Coaching changes 2020

[Plebe]

Much like the transfers scene, I thought it might be helpful to centralize these at the top of a thread.

School​	Conference​	Former HC​	Years​	New HC​
Alcorn State	SWAC	Courtney G. Pruitt	5	Nate Kilbert
Brown	Ivy	Sarah Behn	6	Monique LeBlanc
Cal St Northridge	Big West	Jason Flowers	10	Lindsey Foster (interim)
Chicago State	WAC	Misty Opat	2	Tiffany Sardin
Coppin State	MEAC	DeWayne Burroughs	4	Laura Harper
Detroit Mercy	Horizon	Bernard Scott	5	AnnMarie Gilbert
Drexel	Colonial	Denise Dillon	17	Amy Mallon
Duke	ACC	Joanne P. McCallie	13	Kara Lawson
Florida A&M	MEAC	Kevin Lynum	1	Shalon Pillow
Florida International	C-USA	Tiara Malcolm	4	Jesyka Burks-Wiley
Grand Canyon	WAC	Nicole Powell	3	Molly Miller
Holy Cross	Patriot	BIll Gibbons	33	Maureen Magarity
Merrimack	Northeast	Monique LeBlanc	9	Kelly Morrone
Mississippi State	SEC	Vic Schaefer	8	Nikki McCray-Penson
Montana	Big Sky	Shannon Schweyen	4	Mike Petrino
Navy	Patriot	Stefanie Pemper	12	Tim Taylor
New Hampshire	America East	Maureen Magarity	10	Kelsey Hogan
North Dakota	Summit	Travis Brewster	8	Mallory Bernhard (interim)
Northwestern State	Southland	Jordan Dupuy	4	Anna Nimz
Notre Dame	ACC	Muffet McGraw	33	Niele Ivey
Old Dominion	Colonial	Nikki McCray-Penson	3	DeLisha Milton-Jones
Omaha	Summit	Brittany Lange	7	Carrie Banks
SC Upstate	Big South	Tammy George	15	Becky Burke
Tennessee State	Ohio Valley	Jessica Kern	3	Ty Evans
Texas	Big 12	Karen Aston	8	Vic Schaefer
Texas Tech	Big 12	Marlene Stollings	2	Krista Gerlich
UC Riverside	Big West	John Margaritis	15	Nicole Powell
UNC Asheville	Big South	Brenda Kirkpatrick Brown	8	Honey Brown
UNLV	Mountain West	Kathy Olivier	12	Lindy La Rocque
UT Arlington	Sun Belt	Krista Gerlich	7	Shereka Wright
Utah State	Mountain West	Jerry Finkbeiner	6	Kayla Ard
Villanova	Big East	Harry Perretta	42	Denise Dillon
Winthrop	Big South	Lynette Woodard	3	Semeka Randall Lay (interim)

Also worth mentioning, although not D-I, is the retirement of Gulf Coast State College head coach Roonie Scovel, who in 22 years led GCSC to six NJCAA national championships. Story
..

 

[Centerstream]

Nothing to do with the OP but I have been wondering about this.
It appears former VA coach Joanne Boyle has gotten her adoption issues resolved and her child is in the US with Joanne.
Any clue on if she might express any interest in any of the openings?
Thanks for allowing the interruption.

 

[CocoHusky]

Slightly related is this thread.

Coaching hot seats

Who is at risk of getting the boot once the season finishes? I dont know the contract breakdown by coaches, but ones I'd expect to be on the hot seat include: Travis Mays-SMU Sherri Coale-Oklahoma Jonathan Tsipis-Wisconsin Karen Aston-Texas Stephanie White-Vanderbilt

the-boneyard.com

I believe
Karen Aston at Texas
Sue Semrau at FSU
JPM at Duke
Sherri Coale-Oklahoma
All have expiring contracts come April?? Anyone else?

 

[southie]

Aston's contract expires sometime in the next few months. No word of any extension yet . . .

Texas athletes, coaches come to grips with stoppage, all wonder what’s next | Hookem.com

What about men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart’s status? He could not be reached Friday. What about Aston, who’s in the final year of her contract?

“I’m anticipating being the coach at the University of Texas,” Aston said. “The time will come when I’ll sit down with (Del Conte) and we’ll talk about the future of my program, my staff, but this isn’t the right time.”

Aston paused and noted, “Things that we think are important are on the back burner right now.”

 

[DefenseBB]

Slightly related is this thread.

