If it's true that behind every successful basketball program, there's a hard working, dedicated assistant, then Northwestern State is that program and Mona Martin is that assistant.
Now in her second year in the Lady Demon fold, Martin brought with her a tenacious nose for defense and a no-nonsense approach to the 94 foot rectangle. The result was a ninth straight winning campaign as the Lady Demons failed to miss a beat with the new girl on board.
For someone who never played the game, Martin has sure had a lot of success coaching it.
Begin with 1981-82 at Natchitoches Central high school. With future Lady Demons Kristy Harris, Annie Harris and Linda Grayson within the ranks, NCHS went 31-5 and captured the state Quad A championship as Martin was names Louisiana Coach of the Year.
Things got even better four years later. Martin's 1985-86 squad posted an unblemished 36-0 record in marching to the state championship and national top ten ranking. For an unprecedented encore performance, Martin's troops recorded 34 wins against just three losses - all by one point - in 1986-87. The icing on the cake came in the form of a second straight state championship.
In all, Martin coached 11 years in the prep ranks, capturing six district titles, three Coach of the Year awards, ten playoff appearances and a 266-91 (.746) composite record. No wonder she was ready to give it the old college try when Northwestern State came calling in the spring of 1987.
The return to her alma mater was a natural for one of the fist female athletes to ever receive a scholarship to NSU. The number one tanked badminton player during her two letterwinning years in the mid seventies, Martin received bachelor's degree in health and physical education and elementary education in 1976 before returning to complete her master's in health and physical education in 1980.
When she isn't at practice or with her husband Mike, Martin enjoys defeating the NSU football coaches in racquetball with a little golf thrown in on the side.
