My best pal from college days e-mailed recently to say, "Poor Jody Conradt. Pat Summitt gets 800 victories and it's all over the news. Jody will do it in a week or two and no one will pay any attention.''

	Texas' Jody Conradt has won 799 games in 34 seasons.

In some ways, of course, he's right. Like being the second person on the moon (Buzz Aldrin) or the second person that Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly killed on Nov. 22, 1963 (police officer J.D. Tippit), Conradt isn't going to get quite the same headlines. Probably nobody will do that 1-800-CONRADT thing.

But ... this is a big deal to folks in the Great State, and whenever 800 comes there will be recognition. Further, though, it really doesn't matter to Conradt.

With her, it's not some fake modesty thing. It's just not that important. Not now. This week, Texas Tech and Kansas State -- the teams picked to finish atop the Big 12 -- are on the slate for Texas.

If one of those ends up being her 800th victory, that's great. If they're 800 and 801, even better. But if that happens, she'll actually think of them as victories 12 and 13 this season.

Just as Summitt said last week, you don't get to 800 by ever thinking about 800. You're on an everyday treadmill, not spending much time focused on anything but the game right in front of you.

"The conference is so tough, it hardly allows time for one to look forward,'' Conradt said. "I broke it down in smaller pieces. Like three games at a time. Now, it gets incredibly tougher. This is a hard week.''

To listen to Conradt, you might not realize she was probably saying the same things 10, or 20, or 30 years ago. That's the amazing part: The enthusiasm is still there just as if it's all still very fresh and intriguing.

And with Conradt, it is. Even though she was figuring out game plans when some coaches in the Big 12 were learning to count with Big Bird while watching "Sesame Street.''

"She is undoubtedly one of the pioneers of our game,'' Oklahoma's Sherri Coale said. "I mean that in a good way.''

(As in, mature not "old.'' As in, not pointing out, "Wow, you graduated from college the year JFK got shot?'')

Coale continued, "She has been the consummate professional, a helpful peer. The things she's done are for an elite few. She was out there fighting for things before I ever had a thought about doing any of this.''

Conradt got into coaching when no one probably had any clear idea about where women's basketball might end up in their lifetimes.

"I was not very far-sighted in terms of what I was thinking about. I had no idea the sport would emerge the way it has,'' Conradt said. "It was one of those situations where we always say we'd work for nothing, but some of us really did. I did it because I wanted to. Most of us were hired as teachers and educators, and we coached as an aside.

"It's a profession where there are highs and lows. After every loss I spend some sleepless nights. (But) when it gets right down to it, I think I have the best job in the world.''

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