How Corry Irvin's journey and relatability prepared her to lead Chicago State

Before each game at Young, guard Linnae Harper recalls getting personalized notes from her coach, Corry Irvin. A quote and goal for that night’s game would be on the card. That small gesture had an indelible impact on the team.

The goal would be some rebound, assist or point total.

“She took the time out to write a personalized letter to each player, and that was needed,” Harper told the Sun-Times. “It was very motivating.”

Chicago State announced on April 10 that Irvin would return to the state as the women’s coach. She takes over a program in disarray. The Cougars were 1-26 last season and have had one winning season since 2009-10. The program’s record since the 1986-87 season is 227-832.

Stability has eluded the program since it parted ways with long-time coach Angela Jackson following the 2017-18 season. Jackson had a 132-311 record over 15 seasons. The Cougars have had three coaches since Jackson and each lasted only two seasons.

The hire brings Irvin back to Chicago, where she was an assistant at DePaul and spent 18 years as a coach at Young. She amassed a 449-77 record at Young before departing for coaching stints at St. Xavier University, Illinois and Mississippi State. She helped Mississippi State return to the NCAA Tournament during the 2022-23 season after a three-year absence.

She learned what it took to build and maintain a winning program, but was ready to return to Chicago.

Through her various coaching stops, her lessons as a coach at Young and an assistant at DePaul stuck with her as she learned and grew from each opportunity.

“She related well with the athletes and was a great teacher,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno told the Sun-Times. “She did everything you had to do as a coach, but she also related well. This is a relationship business. You have to make sure you interact well with the student-athletes and she did those things well.”

Under Bruno, Irvin led the program’s recruiting efforts. The teaching component has always been instilled in Irvin since her days as a high school player at Larkin. Irvin said she had many teachers who had an immense impact on her because of the time they invested in her and she was going to originally go into teaching after graduating from Fresno State.

Coaching melded her love of basketball and passion for teaching. Her time at DePaul allowed her to develop as a coach and learn how to create those genuine connections with people.

“Having that opportunity to learn under someone who has so many different skill sets like him helped shape my coaching career," Irvin told the Sun-Times.

Recruiting is more than identifying talent. It’s about recognizing a player’s gifts, gauging their fit in a program and selling them on why their program is the best fit for you. Irvin was critical in the Bulldogs signing the 16th-ranked recruiting class in 2023, the second-best class in program history.

So much has changed since Irvin started recruiting at DePaul in 1999, but with more regulations limiting how many times coaches can see players, but connecting with a player is still paramount in recruiting.

Harper remembers meeting Irvin in elementary school at the behest of one of her mentors, E.C. Hill, an alumnus of Young and a former WNBA player. That initial interaction didn’t persuade Harper to enroll at Young, but she’s glad she did.

“It was probably the best decision I ever made,” Harper said.

During her four-year career at Young, Harper went 115-12. Harper said Irvin knew how to develop close relationships with everyone on the team, regardless of playing time.

Irvin got the buy-in from her team through showing a genuine care for them, which made tasks such as running a mile at 5:00 a.m. or running the stairs seem harmless.

During Harper’s four years, the school didn’t have a dedicated weight room, just some dumbbells, a few barbells and a bench, but she made do. Irvin was consistent and held players accountable, hallmarks of any good program.

“It wasn’t just basketball,” Harper said. “She made sure we were always educated outside of school. She taught us how to be young women and became an additional bonus mom for me."

As Irvin embarks on a new challenge at Chicago State, she will need to fuse the lessons she learned during her time in Chicago. As she’s settled into her new role, Irvin has been analyzing what worked and didn’t work at prior jobs. Establishing the standards is one of her main priorities, she said.

Irvin was announced as coach amid the NCAA’s college basketball transfer portal, giving athletes a 44-day window to leave their programs. That proved problematic for a program returning just five players from last year’s team, but also an opportunity. The transfer portal is a double-edged sword: Teams lose players but can also flip a roster just as quickly. Irvin is calling on the relationships she’s cultivated over the years.

“If it weren't for a lot of the relationships that I built over the years, I'm not even sure that you would have a roster," Irvin said. "That's been the biggest part for me right now."

In the press release announcing Irvin’s hire, Dr. Monique Carroll, vice president & director of intercollegiate athletics at Chicago State, said: “Her extensive experience in Division I basketball coupled with her ties to the city of Chicago make her the ideal candidate to lead our women's basketball program to new heights."

That’s where her love of teaching, relatability and Chicago roots meld together. Irvin said it’s important that her program still recruits high school players as some schools prioritize the transfer portal.

“There aren't a lot of schools that are still recruiting high school players, to be perfectly honest,” Irvin said. “Being a former high school coach, naturally, I think there's always going to be a piece of me that wants to recruit high school players because that's where I spent a lot of my career,” Irvin said.

Irvin has already extended offers to many players within the Chicago area. Her name and reputation precede her in the area. She’s optimistic about the direction Carroll is taking the program and the support the team is receiving as it transitions to the Northeastern Conference after being independent from 2022-24.

But there's more work to be done, more prospects to recruit and more obstacles along the way. Turning a woebegone program into a winner won't happen overnight, but Irvin is ready to embrace that challenge.

“She is Chicago,” Irvin said. “There’s no better way than to have her at Chicago State, creating a new legacy within the city.”