November means that a new college basketball season is at hand. We all rave about the "newness" of everything. We look forward to new expectations, whether they're repetitive from years past or in their "infancy" among a fanbase. We marvel at the new additions of stud freshman and JUCO transfers. And, for a handful of schools, we hold out newfound hope for a new coaching regime.
In my opinion, it's the last ... that's the most important when it comes to college sports. In the pros, you can have 10-, 12-, or 15-year veterans that could possibly send their entire career with the same organization. In college, the basic career gets shoved into a four-year box. The coach makes the engine fire by going on the road, recruiting the students to campus, and fitting the pieces together on the court.
In many cases, the names of the men patrolling the sidelines are more well-known than the majority of the students that excelled for them between the lines. For decades, the torches have been passed from generation (Adolph Rupp and Phog Allen) to generation (John Wooden, Pete Newell, Don Haskins) to generation (Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, John Thompson, Mike Krzyzewski) to generation (Jim Calhoun, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Jim Boeheim).
These days, the mantle of hot new coach has been thrown around from former Oral Roberts coach Bill Self to former Xavier coach Sean Miller to former Jacksonville State coach Mark Turgeon. The search for the next "It Coach" is still on after the emergence of Butler coach Brad Stevens. It's this search that helps keep the lifeblood of college basketball flowing. And it's this search that has me a little more worried when looking at this game's female counterpart.
I enjoy watching women play the game I adore so dearly. However, I can admit that trying to compare the traditions between opposing genders is lunacy. While, in my opinion, the evolution of the women's game has moved it from an infant phase to its current toddler stage, the game must continue to make strides to reach its potential. The question is, who will be there to provide guidance and growth?
Before a couple of months ago, the gatekeepers of college ball were firm in their authority. Geno Auriemma held court in Storrs. Tara Vandeveer kept the fort strong for the West Coast. C. Vivian Stringer basked in the New Jersey glow.
Then, in a fell swoop, the most decorated of them all came out with a shocking declaration. Pat Summitt, the original Queen Bee on the NCAA era, announced that she was diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's Type. At the SEC Media Day this week, I was reminded about the 59-year-old Tennessee coach and her endeavor to stay in front of this disease.
After that, though, I started to think ... "what's next?" The question wasn't for Summitt. Everyone, friend or foe, knows she's a fighter and will continue to exhibit as much. The question was meant for the women's game as a whole, for the coaching fraternity and sorority as a whole. The coaches that have molded the game into the shape its in now are still going strong. However, Summitt's announcement was another reminder that nobody will pace the sidelines forever.
So, who's next in line? Who's the rising star in the coaching world of women's basketball? Who will fill the stoic presence of a Vandeveer? Who will take up the legwork with the grit and guile of a Stringer? Who will be the polarizing staple that Auriemma has become? Who will demand the kind of excellence Summitt does?
I feel that there are contemporaries at the moment. But the Kim Mulkeys, the Sylvia Hatchells, the Gary Blairs, and the Muffet McGraws have built extensive resumes of their own. Sue Semrau of Florida, Sherri Coale of Oklahoma, and Charli Turner Thorne of Arizona State have turned their programs into consistent winners, but they've done it at a more steady pace. And a trend that's now conceivable is for former pros (e.g. Teresa Weatherspoon, Dawn Staley) to go back to their college roots and lead the pros of tomorrow.
But is there someone out there that might make a stratospheric rise to become the new bully on the block? I offer up a few contenders.
Katie Meier has turned a middling program at Miami into an ACC champion in her six seasons with the Hurricanes. She's used to quick turnarounds, though. Her first head coaching experience brought forth three postseason berths in her four-year tenure at Charlotte. If she sticks around Coral Gables, and keeps her team's proverbial nose clean, there's no way to believe she can't coerce championship talent to come to South Beach.
Coquese Washington had the unenviable task of replacing a legend. The Penn State coach was brought in to build on the success the school saw under Rene Portland. The road's been bumpy, but the results started to come through in Washington's fourth season. Last year, she led the squad to a 25-10 record, a second-place finish in the Big Ten, and their first NCAA berth since 2005. In a conference that's always seen as one of the country's best, Washington is in the path to being a step ahead of everyone else.
The best chance at a "rising star" candidate could have just accepted the biggest risk/reward challenge. Nikki Caldwell took UCLA from an afterthought to a Pac-12 power in just three short seasons. Just this past campaign, she took the Bruins to a 27-5 record and a three-seed in the NCAA tournament. Now, the former Tennessee star will see more of her former coach. Caldwell filled the vacancy at LSU, a school with its own base of prestige. Can the student supplant the master and become the mightiest of the mighty?
Who knows if any of these coaches will be the one to usher in the new generation of fans, players, and, more importantly, coaches. There might be some other assistant or lower-division success that may be one call away from providing that spark. But I do think someone needs to strike that match, because once the light dims, it might take a while to reignite it.
Leave a Comment