A source inside the University of Southern California confirmed this morning that all three women's basketball assistant coaches were no longer with the program. Laura Beeman and Mary Wooley left on their own to take coaching jobs at the University of Hawaii. The source would not elaborate on the departure of the third assistant, Michael Cooper II, but said that there were "a number of people at USC who really care about the program and who are making sure that the right things are done."
Michael Cooper is still the head women's basketball coach.
Apparently, disgruntled feelings about the program surfaced within staff ranks a long time ago, according to the source.
"There's no reason that a team with (up to) nine All-Americans should fail to make the playoffs year after year," said the source.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
So many changes
A little more on Baylor:
Same story, but the link is worth hitting because of the video commentary by ESPN's Andy Katz on what could happen to the school's two basketball programs.
Conference change:
Georgia State will join the Sun Belt Conference in the fall of 2013.
Coaching changes:
Sandy Botham has resigned as Wisconsin-Milwaukee's coach, and will take an administrative position at the school.
Susan Robinson Fruchtl is the new coach at Providence.
Looks like Mary Wooley, who has been an assistant coach at USC for three seasons, is now working with fellow former assistant Laura Beeman, who is now the head coach at Hawaii.
Hey recruits, you can sign here and not worry for a while:
Jim Crowley's contact at St. Bonaventure has been extended through the 2017 season.
Like Mingo:
Northern Iowa's Jacqui Kelin has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA, after having to sit out two seasons with major injuries.
High school:
ESPN ranks their top 10 players of the year.
WNBA:
LaChina Robinson's draft preview. Only one more week til draft day.
Post-pro:
Remember Astou Ndiaye-Diatta? Me too. She spoke at an Ohio University conference recently about her journey from Africa to pro ball.
Same story, but the link is worth hitting because of the video commentary by ESPN's Andy Katz on what could happen to the school's two basketball programs.
Conference change:
Georgia State will join the Sun Belt Conference in the fall of 2013.
Coaching changes:
Sandy Botham has resigned as Wisconsin-Milwaukee's coach, and will take an administrative position at the school.
Susan Robinson Fruchtl is the new coach at Providence.
Looks like Mary Wooley, who has been an assistant coach at USC for three seasons, is now working with fellow former assistant Laura Beeman, who is now the head coach at Hawaii.
Hey recruits, you can sign here and not worry for a while:
Jim Crowley's contact at St. Bonaventure has been extended through the 2017 season.
Like Mingo:
Northern Iowa's Jacqui Kelin has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA, after having to sit out two seasons with major injuries.
High school:
ESPN ranks their top 10 players of the year.
WNBA:
LaChina Robinson's draft preview. Only one more week til draft day.
Post-pro:
Remember Astou Ndiaye-Diatta? Me too. She spoke at an Ohio University conference recently about her journey from Africa to pro ball.
Pro hopefuls showcase their skills at camp during Final Four
In the midst of Final Four activities last weekend, I attended the pro camp of Merit Management Group and its President, Stephanie Stanley. Dozens of quality players from colleges across the country showed off their skills for several WNBA coaches. It was an impressive display; a very well-run camp.
Today, one of those athletes - UCLA graduate Darxia Morris - signed with the Sparks as a result of her participation in the day-long event.
Stanley has been running the camp for 15 years, which is almost the entire lifetime of the WNBA. Her experience and expertise in running free agent camps is unmatched.
Today, one of those athletes - UCLA graduate Darxia Morris - signed with the Sparks as a result of her participation in the day-long event.
Stanley has been running the camp for 15 years, which is almost the entire lifetime of the WNBA. Her experience and expertise in running free agent camps is unmatched.
Baylor may face sanctions over possible illegal recruiting
Scandal:
The men's and women's basketball programs at Baylor University are facing possible NCAA sanctions following an investigation that uncovered more than 1,200 impermissible phone calls and text messages during a 29-month span.
Men's coach Scott Drew, women's coach Kim Mulkey and their assistants, were involved in the impermissible phone calls and texts. ESPN.com obtained a copy of the summary disposition, which was produced by the NCAA enforcement committee and Baylor.......
The 66-page report documented a handful of secondary violations against a number of the school's programs, but it focused on the phone calls and texts. The NCAA enforcement staff labeled the improprieties as "major violations," mainly because of the frequency with which they occurred.
Combined, the men's and women's basketball programs sent 738 impermissible text messages and made 528 impermissible calls over a span of nearly two-and-a-half years.
What does this mean for the future of Coach Kim Mulkey's program?
The men's and women's basketball programs at Baylor University are facing possible NCAA sanctions following an investigation that uncovered more than 1,200 impermissible phone calls and text messages during a 29-month span.
Men's coach Scott Drew, women's coach Kim Mulkey and their assistants, were involved in the impermissible phone calls and texts. ESPN.com obtained a copy of the summary disposition, which was produced by the NCAA enforcement committee and Baylor.......
