Over the past 27 years Gail Hook has coached basketball in the WNBA, at the college level, for U.S.A. basketball, and at Monarch since the school opened. But she didn’t stop there.
This summer Coach Hook assistant-coached the best high school senior basketball team in the country, and helped lead them to a gold medal at the World Championships. This team of twelve, selected by USA Basketball, consists of the most highly recruited players in the country. Five of the players are ranked at the top of this year’s senior class.
The previous year won the qualifying tournament to get into the World Championships. The team played in a tournament in Italy, and then went to the World Championships in Amsterdam and won the gold medal by defeating Spain.
A tough part of this experience was adjusting to European basketball. Some of the rules are different and the style of the game is different. Although some parts of the experiences were challenging, it was also amazing. “When you win a gold medal, at the closing ceremonies, and they put the medal around your neck. Also, a lot of international teams really respect the U.S. teams. I think they put us on a whole different level of talent. It’s neat to experience that, ” Hook said.
Hook will be taking a one year absence from coaching to spend time with her mother, who is ailing from Alzheimer’s, but is planning on returning to coaching girls’ basketball at Monarch High School in the future.
