I had the privilege to travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, June 3 to attend the dedication of the NCAA/Habitat for Humanity home in memory of the late Sue Gunter, former women’s basketball coach at Louisiana State University.

The project was a part of the Home Team initiative, conducted in conjunction with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

We constructed the frame of the house during the April 29 induction weekend of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee. Members from the WBCA staff, the NCAA women’s basketball staff, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame board and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductees joined women’s basketball staff members from LSU, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the initial build phase.

That exercise in and of itself was a powerful and meaningful experience. About eight different groups worked on different pieces of the house. We framed the building in about five hours.

Given our experience in the building trades, it was remarkable that we got it framed up in the proper way!

When we brought all the individual frame pieces together and constructed the entire home frame, it was an emotional experience. Each member had the opportunity to "sign" the area we constructed. We raised the frame, our team leaders tacked in nails to hold it together, and we celebrated. 

Immediately, we disassembled the house frame and loaded it into the truck (which also was an experience, I might add) and sent the truck off to Baton Rouge.

One of my first questions to the finish group in Baton Rouge regarded any framing issues they experienced. They assured me that they had minimal issues and I assured them that any problems they had regarding the framing surely occurred during the trucking phases!

I pulled in to Baton Rouge at noon and drove to the site with full intent to help finish out the house and assist with landscaping. When I arrived in the neighborhood, I stopped in my tracks. I saw 10 Habitat houses in their final construction phase, and our house at 2147 St. Croix Street was 85 percent complete, with landscaping already underway.

The framework of the house arrived in Baton Rouge and the finish-out began May 27. In seven days, a church group from Illinois, along with the family who received the house and the Baton Rouge Habitat affiliate staff, built from our framework to the home. It is hard for me to describe in words the emotions of the build-group members, their connection to the family that will occupy the house and all of us involved in this project from beginning to end.

This house is one of the largest that Habitat has built. It is a three-bedroom home with a garage and 11/2 baths. It is in a somewhat rural area but near Baton Rouge. The back of the home looks out on south Louisiana farmland.

The home’s new family lived in New Orleans, evacuated during Katrina and lost everything. Wynethia Thompson is a single mom with three boys — ages 14, 10 and 3. The youngest has Down syndrome. Wynethia works as a private sitter and is studying to become a pharmacy technician. While in New Orleans, she worked for United Cerebral Palsy and drove a bus for the disabled. What a wonderful woman — a woman who now has new hope, dreams and aspirations, thanks to everyone involved in the project.

The dedication ceremony began with a few opening remarks, a prayer and comments from me. The dedication continued with LSU head coach Pokey Chapman, representing Sue Gunter, the WBCA and the LSU staff. Pokey presented a commemorative plaque to the family and the keys to the house. The dedication concluded with every individual in attendance placing a hand on the home and a joint Lord’s Prayer.

After the dedication, there was cake for everyone. In the spirit of the adage, we had our cake and ate it, too. Truly, the entire experience was powerful and meaningful for all involved. It served to connect all of us to the "good of women’s basketball" and the true meaning of what we do and should do.