The 66-page report documented a handful of secondary violations against a number of the school's programs, but it focused on the phone calls and texts. The NCAA enforcement staff labeled the improprieties as "major violations," mainly because of the frequency with which they occurred.
Combined, the men's and women's basketball programs sent 738 impermissible text messages and made 528 impermissible calls over a span of nearly two-and-a-half years.
What does this mean for the future of Coach Kim Mulkey's program?
Sunday, April 8, 2012
This quiet period is nice
News:
UCLA-bound Nirra Fields is one newspaper's California player of the year. Hers is an interesting story that involves living in different homes to facilitate the rise of her basketball career. A very determined young woman.
Penn State Coach Coquese Washington's success this year was good, but she says she's "not satisfied."
Interesting Q & A with Montana Coach Wayne Tinkle on his daughter Joslyn, aka the Stanford forward.
Iowa freshman Kathryn Reynolds has torn her ACL.
Coaching shifts:
Here's the list of positions that have been filled and not filled.
Karen Aston has taken over at Texas.
Raegen Pebley is Fresno State's new coach.
Players leaving:
From Tennessee-Martin - starters Jessica Haislip and Aubrey Reedy, as well as Beth Hawn.
Olympics:
Tamika Catchings talks about being named to her third Olympic team, the unfilled twelfth spot, and other things.
UCLA-bound Nirra Fields is one newspaper's California player of the year. Hers is an interesting story that involves living in different homes to facilitate the rise of her basketball career. A very determined young woman.
Penn State Coach Coquese Washington's success this year was good, but she says she's "not satisfied."
Interesting Q & A with Montana Coach Wayne Tinkle on his daughter Joslyn, aka the Stanford forward.
Iowa freshman Kathryn Reynolds has torn her ACL.
Coaching shifts:
Here's the list of positions that have been filled and not filled.
Karen Aston has taken over at Texas.
Raegen Pebley is Fresno State's new coach.
Players leaving:
From Tennessee-Martin - starters Jessica Haislip and Aubrey Reedy, as well as Beth Hawn.
Olympics:
Tamika Catchings talks about being named to her third Olympic team, the unfilled twelfth spot, and other things.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Mercedes Russell narrows down her school choices
Top class of 2013 recruit Mercedes Russell has narrowed down her college choices. The number of schools that remain on her list indicates how many offers she has already had.....wow:
Mercedes said she had decided that she will play basketball at Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Georgia, USC, Duke, North Carolina, LSU or Baylor, the 2012 national champion.
Mercedes said she had decided that she will play basketball at Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Georgia, USC, Duke, North Carolina, LSU or Baylor, the 2012 national champion.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Griner wins Wooden Award; All-American Team named
Baylor center Brittney Griner won the John R. Wooden Award tonight at a ceremony in Los Angeles. Griner couldn't be there due to academic obligations, according to assistant coach Damion McKinney, who spoke to the audience on her behalf. The ceremony was streamed live online.
Four of the other nominees completed the All-American Team: Nnemkadi Ogwumike of Stanford, Julie Wojta of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Elena Delle Donne of Delaware, and Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame. The ceremony is still going on at this time, and official releases are not yet up on the Wooden Award website.
The emcee for the event brought up the above four prior to announcing the award, and interviewed all of them together. Before he did so, he told those in the audience not to compare men's and women's basketball, because each has their own place. He also had all the men raise their right hands and solemnly swear to watch more women's hoops. Pretty cool.
After Ogwumike, Wojta, Delle Donne and Diggins left the stage, the coaches of each player then came up and took turns speaking about their athletes.
Four of the other nominees completed the All-American Team: Nnemkadi Ogwumike of Stanford, Julie Wojta of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Elena Delle Donne of Delaware, and Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame. The ceremony is still going on at this time, and official releases are not yet up on the Wooden Award website.
The emcee for the event brought up the above four prior to announcing the award, and interviewed all of them together. Before he did so, he told those in the audience not to compare men's and women's basketball, because each has their own place. He also had all the men raise their right hands and solemnly swear to watch more women's hoops. Pretty cool.
After Ogwumike, Wojta, Delle Donne and Diggins left the stage, the coaches of each player then came up and took turns speaking about their athletes.
Final Four bits
Check out my Final Four photo gallery, which starts at the end and runs to the beginning, at Saturday open practices. Lots of good stuff.
The Final Four begins for fans on Saturday, when each team has a one-hour open practice that the public can attend. This session is either followed or preceded by a press conference for the media.
Notre Dame ended their practice by doing a unified Irish jig for fans. The court side emcee took Brittany Mallory aside and asked her why she was the glue for the team, and she said "a lot of people on our team are really emotional," and they needed her to hold them down.
