OT: Dawn is leaving the USA NT team?

[oldhusky]

dawn may lose much of her recruiting advantage if she is not head coach. how many of her recruits anticipated a relationship with the olympic head coach?

She will always have being an Olympic Head Coach on her resume, a claim only a handful of college coaches can make, Tara, Geno etc.

Also anybody Dawn is currently recruiting would be very unlikely to make the next Olympic team in only three years, so if they hoped to make an Olympic team coached by Dawn, she would probably have to stay on as Olympic coach thru 2028. I'm sure most everyone recruited by a former head coach of the Olympic team considers her an Olympian for life just as they do the players.

 

[bballnut90]

I believe history shows that the womens team has always been coached by a college coach with the pros as assistants. This could just be a coincidence, but the U16, U17, and U19 are all led by college coaches, so this could be the plan by USA basketball. If they do go to a pro coach, I completely support Cheryl.

2008 had Anne Donovan (who at the time, had most recently coached Seattle Storm) and 2004 had Van Chancellor who was head coach of the Houston Comets.

 

[Vowelguy]

2008 had Anne Donovan (who at the time, had most recently coached Seattle Storm) and 2004 had Van Chancellor who was head coach of the Houston Comets.

How dare you imply that 2008 and 2004 are part of history.

 

[willtalk]

It will be a good thing that the USA coach is not coaching in collage. Remove some conflict if interest.

 

[TC22]

Poor timing on Staley’s part.
Plenty of time for this announcement.
Should have ceded center stage to the victorious players for a bit.
THEN made the announcement.
Am I surprised?
Uhhh, not so much....

She was asked the question. What was she supposed to say?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

dawn may lose much of her recruiting advantage if she is not head coach. how many of her recruits anticipated a relationship with the olympic head coach?

None. Dawn will always be connected to USA Basketball. If she was an otherwise unknown, it might be different.

Success at the college level - and players moving on to the "W" will be far more important factors than her stint as Olympic Coach.

Historically, coaches only serve one cycle. Geno was an exception. On the Men's side, Coach K and Coach Iba were the only coaches who did more than one, they each did 3. With 8 "singles" between them.

On the women's side:
Billie Moore / Sue Gunter / Pat Summitt / Kay Yow / Theresa Grentz / Tara Vanderveer / Nell Fortner / Van Chancellor / Anne Donovan / Geno / Geno / Dawn

 

[cwaduke]

Thank Dawn for such service to this great sport. I have thought that Cheryl Reeve is the best coach in the WNBA for years. We would be lucky to have her.

 

[Beemer]

I don't blame Dawn Staley for hanging it up. There is a lot of pressure on the head coach of the women's team to keep that gold medal streak (now up to 7) going & with the world working on catching up to the US nobody wants to be in charge when the streak comes to an end as it eventually will. I was always surprised that Geno stayed on for the 2016 Games.

 

[Stymie]

She was asked the question. What was she supposed to say?

Gee, maybe something like:
“Right now is the time to celebrate these dedicated women and their historic achievement; there will be plenty of time to explore that once we get back stateside.”

But I’m just spitballing.

 

[TC22]

Gee, maybe something like:
“Right now is the time to celebrate these dedicated women and their historic achievement; there will be plenty of time to explore that once we get back stateside.”

But I’m just spitballing.

Whatever. LOL.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

I don't blame Dawn Staley for hanging it up. There is a lot of pressure on the head coach of the women's team to keep that gold medal streak (now up to 7) going & with the world working on catching up to the US nobody wants to be in charge when the streak comes to an end as it eventually will. I was always surprised that Geno stayed on for the 2016 Games.

Just another record that is unlikely to be surpassed: streak of undefeated teams at FIBA Worlds and Olympics, and Gold Medals with about 1/3 of the team former or current UCONN women playing for him....

 

[eebmg]

I don't blame Dawn Staley for hanging it up. There is a lot of pressure on the head coach of the women's team to keep that gold medal streak (now up to 7) going & with the world working on catching up to the US nobody wants to be in charge when the streak comes to an end as it eventually will. I was always surprised that Geno stayed on for the 2016 Games.

I don't think Reeve is 100% sure Dawn will step down but her comments are interesting

Reeve noncommittal about interest in Team USA head coaching post - StarTribune.com

"It's all WNBA players [on the roster]," Reeve said. "I would like to see a WNBA coach lead the next team if Dawn is truly done. That's probably the extent of what I'd say on it.''

