Debbie Stroman: Off the bench and into the AD chair

As the girls basketball coach at Lower Richland for 24 years, Debbie Stroman never went into a game or season unprepared.

Stroman has taken that same approach as she transitions away from the bench to her new role as Lower Richland athletics director. She was named the school’s AD last month, becoming the 10^th woman in the state currently to hold that job.

Stroman’s plans to become an athletics director began a few years ago when she got a degree in sports management with an emphasis in athletic administration. She also helped then-athletics director Bob Matz with a variety of things.

In August, Matz left LR to become athletics director for Richland 1. Stroman and football coach Darryl Page were named co-athletics directors.

“When you begin to transition and begin to move and re-imagine your life and do things differently, it takes preparation,” Stroman said this week. “Being an athletics director is something I have thought about doing the last couple years. I thought this was the best opportunity, and this opportunity only knocks once.”

Stroman leaving basketball is one of the many changes in her life. Her middle son just graduated from Air Force and she’s getting re-married this summer.

Stroman’s transition to her new job has been busy. The Diamond Hornets hired Rodney Barr as football coach last week after a lengthy search. The school still needs to find Stroman’s successor, and also find a replacement for boys basketball coach Mark Burnitz, who was let go after two seasons.

Stroman said the school hopes to have both positions filled by June.

“You hit the ground running. It tests your ability to stay organized and stay on top of everything,” Stroman said of being AD. “I’m here for the challenge. Everything I worked for to get my degree, to follow coach Matz around. All those things get you prepared for these moments like this.”

Despite her enthusiasm and love for her new job, Stroman said it’s going to be strange not being on the bench in November when the season begins. The usually calm coach got a little emotional at the end of the year banquet when she and her team were left in the room posing for pictures.

Those kinds of feelings are understandable after the career Stroman had at the school. The Columbia College alum won 482 games and seven state titles, including four straight from 2006-09. Lower Richland is one of only five girls basketball programs in the state to win four titles in a row.

But Stroman, who went 7-0 in state championship games, said she was an afterthought to replace Anne Long despite being an assistant for several years. More experienced coaches interviewed for the job, and one accepted the position, but wasn’t heard from after taking the team to camp that summer.

So, the search turned back to Stroman, who was up for the task.

“One of first things I did was read Carolina Connection by (former North Carolina coach) Dean Smith,” Stroman said. “I read it from cover to cover, highlighted it. It was almost like I was taking a class on how to make sure kids understood basketball. This program was very successful from its first year when it had a winning record, and maintaining that was important.”

There were some bumps in Stroman’s first season, which ended in a 13-7 record. The next year, the Diamond Hornets went 33-0 and defeated Greenwood in the championship game. That was the first of three undefeated seasons during her tenure at LR.

Stroman said all her championship seasons were special. One of her biggest highlights was coaching her daughter, Morgan, who earned All-America honors in high school before going on to play at Miami and is now playing overseas.

Stroman never had a losing record and won at least one playoff game in 20 of her 24 seasons.

“Once you win that first state championship, you get hungry. As a coach you get hungry, the players get hungry and the community understands what you are going through,” Stroman said. “It is ingrained in every athlete before they get here. It is ingrained in the rec leagues that Lower Richland is out to win.”

Stroman said the various rec leagues and feeder programs were instrumental in the success at the high school level, and hopes to see that continue with the new coach.

Stroman knows what kind of qualities the program is looking for in its next coach. The main thing is she doesn’t want the new coach to worry about following in her footsteps.

“A lot of people can coach basketball. We want someone enthusiastic about the game, someone that is prepared, knowledgeable and not just about the game of basketball, but the resources they have available,” Stroman said.

“I’m not looking for someone to fill my shoes. I’m looking for someone to bring their own shoes to the game and step out on the court to do the right thing with those girls.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 10:06 PM.