Stephanie Norman didn't plan on returning to her alma mater after hanging up her sneakers following her four-year Sun Devil basketball career, which lasted from 1984 to 1988. In fact, Norman planned to retire as a Louisville Cardinal following an illustrious coaching career.
"I was going to retire at Louisville," Norman said. "I knew what was coming back, and I had felt pretty strongly that the team at Louisville was going to compete for a final four spot this year. I was all set and ready to go, and feeling like four or five years I'd retire from there and sail off into the sunset."
After head coach Molly Miller was announced as the new ASU head coach in March 2025, Norman reached out through social media.
"I had reached out on direct message, I didn't even know her," Norman said. "I just wished her luck, because I was like, 'Man, I'm so happy that you've got this job, and my alma mater is going to be in a great space.'"
After that, the two kept talking, and after multiple phone calls of subtle convincing, Miller worked enough magic to bring Norman back to the desert.
Norman didn't want to leave Louisville, nor did she think that would happen after helping lead the Cardinals to four Final Fours and an unbelievable 41-16 record in the NCAA Tournament. However, there was something deep down that drew Norman back to her old stomping grounds.
"This is a place (where) I felt like all of my knowledge and experience of 36 years could be passed on to a young female head coach," Norman said. "When I ended up taking the job, I said, 'Listen, I'm going to take (the job), but I have two things ... I want to get accomplished. My job is to protect you, and my job is to elevate you.'"
So far, the move has paid dividends for both Miller and Norman. After last year, the program looked to be in dire need of a fresh start as the Sun Devils struggled to the tune of a 10-22 record while notching only three wins in Big 12 action.
This year, the veteran staff has helped flip the script as the Sun Devils boast a 17-3 overall record and already have more wins in conference (4) than they did last year.
However, the hot start for the Sun Devils hasn't quenched Norman's thirst for winning deep into March; something she has done her whole career as a coach.
Norman is mostly known for helping take an average Louisville program and turn it into a championship contender. Before that, she helped lead Oregon to six straight postseasons.
"I have an obsession (with) making this program elite, and that's my singular focus," Norman said. "To make (Miller) the best that she can possibly be, so that I can ride off in the sunset someday (in) my sprinter van and go to all the national parks. I want to get this right, it matters so much to me because it is my alma mater, it's not just another school."
There is something different at stake here for Norman, who left a very comfortable job and successful program to try to rebuild the school she was a team captain for when "Sweet Child O' Mine" was topping the charts.
"I want to finish what I started, and so that's why I'm back, and it's been super awesome and fun and exciting," Norman said.
Miller, on the other hand, will be the first to give credit to Norman and the rest of the staff for the switch that took less than a year to flip.
"She's a vet," Miller said. "She's been there. She's been to Final Fours, she's been to a place we're trying to go. So she has that experience. She knows what excellence looks like. Always floating ideas around the program, not just inside the lines, but outside the lines, how we can elevate our program."
Even the players can understand just how important Norman is to the new-look Sun Devils.
"(The staff has) just helped me grow as a person and as a player, and I think that's the biggest thing," senior guard Marley Washenitz said. "When I can leave here knowing that I didn't only become a better player, but I became a better person and learned life lessons as I went."
Though Norman has been coaching for decades, she still has the same fire and passion she possessed when she donned the maroon and gold.
"You embrace competition, and you thrive at the top," Norman said. "It's a privilege to be in those spaces, and there's people (who) fear that, and there's people (who) embrace it. So at the end of the day, I don't want participators, I want dominators."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at mseal6@asu.edu and follow @masonseal23 on X.
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Mason Seal is a reporter in the sports department. He provides intel and paints stories about many different sports for The State Press. He is in his third semester at The State Press.