After the UConn practice, the WBCA All-America team was named. Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt showed up with assistants Holly Warlick and Dean Lockwood to support Glory Johnson, named to the team. I ran into some of the team members in the hallway after the ceremony, including Delle Donne, who seemed like a Redwood tree to me.
Baylor's practice was spirited, in part due to Coach Kim Mulkey, who was suffering from Bell's Palsy. Nevertheless, she stepped on to the court and got involved in some drills. "Mooooove! Mooooove! Mooooooooove!" she extolled.
At the press conference later, Mulkey had Brittney Griner repeat her answer to a question twice: she is not leaving Baylor early to enter the WNBA. Apparently they've been asked that question a lot.
After the practices was the WBCA High School All-American game. It was a bit one-sided, as the White Team lead the Navy Team throughout, and won by 12 points. I especially enjoyed the games of Duke commit Alexis Jones and Notre Dame recruit Jewell Loyd.
Who knows how we will look back on this game? It was in the 2009 WBCA game that Griner and Skylar Diggins starred, and were made MVPs of their respective teams. (I interviewed each in the locker room afterwards). And in their junior years playing against one another for a title? No fiction ever touches real life.
It was a personal thrill to see and talk to Summitt and Warlick.
Sunday:
I was running back to my hotel that morning and stopped in full stride when I saw the Baylor bus parked with the driver in it. I knocked on the door, and he opened it.
David was funny and cool. He'd driven them since round one, and said they'd grown so used to him that they'd taken to rubbing his head. He asked me, with a twinkle in his eye, "Whoooo's going to win?" He had grown fond of them too - I could tell.
The semis were the opposite of what fans had projected: the Notre Dame-UConn game was the thriller, going to overtime, while the Baylor-Stanford match up turned into a solid win by the Bears.
Monday:
The WBCA Awards were pretty special, as I posted previously here. I'm surprised the organization doesn't post the transcripts of all the coach's acceptance speeches, because some were extremely moving.
Brittney Griner won the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Trophy and the Defensive POY award. She was a bit shy in her speeches, on the second trip up apologizing to the audience for "having to listen to her again." More on this in a bit.
Mulkey, who Saturday had said that she'd had worse than Bell's Palsy, on this night said that the ailment was "kicking her rear." Her eyes were watering and light bothered her, in addition to the drooping left side of her face. I really respect what she went through to coach her team to a title.
Tuesday:
It snowed fiercely in Denver in the morning. Apparently the same storm that made tornadoes in Texas put snow in the mile-high city. It was flurrying and cold, the temperature having dropped 50 degrees from Friday and the weekend. No bueno.
After the championship game, Mulkey said a few things. Of Griner's work ethic she said, "That child comes to work EVERY DAY." In the press conference, Griner was again funny, a bit shy, and self-effacing. In the haste of fans to make college players larger than life, they forget that they're just kids. Ages 18-22 may be adult in the eyes of the law, but not in the ways of life.
Notes:
- Nnemkadi Ogwumike was incredibly poised after having lost her last collegiate game. Her maturity was exceptional.
- Stanford freshman point guard Amber Orrange doesn't seem to know how good she is yet. She's shy like Griner.
- In the loser's locker rooms both nights, I found myself wanting to give some of the players a hug.
- I don't like the way the minute the game is over, some reporters are asking teams about next year. Let them enjoy or think about the moment. A media member also asked Mulkey about Griner leaving early after the championship game (again!) and Mulkey gave the person a mouthful. I'm not sure why some reporters ask the questions they do. The most interesting part of interviews, for me, is finding out about the people behind the game.
- Honoring the former Olympic basketball coaches during the semifinals was a wonderful idea. Seeing all those legends up there gave me goosebumps.
- Coaches reported a great WBCA Convention this year. It was quite the sight each day, them flooding out of the Denver Convention Center. I saw quite a few of the West coast coaches I know, because everyone knows the women's basketball world is small.
I will have one more story out of the Final Four, so stay tuned.
The Final Four begins for fans on Saturday, when each team has a one-hour open practice that the public can attend. This session is either followed or preceded by a press conference for the media.
Notre Dame ended their practice by doing a unified Irish jig for fans. The court side emcee took Brittany Mallory aside and asked her why she was the glue for the team, and she said "a lot of people on our team are really emotional," and they needed her to hold them down.
After the UConn practice, the WBCA All-America team was named. Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt showed up with assistants Holly Warlick and Dean Lockwood to support Glory Johnson, named to the team. I ran into some of the team members in the hallway after the ceremony, including Delle Donne, who seemed like a Redwood tree to me.
Baylor's practice was spirited, in part due to Coach Kim Mulkey, who was suffering from Bell's Palsy. Nevertheless, she stepped on to the court and got involved in some drills. "Mooooove! Mooooove! Mooooooooove!" she extolled.
