The end of the 2007 women’s basketball season finds the coaching ranks at the NCAA Division I level in a state of flux unlike any seen in recent memory. Let’s take a look at some of the most high-profile vacancies and some of the leading candidates for the jobs.

 

As an elite member of the SEC, having just made their fourth straight trip to the Final Four and boasting a team that will return 9 upcoming seniors, this coaching vacancy is considered to be the cream of the crop in all of women's college basketball.  With the abrupt resignation of head coach Dana "Pokey" Chatman on March 7 just prior to her team's run to the Final Four, assistant coach Bob Starkey was elevated to the position of interim head coach.  Judy Southard, associate athletic director at LSU who is chairing the search committee for a new head coach, has verified that Starkey was offered the position but has declined to take it. Starkey said he appreciated the offer but did not want the position on a permanent basis. Starkey hopes to be able to return as assistant coach, a position he first held under the late Sue Gunter, and a position he retained when Chatman was named head coach.  Skip Bertman, LSU athletics director, has said, "I won't demand that, but I would look at coaches that could keep Bob Starkey."  Another leading candidate for the job, Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey, just signed a 10-year contract extension on April 5 that reportedly pays her $1 million annually, keeping her with the Bears for the foreseeable future.

Skip Bertman has verified that Van Chancellor, former long-time Ole Miss coach and former coach of the 4-time WNBA championship team Houston Comets, will interview for the LSU job, possibly as early as this week. While doing color commentary during the NCAA Tournament, Chancellor stated that he wants to return to coaching, that LSU is "one of the best jobs in the country right now" and that he is interested in the job. Bertman said, "We want Van to meet the players, the academic advisers, the chancellor, the strength coach, everybody."  Sounds like he is already a finalist for the job, but Judy Southard stated she has spoken with "a lot of coaches." Pluses for Chancellor, a Women's Basketball Hall of Famer who will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame this September, are that he is one of the best minds in the game and he already has a proven track record in the conference. On the minus side, Chancellor is 64 years old and would not seem to be a logical choice to sign to an extended contract.  On the other hand, Chancellor could step in as coach of a Final Four team with their entire lineup intact and make an immediate impact.  Look for Chancellor to get the job, keep Starkey as an assistant, and groom his successor.

When Florida head coach Carolyn Peck was forced out at the end of the 2006-2007 season, one of the league's most popular coaches was left without a job. Peck, a former Vanderbilt star who spent time at both UT and Kentucky as an assistant, took over the program at Purdue and guided them to the National Championship in 1999.  She is the only African-American woman to lead her team to the title.  Peck then served as coach and GM of the Orlando Miracle in the WNBA, before being lured back to the SEC in 2002 to take over the program at Florida.  Peck was never able to turn the corner at Florida, finishing the 2006-2007 season at 9-22, and had an overall record of 72-76 in five seasons at the helm of the Gators.  Peck's contract was reportedly worth $300,000 per year, but with Florida currently reigning as the national champions in both football and men's basketball, athletic director Jeremy Foley is determined to find a coach to take the women's basketball team to that championship level, and he is willing to pay considerably more than what he was paying Peck. Foley states,  "I think you have to compensate people fairly, whatever the market is."  With Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma and Kim Mulkey making in the $1 million per year range, the market is decidedly on the upswing for elite coaches.

One name that had been mentioned in connection with the Florida job was Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie but her name has been taken off the market with her signing of a 5-year contract extension on March 24. Another candidate, Cal coach Joanne Boyle reportedly interviewed for the job but turned it down, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.  Which leaves University of Miami coach Katie Meier in the mix.  Whether she has interviewed or is even interested in the job remains to be seen, but this is a young coach whose name has been mentioned for several coaching vacancies.  Meier helped build the program at UNC-Charlotte before taking over at Miami in 2005.  Another name that has been mentioned is Amanda Butler, current head coach at UNC-Asheville, and former Florida player.  Butler may not have the head coaching resume that Florida AD Foley is looking for, but Butler was a "tough as nails" player at Florida in the 1990s, served as an assistant coach at Florida upon graduation before moving on to Austin Peay State University as an assistant, and has put up some impressive numbers at UNC-Charlotte.  Plus, the SEC is famous for bringing in players or assistants who came up through the league.  This one looks to be a wide open search that may not be filled anytime soon.

With the departure of Gail Goestenkors to the University of Texas, another one of the elite jobs in the nation is on the market.  Duke spent the majority of the 2006-2007 season at the top of the polls and had an undefeated season until they were upset by NC State in the ACC Tournament. They finished the season with a 32-2 record, after a heartbreaking last-second one-point loss to Rutgers in the Sweet Sixteen.  Despite Goestenkors' unparalleled success at the helm of the Blue Devils, which included 7 ACC championships and four appearances in the Final Four, "Coach G" was never able to win that elusive national championship and always labored in the large shadow of men's basketball coach Mike Kryzewski. Whoever takes over the Blue Devil program must be prepared to exist in that same shadow or be able to bring home the bacon. Goestenkors said she left the comfort of Duke after much soul-searching, and was looking for another challenge at this point in her coaching career.  Leading candidates are reported to be Cal's Joanne Boyle, a former Duke player who served as a Duke assistant for 9 years under Goestenkors. Katie Meier has also been mentioned for this vacancy, but look for Duke to go after Boyle for this one; she seems tailor-made to be "Coach G's" successor at her alma mater.

Next installment:  Some of the other high-profile vacancies around the country in women's college basketball...