This is not quite accurate, because it ignores the actions of AD Chris Plonsky and former Assistant Coach Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil.
In very short summary, Plonsky told Goestenkors not to keep any of the Texas assistant coaches, so she did not (and brought some of her own people). Davis-Wrightsil was outraged and essentially trashed Texas and Coach G to all of her connections in the Texas high school basketball scene -- and believe me, Davis-Wrightsi's network and contacts were extensive.
Gail's contacts were with AAU coaches, which worked very well in her recruiting strongholds - DC/MD/VA and NY/NJ/PA. In Texas, the high school/local coaches are the ones with the power and the sway, so to speak.
Gail did not have the right contacts for Texas, but the actions of Plonsky and Davis-Wrightsil all but guaranteed that Texas would not be getting the top-tier in-state recruits during her tenure.
See my above comments about Plonsky and Davis-Wrightsil. But truth be told, Goestenkors needed to really get someone entrenched in Texas recruiting, which Davis-Wrightstil was.
I would argue Goestenkors' biggest mistake was a different one. Duke sold itself, because Goestenkors BUILT it to sell itself. But Goestenkors also failed to realize how the Duke brand and the combination of athletics, academics, alumni network, etc. played a part in her recruiting strategy. And when a recruit came for a visit, Duke had the ability to bring in Coach K for a quick meeting (which he did, for example, with Krystal Thomas who committed to Goestenkors when she was at Duke, but who played for McCallie).
Whereas Joanne P. McCallie overestimated how much Duke (and the Duke brand) sold itself, Goestenkors underestimated it, in terms of making the final pitches to recruits.
Goestenkors was never able to make the Texas brand work for her. She was from MI, had been an assistant at Purdue (IN), and had been the head coach at Duke (NC). And I think she thought all of the work she put in at Duke would transfer over to Texas; instead, as an outsider, she had to start, in many ways, from scratch, like she did in her early days at Duke. I believe that was where the fatigue and exhaustion had set in.
I would also argue another mistake Goestenkors made was taking the job in the first place - and the circumstances under which she did. She was not running "toward" Texas; she was running "away" from Duke. My honest believe is
the statements from then-AD Joe Alleva were the deciding factor in her decision to leave. I am repeating the comments here:
Compared to the top tier of coaches in the women's game, however, Goestenkors' salary does not stack up. Tennessee's Pat Summitt is the highest-paid coach in women's college basketball at an average of $1.125 million guaranteed over six seasons, and Geno Auriemma's contract with Connecticut guarantees him $988,000 per year.
[Coach G made less than $500,000 at the time]
"They've both won a lot of national championships and are part of programs that make money for their institutions. They bring in profit for their athletic departments, and that's not the case for our women's program," Alleva said. "I'm sure some of these other institutions will offer significantly large packages to encourage her to go.
I firmly believe that Goestenkors was not running toward Texas, but running away from Duke. She felt disrespected and devalued -- and rightfully so. But I also believe that without those statements from then-AD Joe Alleva, she would have taken more time to evaluate her decision and would have chosen to stay at Duke.
tucson.com
