By Joey McWilliams
DURANT – Katie Webb made a name for herself in the southeastern Oklahoma area as a student-athlete.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
Still on the campus at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, she is now having an impact in the lives of other student-athletes from an administrator role.
The former Savage Storm basketball great has remained in Durant following the close of her storied career. Webb is serving at Southeastern as the Athletic Administrative Assistant.
“We chose that title to give me a broad spectrum of things that I can do in athletic administration,” Webb said. “I mainly work with Cherie (Wilmoth) in compliance, but I’ll also be taking over more administrative duties, so that I’m not strictly in compliance and that I’ll have more skill sets.”
She earned her MBA in the spring of 2020, her second degree earned at Southeastern in five years at the school. She garnered a bachelor’s degree in marketing in just three years.
The All-American is the Storm’s second all-time leading scorer, behind only the legendary Crystal Robinson, and led Southeastern to a Great American Conference regular season championship, GAC tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in her final competitive season.
The Savage Storm women’s basketball will long remember her contributions and she came to Durant in large part so those closest to her could see her play. She was a high school standout in Melissa, Texas, just 60 miles to the south.
“I really wanted somewhere that my parents could to every single game and they live 30 minutes up the road, so they got to come to every home game and every away game,” Webb said. “I think my dad missed maybe two games my whole career.
“And I knew Shelby Hill (SE player from 2012-2016). She was on the team and we played together in high school. I was comfortable going somewhere that I knew somebody and Coach Grover is lot like my dad and my dad coached me in high school. I liked the way he ran things.
“I wanted to be somewhere that I could make a difference, rather than just one person in a sea of people.”
Still involved in collegiate athletics, Webb is beginning a new phase. She has dreams of ultimately becoming an athletic director.
Photo by Dan Hoke, courtesy SE Sports Info.
Working with people is an integral part of any administrative capacity. Connections at Southeastern have helped her grow professionally, as well as shape her decision to stay with the university.
“Just the relationships across the board, not just with my coaches,” Webb said. “I made good friends and I had a good relationship with (former) President Burrage, who opened a lot of doors for me in the community. So when I got involved with the community, it really just started to feel like home.
“Knowing people throughout the town and on campus, it was a place that I wanted to stay. And obviously, I still want to be here. It’s been the people all along.”‘
Southeastern to Webb is not just a stepping stone, it is a destination. And she said she would make the choice to come up Highway 75 to come play with the Savage Storm all over again.
“I got to sit in with the football recruits on Saturday and listen to Cherie talk to them about Southeastern and it made me think about my experience,” Webb said. “And I could have been a grad transfer it I had wanted to, because I had two years of eligibility left. But you know, when you come here and you meet the people and start putting in time here, it starts to grow on you and your experience is all about what you make of it.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re at University of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State or Southeastern or ECU – preferably not ECU – but it doesn’t matter where you go. It is all about what you make of it.
“If you join clubs, if you play on a team, make a lot of friends, make a lot of connections, it makes it worth it, rather than sitting alone in your dorm. But we’re a family here and I can say 100 percent that I would do it again.
“I would pick Southeastern and I would stay here five years again. And just be here where I am right now.”