Coaching hot seats

Who is at risk of getting the boot once the season finishes? I dont know the contract breakdown by coaches, but ones I'd expect to be on the hot seat include: Travis Mays-SMU Sherri Coale-Oklahoma Jonathan Tsipis-Wisconsin Karen Aston-Texas Stephanie White-Vanderbilt

the-boneyard.com

I believe
Karen Aston at Texas
Sue Semrau at FSU
JPM at Duke
Sherri Coale-Oklahoma
All have expiring contracts come April?? Anyone else?

Aston and Semrau do have an expiring contract this year. Coale, JPM do not have contracts expiring. I think we covered some of these names in pretty good detail on when the contracts expire. Stephanie White has been an abject failure but has 2 more years and Vanderbilt is in the red so they are stuck with her. Maybe the Auburn coach is at risk...

 

[Plebe]

Somehow I'd missed Olivier's resignation from UNLV back on March 6. Anyway, they just hired Stanford assistant Lindy La Rocque as their new HC.

Lindy La Rocque Chosen To Lead UNLV Women's Basketball Program - University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – Lindy La Rocque has been named the new head women's basketball coach at UNLV, Director of Athletics Desiree Reed-Francois announced

unlvrebels.com

 

[nwhoopfan]

Somehow I'd missed Olivier's resignation from UNLV back on March 6. Anyway, they just hired Stanford assistant Lindy La Rocque as their new HC.

Lindy La Rocque Chosen To Lead UNLV Women's Basketball Program - University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – Lindy La Rocque has been named the new head women's basketball coach at UNLV, Director of Athletics Desiree Reed-Francois announced

unlvrebels.com

I remember her playing days, wasn't all that long ago. She must be right around or just under 30? Young for a head coach. Good luck to her.

 

[Lorcan]

I remember her playing days, wasn't all that long ago. She must be right around or just under 30? Young for a head coach. Good luck to her.

The infamous dive versus Cal is one of my favorite memories of Lindy. Such a fabulous player, and after stints at Oklahoma, Belmont, and Stanford as a coach, I can't wait to see how she does. If her players play with this sort of dedication, it'll be a fantastic time in Vegas.

 

[Lorcan]

Also, per Stanford, "La Rocque will become the second-youngest head coach in Division I women's basketball and adds another branch to the Tara VanDerveer coaching tree." I'm not sure who the youngest head coach in D1 WBB is. Perhaps Lauren Sumski over at Lipscomb?

 

[Plebe]

The infamous dive versus Cal is one of my favorite memories of Lindy. Such a fabulous player, and after stints at Oklahoma, Belmont, and Stanford as a coach, I can't wait to see how she does. If her players play with this sort of dedication, it'll be a fantastic time in Vegas.

Amazing play!

 

[G-Dawg]

One of my very good friends, Missy Bilderback, was just named the new head women's basketball coach at Northwestern State Univ. in Louisiana (Southland Conference). She's a fantastic coach with players all over D1 from her time in JUCO ranks. We coached HS ball together for several years (I was the boys coach, she was the girls coach). I know it's not a Power 5 school, but she can coach and I wouldn't be surprised to see her at a Power 5 someday.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Aston and Semrau do have an expiring contract this year. Coale, JPM do not have contracts expiring. I think we covered some of these names in pretty good detail on when the contracts expire. Stephanie White has been an abject failure but has 2 more years and Vanderbilt is in the red so they are stuck with her. Maybe the Auburn coach is at risk...

I'm not sure I'm understanding Sue Semrau's inclusion. While less than final-four spectacular, I don't think her performance has been sub-par. If it has, I could give you a list (including CVS) of coaches who have done worse and would need to go.

 

[Plebe]

One of my very good friends, Missy Bilderback, was just named the new head women's basketball coach at Northwestern State Univ. in Louisiana (Southland Conference). She's a fantastic coach with players all over D1 from her time in JUCO ranks. We coached HS ball together for several years (I was the boys coach, she was the girls coach). I know it's not a Power 5 school, but she can coach and I wouldn't be surprised to see her at a Power 5 someday.

Thanks for this info! I had forgotten that Northwestern State's previous head coach had resigned midseason (January 26) and they'd been under an interim HC since: Dupuy out as Lady Demons’ coach; Swinson is interim

Everyone starts somewhere, and even the lowest rungs of D-I represents a step up for the vast majority of the coaching ranks. Here's a nice article about coach Bilderbeck:

Missy Bilderback leaves Jones College for Northwestern State

Missy Bilderback took the reins of Jones College women’s basketball in 2015 and raised the standard of success.After five seasons, 127 wins, three Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College championships and four straight Region 23 titles, Bilderback is rising to another level.

www.wdam.com

 

[bballnut90]

I'm not sure I'm understanding Sue Semrau's inclusion. While less than final-four spectacular, I don't think her performance has been sub-par. If it has, I could give you a list (including CVS) of coaches who have done worse and would need to go.

