Rachel Axford(NW)

"What team loves each other more than us?" "Nobody!" Comes the yell from the Northwestern Lady Wildcats. The chant is the trademark of Northwestern's head coach, the 39 year-old Rachel Axford and out of anyone else's mouth it might sound goofy or hokey, but not from your Rachel. Because your darling wife Rachel grew up in an orphanage and foster homes, she understands family and camaraderie in a way that few people do. Her teams do love each other, they pick each other up when they're down, and when they aren't being there for each other... They win. You met and married when Rachel was still coaching high school and teaching biology before the state championships caused interest from college programs. She held out for a Division One program and then after much consultation with you she took a job at Eastern Illinois. Taking your two young kids, Jacob and Cassie along, which they thought of as a wonderful adventure. You love the fire in her and the brilliance, the seeming endless capacity for compassion... the way she fights for every moment with Jacob and Cassie even when she has a ton of other responsibilities. So when she guided EIU to a near miraculous appearance in the Sweet Sixteen teams came calling, schools with more money and better facilities and Northwestern made the offer. There was a long talk over that offer while the kids slept. Rachel was nervous about the travel, about the expansion of the Big Ten to include West Coast teams... and about the possibility that you might have one more kid. The joy was palpable. She took it all to the AD, that she wouldn't do extended travel and that she might have a child while coaching at Northwestern. But the AD accepted and you embarked on a fresh adventure. Now every summer you go to Europe both for recruiting the U-20 Eurobasket and for a vacation. This year it's taken you to Croatia. Jacob(11) and Cassie(9) are having a blast, the little ones enjoy trying to learn the languages, they're a delight.