SAN ANTONIO — The first time head women's basketball coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair watched Monica Gibbs play at Stillwater (Okla.) High School, she knew she was watching a special player. However, even then, she didn't know just how special Gibbs would become.
So special, in fact, that on Sunday the 2008-09 Southland Conference Player of the Year will become the first player in program history to have her jersey retired following a career in which she compiled 1,460 points along with school records for rebounds (990), rebounds per game (8.0), assists (693), games played (123) and games started (113).
She is the only player in program history to record at least 1,000 points, 900 rebounds and 600 assists.
"I didn't think Monica would be a 1,000-point scorer," Rippetoe-Blair said. "Not because she couldn't score but because she was just a different player in high school. She was more concerned about getting other people the ball all the time rather than scoring herself."
It wasn't until Gibbs stepped foot on the UTSA campus that the Roadrunners coaching staff put her in a scoring role by installing the dribble-drive offense. That change presented a new challenge and she proved to be more than up to the task.
Her competitiveness and work ethic kicked into overdrive as she was often seen in the Convocation Center before and after practice shooting.
Rippetoe-Blair immediately saw those elements change her team for the better.
"I definitely think the way she played elevated everyone's game," she said. "Monica and Whitney York, for example, are both competitors who were matched up against each other every day. They fueled off each other and it made them both better players."
"She made everyone go that much harder," York said. "Just her presence out there and her drive made everyone play as hard as they could."
After spending four years as Bryan High School's best, York admits she didn't fully understand the amount of work it took to play Division I basketball until she watched Gibbs.
"She helped me become the player that I am now," she said. "From the very first open-gym she was on me, talking and competing. We would talk on and off the court about anything and watched film together to get better."
Fueled by that competitiveness, Gibbs and the Roadrunners nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history by pushing No. 2-seed Baylor to overtime in 2009, something that Rippetoe-Blair says helped put UTSA on the map.
That loss came after Gibbs had just led UTSA to its second Southland Regular Season and Tournament Championship. She was named the conference's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, the first time anyone earned both awards in the same season.
Despite all the wins, accomplishments and records, Rippetoe-Blair is most proud of Gibbs' biggest off-court achievement.
"She could come in and take over a game," she said. "She won just about every award from the conference and here on campus, but, by far, I think the most important thing she has done in her time at UTSA is graduate."
