First off, it's the off-season, so there isn't going to be as much WCBB content (there's a new lead story that Voepel wrote on the top seniors to watch for next season).
Second, I think you missed the main pt of her article, which is that the entire process showed UNC is not taking WCBB seriously, based on two main points:
1. Was Banghart, who has spent her entire coaching career in the Ivy Leagues, the best they could get?
Voepel: So the North Carolina job -- which should have been highly coveted -- went to someone who throughout 19 years as a player, assistant and head coach in the Ivy League has won once in an NCAA tournament game.
To be fair, mid-major and small-conference teams consistently get lower seeds, so it's harder to make a mark in the NCAA tournament. Let's look at the regular season: In Banghart's time at Princeton, the Tigers had 11 wins against seven major-conference programs: Rutgers, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Alabama, Southern Cal and Villanova (when it was in the old Big East, still considered a major conference).
Now, she'll be in a conference regularly going against the likes of two-time national champion Notre Dame, Louisville, Syracuse, Florida State, Miami, etc., along with, of course, local rivals NC State and Duke. How quickly can she adjust?
This isn't meant to cast aspersions on Banghart or the Ivy League. She might continue to thrive now that she's in a power conference recruiting more elite players. But it is meant to question whether North Carolina actually swung for the fences with this hire.
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Talent will be a major factor, and Banghart will be recruiting a different caliber of player at North Carolina. (By the way, this past weekend was a major one on the recruiting calendar, but Banghart had not been given the UNC job yet.) The Ivy League doesn't have athletic scholarships, although it has academic and need-based aid. Banghart has had some very good Princeton teams, but she now enters into the full-time shark tank with all the other contenders for top talent.
2. If UNC thinks this is an awesome hire, why not actually role her out like it is, instead of doing an awkward press call?
And if the school really does believe this is a home run, why not act like it?
Banghart did her introduction to the media by teleconference Tuesday while she was still in New Jersey. She said she planned to be in Chapel Hill on Wednesday and would meet with the players. But when asked whether the school would have a formal press conference then, a UNC official said no.
So, no attempt to bring more attention to your new women's basketball coach -- we'll say it again: the first in more than three decades -- and very publicly note her arrival? Where was the on-campus announcement with fellow Tar Heels head coaches, returning players (not everybody is transferring), school officials, boosters, cheerleaders, Rameses the mascot, some Carolina blue and white balloons, and all the local TV stations' cameras? The school said Banghart might meet with some local media Wednesday and likely would have a gathering for fans/boosters in "the near future." Well, OK.
