L.A. Sparks hire Gail Goestenkors

[pap49cba]

Mechelle Voepel @MechelleV
Great to see Gail Goestenkors officially coming back to sidelines for LA Sparks. She and Gary Kloppenburg will be assistants for Carol Ross.

 

[stwainfan]

I like this hire. I heard Magic say in press conference that he would talk to coach Ross. He said he would ask what do you need?

 

[alexrgct]

Very pleased to learn this is happening. I'm a big fan of Coach G, who built the Duke program from scratch. True, she failed the restore Texas as a powerhouse program, but a number of factors were outside of her control. All the best to her.

 

[UcMiami]

Glad she is back, was never convinced she was a great coach, but she certainly put Duke on the map.

 

[ndmb]

Coach Goestenkors is a great choice. I really don't know about Kloppenburg.

 

[Geno-ista]

Did she leave Duke for Texas? Or did Duke let her leave? Anyone know much about that? She had a lot of success at Duke - and then gone!

 

[rocky rococo]

Wow, Carol Ross is putting together a high-octane coaching team there in LA.

 

[j66kicker]

Did she leave Duke for Texas? Or did Duke let her leave? Anyone know much about that? She had a lot of success at Duke - and then gone!

IIRC GG thought she should be paid like Coach K so they just said, "See ya."

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Mechelle Voepel @MechelleV
Great to see Gail Goestenkors officially coming back to sidelines for LA Sparks. She and Gary Kloppenburg will be assistants for Carol Ross.

Wouldn't it just have been easier for them to close the LA team. I mean giving GG the reigns....will be interesting....

 

[easttexastrash]

She was a bust at Texas. Didn't do much to breathe life into that program. Like the song says "go on, take the money and run."

 

[Coler]

Wouldn't it just have been easier for them to close the LA team. I mean giving GG the reigns....will be interesting....

She isn't going to be the the head coach. She's just gonna be an Asst. coach.

 

[rocky rococo]

Coler is correct. Moreover, Carol Ross, the actual HC in LA, was an assistant forced to take the reins due to an incompetent HC in Atlanta. She's perhaps as aware as anyone of the pitfalls involved in giving too much responsibility to an assistant, while still securing top shelf talent for those positions.

 

[VAMike23]

IIRC GG thought she should be paid like Coach K so they just said, "See ya."

Lol

 

[UcMiami]

Did she leave Duke for Texas? Or did Duke let her leave? Anyone know much about that? She had a lot of success at Duke - and then gone!

Texas bought her - offered her top three money and duke wasn't prepared to go quite that far. Then Texas got buyer's remorse and wished they had been as smart as Duke.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

IIRC GG thought she should be paid like Coach K so they just said, "See ya."

No disrespect intended, but that is not even close to the truth.

Texas's Jody Conradt retired. There was tons of speculation about Gail because the women's sports AD at Texas has a long history with Gail (believe through USA Basketball). Texas made an offer.

While the speculation was going on, Joe Alleva made some pretty derogatory comments about Goestenkors, her accomplishments, her value as a coach, etc. It is no coincidence that Alleva was given the message to leave (the Goestenkors was the latest of a series of blunders in the 2005-2007 period for him), which he did one year later.

But the damage was done, and Gail left for Texas. Duke came close to matching what Texas offered, but not an exact match.

And Gail NEVER asked to be paid like Coach K. Not even in the same stratosphere.

 

[j66kicker]

No disrespect intended, but that is not even close to the truth.

Texas's Jody Conradt retired. There was tons of speculation about Gail because the women's sports AD at Texas has a long history with Gail (believe through USA Basketball). Texas made an offer.

While the speculation was going on, Joe Alleva made some pretty derogatory comments about Goestenkors, her accomplishments, her value as a coach, etc. It is no coincidence that Alleva was given the message to leave (the Goestenkors was the latest of a series of blunders in the 2005-2007 period for him), which he did one year later.

But the damage was done, and Gail left for Texas. Duke came close to matching what Texas offered, but not an exact match.

And Gail NEVER asked to be paid like Coach K. Not even in the same stratosphere.

Thanks for the clarification. "Coach K" was a figure of speech, but I didn't know the whole story...

 

[Geno-ista]

I really appreciate the info above alot!!!