At the press conference later, Mulkey had Brittney Griner repeat her answer to a question twice: she is not leaving Baylor early to enter the WNBA. Apparently they've been asked that question a lot.
After the practices was the WBCA High School All-American game. It was a bit one-sided, as the White Team lead the Navy Team throughout, and won by 12 points. I especially enjoyed the games of Duke commit Alexis Jones and Notre Dame recruit Jewell Loyd.
Who knows how we will look back on this game? It was in the 2009 WBCA game that Griner and Skylar Diggins starred, and were made MVPs of their respective teams. (I interviewed each in the locker room afterwards). And in their junior years playing against one another for a title? No fiction ever touches real life.
It was a personal thrill to see and talk to Summitt and Warlick.
Sunday:
I was running back to my hotel that morning and stopped in full stride when I saw the Baylor bus parked with the driver in it. I knocked on the door, and he opened it.
David was funny and cool. He'd driven them since round one, and said they'd grown so used to him that they'd taken to rubbing his head. He asked me, with a twinkle in his eye, "Whoooo's going to win?" He had grown fond of them too - I could tell.
The semis were the opposite of what fans had projected: the Notre Dame-UConn game was the thriller, going to overtime, while the Baylor-Stanford match up turned into a solid win by the Bears.
Monday:
The WBCA Awards were pretty special, as I posted previously here. I'm surprised the organization doesn't post the transcripts of all the coach's acceptance speeches, because some were extremely moving.
Brittney Griner won the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Trophy and the Defensive POY award. She was a bit shy in her speeches, on the second trip up apologizing to the audience for "having to listen to her again." More on this in a bit.
Mulkey, who Saturday had said that she'd had worse than Bell's Palsy, on this night said that the ailment was "kicking her rear." Her eyes were watering and light bothered her, in addition to the drooping left side of her face. I really respect what she went through to coach her team to a title.
Tuesday:
It snowed fiercely in Denver in the morning. Apparently the same storm that made tornadoes in Texas put snow in the mile-high city. It was flurrying and cold, the temperature having dropped 50 degrees from Friday and the weekend. No bueno.
After the championship game, Mulkey said a few things. Of Griner's work ethic she said, "That child comes to work EVERY DAY." In the press conference, Griner was again funny, a bit shy, and self-effacing. In the haste of fans to make college players larger than life, they forget that they're just kids. Ages 18-22 may be adult in the eyes of the law, but not in the ways of life.
Notes:
- Nnemkadi Ogwumike was incredibly poised after having lost her last collegiate game. Her maturity was exceptional.
- Stanford freshman point guard Amber Orrange doesn't seem to know how good she is yet. She's shy like Griner.
- In the loser's locker rooms both nights, I found myself wanting to give some of the players a hug.
- I don't like the way the minute the game is over, some reporters are asking teams about next year. Let them enjoy or think about the moment. A media member also asked Mulkey about Griner leaving early after the championship game (again!) and Mulkey gave the person a mouthful. I'm not sure why some reporters ask the questions they do. The most interesting part of interviews, for me, is finding out about the people behind the game.
- Honoring the former Olympic basketball coaches during the semifinals was a wonderful idea. Seeing all those legends up there gave me goosebumps.
- Coaches reported a great WBCA Convention this year. It was quite the sight each day, them flooding out of the Denver Convention Center. I saw quite a few of the West coast coaches I know, because everyone knows the women's basketball world is small.
I will have one more story out of the Final Four, so stay tuned.
Coaching changes again
Coaching changes:
Longtime Notre Dame assistant coach Jonathan Tsipis is George Washington's new coach.
Yolanda Wells-Broughton has resigned as Texas Southern head coach.
Cameron Newbauer has left his assistant coaching job at Georgia for the same position at Louisville.
Sallie Guillory leaves her position as McNeese State assistant to take the same job at Louisiana-Lafayette.
AD letter:
Keisha Campbell cited an "overly stressful work environment" as the reason for leaving her Athletic Director position at Hampton University.
Bonus:
The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame has named Pat Summitt the Tennesseean of the Year.
Longtime Notre Dame assistant coach Jonathan Tsipis is George Washington's new coach.
Yolanda Wells-Broughton has resigned as Texas Southern head coach.
Cameron Newbauer has left his assistant coaching job at Georgia for the same position at Louisville.
Sallie Guillory leaves her position as McNeese State assistant to take the same job at Louisiana-Lafayette.
AD letter:
Keisha Campbell cited an "overly stressful work environment" as the reason for leaving her Athletic Director position at Hampton University.
Bonus:
The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame has named Pat Summitt the Tennesseean of the Year.
Drey Mingo gets sixth year
Boilermaker forward Drey Mingo has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. She has encountered hardship during her college hoops career, including contracting bacterial meningitis in 2010, and tearing her ACL the next year.
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