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Cessna: Blair shares moment he made happen
A&M Women: Aggies clinch first title in school history
A&M Men: Aggies fall to Texas in double overtime thriller
A&M Basketball: Reed Arena the place to be in B-CS

By ROBERT CESSNA
Eagle Sports Writer

Gary Blair probably was thanking people in his sleep Wednesday night, if he ever went to sleep.

It doesn't get much better for him than the 67-60 victory over Texas that gave the Aggies a share of the Big 12 women's championship.

He teared up as he hugged his players, thanking them for an amazing run. He seemingly touched or made eye contact with every fan in the crowd of 7,478 - even allowing some of them to help cut down the nets.

He thanked A&M athletics director Bill Byrne for giving him the opportunity to coach the Aggies. He made sure every member of his staff received their due. He gave kudos to his family. Heck, he even thanked the media.

But don't fool yourself. It was the guy doing all the thanking that deserves to take the biggest bow.

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Buy this photo Eagle Photo/Butch Ireland Texas A&M's A'Quoneshia Franklin gets a hug from head coach Gary Blair as time winds down in A&M's 67-60 win over Texas on Wednesday night at Reed Arena.

"I love all of ya," Blair said as he went through his dozen or so thank-yous at midcourt with a microphone in hand.

"No, no ... we love you!" shouted a few fans.

And well they should.

Blair's had an amazing career, highlighted by a Final Four appearance, seven conference championships and three high school state championships.

But coaching the Texas A&M's women's program to its first regular-season conference championship is as remarkable an accomplishment as any of them. Lest anyone forget, Blair inherited the Big 12's worst program. A&M was 22-87 in Big 12 regular-season play when he arrived in Aggieland for the 2003-04 season.

Meanwhile, the league already had a pair of national championship programs in it with Texas (1986) and Texas Tech (1993). Baylor made it three by winning the 2005 title.

Blair's problem lifting A&M to prominence wasn't that those three programs were in the Big 12. They were in Texas, where he had to go head-to-head with them in recruiting.

But in four seasons, he managed to climb over three national champions.

The Aggies are 24-8 in Big 12 regular-season play over the last two seasons, and with their six top players returning next year, it's only going to get better.

And Blair has done it with all-staters, not Parade All-Americans. He's done it with defense, not offense.

"We're just a hard-working basketball team," Blair said. "We just keep finding ways."

A&M won't have anyone on the All-America team this season, but when it started, Morenike Atunrase was good enough to be considered. Two injuries have rendered her a shadow of greatness. She managed to play 32 minutes Wednesday but hit just 1 of 11 shots, including 1 of 6 from 3-point range.

How many teams can have their best player score three points in clinching the school's first league title?

"We've got the A&M factor," Blair said. "A&M is about the 12th Man. A&M is about leadership. And A&M is about defense, and that's something we do very well. We recruit players for their offense, then we teach them to play our style of defense. And I have the best defensive coordinator in the nation."

Assistant coach Vic Schaefer is Blair's defensive mastermind, but even Schaefer might shrug off the compliment and deflect the praise to his boss.

The Aggies, the assistants, the fans - all of them deserve credit for A&M's first Big 12 women's basketball title. Blair will thank them all from now until the end of the NCAA Tournament and beyond.

Chances are he'll probably forget to thank himself.