Among the 24 coaching openings in women’s basketball, one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
And that’s not just because a stroll on The Lawn is a lovely way to spend a fall afternoon in Charlottesville.
Joanne Boyle unexpectedly announced her retirement from coaching on Tuesday, making way for recently hired athletic director Carla Williams to make her first significant hire, and we know what you’re likely thinking.
Dawn. Dawn. We want Dawn (although one Sabre message board post suggests the Cavaliers bring Geno home. The UConn guru assisted Debbie Ryan for three seasons starting in 1981).
Geno aside — we’re confident he’s staying put for the duration in Storrs — Dawn would be our first phone call. Back when she turned Temple into a contender — the Owls, who did not have a winning record in the decade before her arrival, made six NCAA Tournament appearances under her tenure — Virginia looked like it might be her next stop. But it never happened. In 2008, Staley took over an unheralded South Carolina program and you know the rest. The defending national champions, who advanced to the sixth straight Sweet 16 on Sunday by eliminating Boyle’s Cavaliers, boast perhaps the top player in the nation in A’ja Wilson and are the top draw in the game.
Ever wonder what a Cavalier fan thinks about watching what Staley’s built down south?
By the time Virginia parted ways with Women’s Basketball Hall-of-Famer Debbie Ryan, Staley was all Gamecock. And while Ryan’s departure from Virginia didn’t leave folks as cold as Wendy Larry’s from Old Dominion, it wasn’t a warm and fuzzy sendoff for the woman at the Cavalier helm for 34 years who also happened to coach Staley.
But being the coach who follows the coach who followed Ryan under a new AD has runaway potential. Virginia has dollars to spend, and yes, Staley has a contract through 2021 that would leave the Cavaliers writing lots of zeros. But what a time to strike. The Cavaliers play in the best conference in the game. The academic reputation of U.Va is on par with the Ivys, and UMBC debacle aside, it’s always nice to have an elite men’s program on campus. Virginia’s commitment to women’s sports isn’t in doubt, either. Have you checked out its tennis, lacrosse, soccer, field hockey and cross country programs? Not to mention John Paul Jones Arena is state-of-the-art. By the way, there’s already a 6-9 kid on the roster.
Gold mine.
As good as it felt earlier this week for the Cavaliers to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years, we have to think it took too long under Boyle. The wheel didn’t need to be reinvented at Virginia; the Cavs were an at-large team in 2010. The pieces are in place for early success, but we’re not just talking about moving up in the ACC. This program has too much going for it to be in the conference’s second tier.
Whoever is lucky enough to be Virginia’s next coach should be shooting for the heights of Notre Dame and beyond. Virginia last reached the Final Four in 1992, one year after they lost in the national championship.
If you remember, Staley was a pretty significant part of that run.
Who’s going to be the coach to take them there a quarter century later?
Hello, Dawn . . .