With the Toledo women’s basketball team fresh off another outright Mid-American Conference title and a thrilling victory in the NCAA tournament, it’s natural to wonder: How much longer can the Rockets keep Tricia Cullop?

But maybe we’re asking the wrong question.

A better one: What would it take to pull Cullop away from Toledo?

I asked her exactly that Sunday afternoon.

Kyle Rowland

Toledo women's basketball coach Cullop signs extension through 2029-30

“That's a tough question,” said Cullop, 51, who just finished her 15th season at UT. “I'll be honest. I've stayed at Toledo as long as I have because I truly love this place and I love the people that make up this place. It would have to be something unbelievable, a place where maybe I could chase a national championship, before I would think about jumping.

“But it would also take equally unbelievable people because that has always mattered to me more than a paycheck. The support that I have here would have to be matched. I have been very fortunate and very grateful at Toledo.”

Call that music to Rocky’s ears.

Sometimes, we can be so close to a situation that it distorts our view of the big picture.

And here I wonder if the special connection between the Toledo women’s basketball program and our community feels so normal that we lose sight of just how anomalous it is.

It’s understandable for UT fans worried about losing Cullop to be on edge over this report or that rumor, and, sure, there may come a time when the coach receives an offer she can’t refuse.

Heck, maybe that time will come this year.

Kyle Rowland

Tricia Cullop leaving Toledo women's basketball to become head coach at Miami

Keep an eye on the Michigan State opening. Cullop and especially Bowling Green’s Robyn Fralick — a native of Okemos, Mich., which touches East Lansing — are due a long look. (For context on market rates, former Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant had a base salary of $700,000, almost double that of Cullop, who also earned $96,250 in bonuses this season.) 

But here’s the thing worth remembering:

Cullop is not actively looking for a great job.

She already has one.

Her program, of course, isn’t your usual mid-major stepping stone.

Compare Toledo with the schools to which Cullop has been linked, including Cincinnati, which, according to a women’s basketball website called World Exposure Report, hired Cullop last week. (This was news to Cullop and Cincinnati, which on Saturday appointed Memphis coach Katrina Merriweather.)

Or how about Pittsburgh, where Cullop reportedly interviewed before the NCAA tournament? (Cullop last week called the report “completely false.”)

In both cases, a bigger league doesn’t necessarily mean a better job.

You could combine the average home attendance of Pitt (916 fans) and Cincinnati (972) this season, and it wouldn’t approach half the average at Toledo (4,178), where the rocking crowds at Savage Arena bring games to life in a way you just don’t see elsewhere. (UT’s crowds — which have led the MAC for 31 straight years — would rank among the top five in every power conference.)

Then factor in Toledo’s investment.

UT spent a league-high $2.48 million on women’s basketball last year, per federal records. (Pitt, for instance, spent $4.4 million, which sounds nice, until you realize a dozen schools in the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference invested more.)

Add it all up — the outsized fan support and the level of investment relative to its peers — and I’d argue Toledo is a top-50 women’s basketball job.

“Absolutely,” UT athletic director Bryan Blair said. “I think it's even higher than that. It takes two seconds to enter our venue and see the kind of fan support we get even on a weeknight. Sometimes it doesn't even matter who we're playing. Our fans are consistent, just as they have been over the last 30-plus years. That doesn’t exist at other places, and, quite frankly, other places can’t duplicate or create that overnight. ... What we have here is as special or more special than just about anywhere else in the nation.”

The message is clarion clear: Women’s basketball in Toledo matters.

And that’s awesome.

“To work at a place that truly cares about women's basketball is phenomenal,” Cullop said. “It's one thing to work really hard and really care about your job, but when other people care, too, it makes your job even more enjoyable.”

Now, what does that mean for her future?

Who can say?

Cullop — the former president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and one of the most respected figures in the sport — deserves the chance one day to lead a big-time national program.

But when she says she loves Toledo and the people who make the place — including her powerhouse team — know that she means it. In 15 years at UT, she has gone hard after only job. The Ohio State opening in 2013. She was the runner-up to Washington’s Kevin McGuff.

As lucky as Toledo is to have Cullop, she feels just as fortunate to be here.

Keep that in mind the next time the rumors begin to swirl.

First Published March 26, 2023, 10:09 p.m.