Semrau ain't going anywhere, just her contract needs to be renewed. She's a fantastic coach. FSU always has a dangerous team.

 

[Plebe]

Semrau ain't going anywhere, just her contract needs to be renewed. She's a fantastic coach. FSU always has a dangerous team.

Strange that they wouldn't renew her before the end of the expiration season. Doesn't send a positive message for recruiting purposes.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

You would think the coronavirus would make ADs a little more reluctant to engage in coaching searches. Likely a year where coaches get a lot of benefit of the doubt.

 

[DefenseBB]

I'm not sure I'm understanding Sue Semrau's inclusion. While less than final-four spectacular, I don't think her performance has been sub-par. If it has, I could give you a list (including CVS) of coaches who have done worse and would need to go.

My response was to give clarity to Coco on all the names they listed and when their contract was expiring. I think Semrau actually saved her job after their swoon during the mid-season with her strong performance at the end. I think @Crazyhorse could give a better perspective on her trend and the school's thinking .

As far as CVS goes, some people just don't know when to leave the party. Interestingly enough, FSU had the same issue with Bobby Bowdoin, but I don't see Rutgers forcing CVS to retire (though they should). ​

Texas and Aston are in a much tougher positions, on the one hand, Aston has made the program relevant again after Gail G nearly imploded the program (sorry GG lovers but she was terrible here), but Karen sole's claim is ability to recruit, not coach games and certainly not improve players. Her recruiting is now tailing off as I think players are catching on she's not great on the coaching front. Texas has put significant money and personnel into this program and wants to be a contender for National Championships yet they are barely a top 26 program, if that. Sound familiar yet? Is there a coach out there they think could do better, not sure as Texas is a prickly ground to compete so you need roots from there.

 

[UcMiami]

Semrau ain't going anywhere, just her contract needs to be renewed. She's a fantastic coach. FSU always has a dangerous team.

Strange that they wouldn't renew her before the end of the expiration season. Doesn't send a positive message for recruiting purposes.

It always takes two to complete a contract so who knows what is going on - GG for example wasn't signing at Duke for what they were offering.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

As far as CVS goes, some people just don't know when to leave the party. Interestingly enough, FSU had the same issue with Bobby Bowdoin, but I don't see Rutgers forcing CVS to retire (though they should).

Its complicated, though -

On the plus side, she has made recruiting relevant again and - to be honest - her won / lost record is not awful. Many folks have always over-stated expectations based on her annual records. Rutgers isn't awful and was affected this season by - among other things - injuries.

On the negative, apart from folks issues with style of play, etc (I'm of the just win group) there is the on-going issues with recruiting the "right" players - I'm really thinking of Davenport who appeared to those who follow closely to have been too slow for the style Vivian demands. Also, how involved she is in coaching minute to minute during games appears to vary, with the Associate Head Coach more active than you would expect.

I don't have the answer, and because I liked her in person I am not among those who say she needs to go now, but I am certain she is nearing the end of her career.

 

[Dillon77]

The infamous dive versus Cal is one of my favorite memories of Lindy. Such a fabulous player, and after stints at Oklahoma, Belmont, and Stanford as a coach, I can't wait to see how she does. If her players play with this sort of dedication, it'll be a fantastic time in Vegas.

Also, per Stanford, "La Rocque will become the second-youngest head coach in Division I women's basketball and adds another branch to the Tara VanDerveer coaching tree." I'm not sure who the youngest head coach in D1 WBB is. Perhaps Lauren Sumski over at Lipscomb?

If memory and persuing web sites are lined up correctly, didn't La Rocque coach guards/perimeter players at Benmont at Stanford. During that time, I remember Benmont having a potent outside attack and she was coaching Ms. Carrington and Williams on a day-to-day basis. If so, I'd say a lot of her players have already picked up on her "all-in" style.

I'm sure it's just coincidental that Carrington entering the portal and La Rocque leaving happened around the same time. But it is interesting.

Lastly, Lindy La Rocque flows off the tongue nicely, Kind of like Mickey Mantle.

