Barton College has fielded an intercollegiate women’s basketball team since 1975, and for more than half of those years, Wendee Saintsing has guided the program as head coach.
On March 2, 2018, Saintsing claimed her 500th victory with the Lady Bulldogs and secured her seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament after Barton downed King University to win the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
She will enter the Barton Athletic Hall of Fame just weeks before beginning her 30th season as head coach of the Lady Bulldogs. She stands 12th among active NCAA DII coaches and 30th all-time in victories.
Saintsing also enjoyed a very successful 18-year run as head coach of the women’s volleyball program, and has served for many years as the athletic department’s senior woman administrator.
“I appreciate the fact that she’s been at Barton so long,” said Keauna Vinson (Price), a former player who will join her in the 2018 induction class. “Some coaches move around a lot. She has been there so long, and the history of Barton women’s athletics has her name written all over it. She is well-deserving of the hall of fame, and it means a lot to me to be inducted with her. She’s a very special person to me.”
Gary Hall, athletic director emeritus and 2016 Barton Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, notes that even after 30 years, Saintsing has been able to remain relevant to today’s student-athletes.
“The contributions of Wendee Saintsing to our athletic program at Barton have been many and have great longevity,” Hall said. “It is amazing to see how successfully she coached both our women’s volleyball and our women’s basketball teams for so many years with their seasons butting right up to one another. It takes a true leader to produce the quality of student-athlete and the team success that we have enjoyed under her leadership. And she has demonstrated right up until today the ability to remain current with coaching trends and be successful with our teams in recent years.”
Saintsing played both basketball and volleyball at High Point University, and also served as an assistant coach in both sports during her senior year. She worked as a graduate assistant at Appalachian State University while earning her master’s degree, then briefly took a job as volleyball and junior varsity basketball coach at NCAA Division III program University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh before joining the staff at Barton in 1987.
“I heard about the (Barton) job last-minute, and was actually hired about a week and a half before school started,” Saintsing said. “I came in and jumped right in. I fell into the position at the right time, I guess. I came in as a volleyball and softball coach, but everyone knew that I was interested in coaching basketball as well.”
The opportunity came two years later, and despite a pair of successful seasons on the diamond, Saintsing gladly traded in her softball title for one as basketball head coach.
“Any sport in which you have to depend on the weather, forget it. I can’t do that,” Saintsing said. “I’ve got to be prepared for everything.”
That commitment to preparation became one of the keys to Saintsing’s success.
“When I first met Coach Saintsing, I thought she was a little shy, a little soft-spoken, but I could tell from talking to her that she really knew the games of volleyball and basketball,” Vinson said. “I went to watch some workouts and just see how she was out there on the court, and I liked her style of coaching. She knows what she wants, and you better do it or her little voice can get loud.”
Another key has been her ability to connect with her players.
“Wendee is very genuine,” Hall said. “She shoots straight with everyone. She is compassionate toward the needs of others, but in being demanding, she also exudes a very caring leadership. I admire her for being such a positive role model for our female student-athletes in particular.”
Perhaps the biggest key to her success, she says, has been recruiting.
“Even though I hate recruiting – I’d rather be doing so many other things – recruiting is the most important thing that I do,” Saintsing said. “I’ve been lucky enough to be able to find good athletes on a pretty regular basis and keep them coming in.
“We’ve had several players of the year, several All-Americans, and a lot of all-conference players, so I’ve been blessed to bring in athletes that we need to continue to be successful.”
Saintsing downplays her own contributions to the development of all those all-stars, pointing out that “I haven’t scored a basket. They’re the ones doing all the work. And I’ve had great assistants.”
Hall said that humility is typical of Saintsing.
“She always deflects praise to her players and to others, but Wendee is at the center of the successes we have enjoyed here at Barton,” he said.
Despite reaching 500 wins and the Barton Athletic Hall of Fame, Saintsing will continue to remain at the center of Barton’s successes.
Asked if there are any accomplishments left to achieve in her career, she quickly points out that “we’re working towards 600. We’d like to bring home another championship. That’s the goal every year – win the conference regular season, win the conference tournament and advance to regionals. That’s still what we are trying to accomplish.”
