy and wants to win. I’m honestly impressed, because I think a lot of people who have gotten to the point in their jobs that he’s at would phone it in, call it good. He continues to want to change and evolve and find a way to win while maintaining his values. It’s really impressive.”
One thing is for certain with a staff that features two alumnae. They want the program to have unquestionable success.
“It’s really easy when you're an alum, because you're just passionate about the program,” Sower said. “You want to see a legacy. You want to see what you've built or helped build continue to be built, you know.”
“I don’t think you can ever question how much we want to find success here,” Ramirez said. “We put a lot of blood and sweat on all fronts. We want it to mean something to play for this program. Boise is a special place, this is a special university and this is a special program. I know what this program has done for me and I’m so grateful to be playing a part in continuing to grow it.”