 

[southie]

No real update on Aston:

Golden’s nuggets: In light of outbreak, Del Conte mum on Smart, Aston

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte knew before the season started that he would have a difficult decision to make with the men’s and women’s basketball programs once their respective seasons end…

www.statesman.com

 

[DefenseBB]

No real update on Aston:

Golden’s nuggets: In light of outbreak, Del Conte mum on Smart, Aston

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte knew before the season started that he would have a difficult decision to make with the men’s and women’s basketball programs once their respective seasons end…

www.statesman.com

I think the writing is on the wall for Smart-he's toast. For Aston, the virus situation may actually be helping her keep her job though she shouldn't. Keep in mind she had recruited regularly in the top 10 player classes with elite top 10 players but now, those players have regressed, transferred or are not signing the LOI.
In her last 6 full cycle recruiting classes (can't count 2012-13 year as those players were already declared and many of the 2013-14 were verbals).
2020 #16 Class of 4 is rated top 20 but their top commit is #52. far cry from top 10
2019 #-
2018 #3 Notable is Sedona Prince left
2017 #3 All 3 players left-Booth, Patterson, Littleton
2016 #4 All 3 stayed this their senior year including Joyner Holmes who was PN-#1 player
2015 #6 All 3 stayed
2014 #11 2 of the 4 left.

If this ability to attract talent but never develop into a top 8 program doesn't scream-NEW COACH Wanted, I don't know what will. What's your take?

 

[southie]

I think the writing is on the wall for Smart-he's toast. For Aston, the virus situation may actually be helping her keep her job though she shouldn't. Keep in mind she had recruited regularly in the top 10 player classes with elite top 10 players but now, those players have regressed, transferred or are not signing the LOI.
In her last 6 full cycle recruiting classes (can't count 2012-13 year as those players were already declared and many of the 2013-14 were verbals).
2020 #16 Class of 4 is rated top 20 but their top commit is #52. far cry from top 10
2019 #-
2018 #3 Notable is Sedona Prince left
2017 #3 All 3 players left-Booth, Patterson, Littleton
2016 #4 All 3 stayed this their senior year including Joyner Holmes who was PN-#1 player
2015 #6 All 3 stayed
2014 #11 2 of the 4 left.

If this ability to attract talent but never develop into a top 8 program doesn't scream-NEW COACH Wanted, I don't know what will. What's your take?

I actually think the opposite. Most insiders believe Shaka Smart saved his job by winning 5 of last 6 games to end the season; and, Texas does NOT want to spend $10.5 million on his guaranteed buyout. Right now, a 2020 local Top 10 national recruit named Greg Brown (whose father played football at Texas) has stated openly that Shaka Smart will be the reason he most likely signs with Texas in a few weeks.

Aston's contract is expiring; no money involved in not extending her. Back in May 2018, our new AD allowed our softball head coach's contract to expire. So, there is a precedent he has established on how he handles expiring contracts. Prior to that, Texas had never allowed any head coach to go into their final contract year without having either fired the coach, or extended their contract 2-4 years.

 

[Plebe]

I actually think the opposite. Most insiders believe Shaka Smart saved his job by winning 5 of last 6 games to end the season; and, Texas does NOT want to spend $10.5 million on his guaranteed buyout. Right now, a 2020 local Top 10 national recruit named Greg Brown (whose father played football at Texas) has stated openly that Shaka Smart will be the reason he most likely signs with Texas in a few weeks.

Aston's contract is expiring; no money involved in not extending her. Back in May 2018, our new AD allowed our softball head coach's contract to expire. So, there is a precedent he has established on how he handles expiring contracts. Prior to that, Texas had never allowed any head coach to go into their final contract year without having either fired the coach, or extended their contract 2-4 years.

Some people are saying that the Texas AD renewed the soccer coach’s contract in a situation similar to Aston’s. Is that accurate?

 

[DefenseBB]

Some people are saying that the Texas AD renewed the soccer coach’s contract in a situation similar to Aston’s. Is that accurate?

Ok, so I looked up the situation, the article I found in Dec 2018 didn't say when the original was to expire only that the school decided to extend it through the 2023 season (expiring in February of 2024. She seems to have revived/created the program to be a national contender coming over from Tennessee (ouch!). Enticing Mike White from Oregon was unbelievable and proves that Texas wants National contenders in their sports. So with @southie input from above (thank you Southie!), I am inclined to think Karen's days are numbered (and should be) as she is trending the wrong way. What I am not clear on is are you saying that the AD will renew Aston's contract similar to the Angela Kelly situation or only they were/are in the similar situation?