 

[CL82]

I don't think Reeve is 100% sure Dawn will step down but her comments are interesting

Reeve noncommittal about interest in Team USA head coaching post - StarTribune.com

"It's all WNBA players [on the roster]," Reeve said. "I would like to see a WNBA coach lead the next team if Dawn is truly done. That's probably the extent of what I'd say on it.''

Guard Crystal Dangerfield, who hurt her right shoulder against Las Vegas July 9 and missed the team's final game before the Olympic break, is ready to return.

 

[ucbart]

Call me crazy, and some of the boneyarders might not like this, but I think this would be ideal for Muffett. She is a masterful coach, she is retired and has a ton of time on her hands, and with such a quick turn around, I think she would be perfect for the job,

 

[UcMiami]

Call me crazy, and some of the boneyarders might not like this, but I think this would be ideal for Muffett. She is a masterful coach, she is retired and has a ton of time on her hands, and with such a quick turn around, I think she would be perfect for the job,

As far as I know McGraw has never been connected to USA basketball at any level. Doubt they go outside the 'family' to that degree. Everyone they have hired as HC has done time either as an assistant or a HC of one of the age specific teams.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

As far as I know McGraw has never been connected to USA basketball at any level. Doubt they go outside the 'family' to that degree. Everyone they have hired as HC has done time either as an assistant or a HC of one of the age specific teams.

I agree, but also agree that the concept of a non-active coach is always appealing. Regardless of what they were doing when they were chosen, both Nell Fortner and Anne Donovan were apparently otherwise not employed at Olympic time (being listed as "USA Basketball"; Geno was "UConn", Van "Houston Comets", etc.) on the website.

Also, Tara took a year to tour and develop the team for Atlanta, the US organization really didn't like the Bronze in 1992. Of course the WNBA has changed the development situation.

But while I continue to support Cheryl Reeve for the job - twice Assistant Coach, recommended and a very good coach - I do get the other concept. For example Dan Hughes was retired and Jen was not a "coach" elsewhere either at the time of the Olympics.

 

[CL82]

Call me crazy, and some of the boneyarders might not like this, but I think this would be ideal for Muffett. She is a masterful coach, she is retired and has a ton of time on her hands, and with such a quick turn around, I think she would be perfect for the job,

 

[Mdoggie]

dawn may lose much of her recruiting advantage if she is not head coach. how many of her recruits anticipated a relationship with the olympic head coach?

She is a great recruiter. It’s her personality that the recruits like. They believe she is relatable. Dawn is like that cool Auntie or big Sis who just happens to be a coach. Plus she is at a university that supports WCBB and has an awesome fan base. To imply that successful recruiting is based on her being the national team coach is to assume and is unfair.

 

[UcMiami]

I agree, but also agree that the concept of a non-active coach is always appealing. Regardless of what they were doing when they were chosen, both Nell Fortner and Anne Donovan were apparently otherwise not employed at Olympic time (being listed as "USA Basketball"; Geno was "UConn", Van "Houston Comets", etc.) on the website.

Also, Tara took a year to tour and develop the team for Atlanta, the US organization really didn't like the Bronze in 1992. Of course the WNBA has changed the development situation.

But while I continue to support Cheryl Reeve for the job - twice Assistant Coach, recommended and a very good coach - I do get the other concept. For example Dan Hughes was retired and Jen was not a "coach" elsewhere either at the time of the Olympics.

Pre-1997 the USA had no women's pro basketball so a team could be selected and trained year around which made Tara's situation unique in the lead-up to the 1996 Olympics. USA Basketball designed a special training/exhibition process in 1995 in putting together the team and it truly was a year long commitment for Tara.

Since then, the USA team has been composed of professional athletes with commitments to their pro leagues and most of the team plays 12 months a year. That restricts the USA NT practice, training, and exhibition game time to small windows a few times a year and a few weeks before the major competitions. Makes it unnecessary and unrealistic to hire a full time coach who is only going to actually work maybe 6 weeks each year.

 

[Mdoggie]

Call me crazy, and some of the boneyarders might not like this, but I think this would be ideal for Muffett. She is a masterful coach, she is retired and has a ton of time on her hands, and with such a quick turn around, I think she would be perfect for the job,

Hey!!! Crazy