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Message: [QUOTE="Dillon77, post: 3602360, member: 6620"] Happy Fourth of July weekend to you and yours. I made a point of trying to stay off social media as much as possible yesterday (save for video comms with the family) to stay in an upbeat mood on our nation's birthday. I read Mechelle V.'s column pretty early (as well as the story on Duke swatting down Gail G....ouch!), read your column where you put a pretty good high court press on most of her candidates and then took a walk to take it all it. - Like you, I thought a lot of Voepel's suggestions were mailed in, almost as if the story was taking away from her time on vacation. So if a Gail G -- representing the past and/or a more seasoned coach with no institution currently weighing her down -- is passed over, what is Kevin White looking for? You brought up the Duke brand. Do you mean the hoops brand -- which is largely dependent on what Gail G. instituted and/or the best of what Coach P. added/kept going -- with a combination of the overall Duke brand? - If so, I think you short-shifted [B]Katie Meier[/B], the double Dookiie alum, a bit. You thought they would've been terrible without Mompremier, but I thought Beatrice had her best year when paired with Emese Hof, whom Meier found in the lowlands of northern Europe. Meier established the Hurricane program from a backwater, has not had a losing season in a dozen or so years and has managed to produce All-Americans, professional players and a pretty good coaching tree, including Carolyn Kieger and Amanda Butler. [URL unfurl="true"]https://miamihurricanes.com/sports/wbball/roster/season/2020-21/coach/katie-meier/[/URL] Given the overall Duke brand, I think she can get it the players she needs. In my humble opinion, she's a pretty class act, to boot. My major thought on her is if she wants to leave Coral Gables, where she's pretty much the top of the roost. - I don't think Duke can afford to hire alums who don't have any/adequate coaching experience. Too much competition with the other Triad schools and that place in Indiana. - Your point on Duke not wanting to take on an ND coach makes sense on first blush, except for the fact that [B]Kevin White [/B]spent nearly 10 years at ND as Athletic Director before coming to Duke. He is a huge admirer of Muffet McGraw. At the very least, I'd expect him to put a call into MM for her thoughts on some candidates he might have in mind. - I'd be interested in your take on whether White might go after a [B]Joanna Bernabei-McNamee[/B],from BC, who is young, charismatic and seems to be getting Chestnut Hill interesting again. - Also, what about the young Dayton coach, [B]Ms. Shauna Green[/B], who looks to be ready for a step up.? Or is this one step too far? You've brought up that some of the folks in these mid-majors might not be ready for that step, but how is one to know? Remember, Coach K came from directly from Army to Duke? Shouldn't he have done a tour at another school? - Usually someone drops a few big names in on searches like this, but I'm not sure now would be the time to leave the security of a superb situation and/or institution. Which is why I can'r resist bringing up you-know- who from Louisville. If Coach Walz is ever going to bolt the Cardinal coop, this might be the time and place. Another possible person: [B]Kim Barnes Arico[/B], who has done really well at Michigan, but might do even better at Duke, where she could utilize her East coast connections (NJ resident/stellar job at St. John's in Queens) [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach