Hello WBCA Member!

Wow! Since the last time I wrote you, so much has happened in our sport. I did not realize what the month of March would bring and the extent that I was going to have to use my public relations background. It started with our Executive Committee’s willingness to huddle an hour before the bracket show to offer feedback on how to handle the LSU allegations. I would like to personally thank the WBCA Executive Committee for their availability on short notice during such a “stressful” time of the season.

What a change from the day after last year’s Selection Show! Compared to the firestorm of dissention that stirred up last year, I was on a much different mission for 2007. On my way to visit with Kay Yow (N.C. State), one of my dearest mentors and friends, I was sitting on the plane studying the bracket. A gentleman seated beside me leaned over and asked, “Are you a bookie?” Somewhat shocked, I replied, “No.” He said, “Wow, you’re dissecting that bracket like your life depended on it.” I chuckled and said, “Trust me. My life does depend on it!”

After arriving in Raleigh to see Coach Yow, I was on a much more solemn note. Switching gears from looking at the bracket, to helping proof her father’s obituary definitely puts things in perspective. I was able to have lunch with Stephanie Glance (N.C. State), and then headed to pick up Coach Yow at the funeral home in Burlington, about an hour away. During the swirl of March Madness, I was humbled to be in the eye of the storm and spend some quality time with her and her sister, Susan Yow.

Next, I was off to the NCAA Division III Championship Banquet in Springfield, Mass., where the WBCA recognized the Division III Kodak All-Americans, Coach of the Year and Player of the Year. To top off the awards presentations, it was great spending time with the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Committee. Carol Stiff (ESPN) joined me at the banquet where she served as the keynote speaker and did an excellent job. Afterwards, we dashed to the nearest diner to catch up on NCAA Tournament and WNIT scores, and again, out comes the bracket. Trust me…it was not your typical women’s basketball crowd.

Beth socializes with the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Committee.

After a brief stop back at the office, I headed to the NCAA Division II Championship Banquet. Nothing personal, but I quickly realized there’s no quick route to Kearney, Neb., from Atlanta. It is 187 miles from Omaha and I arrived at the banquet just in time. As soon as I get there, I realized how great the Elite 8 was this season. Something that I thought was very poignant was that emcee Brenda Van Lengen (Color Commentator), who played on Kearney’s NAIA national championship team, began the first endowed scholarship ever in the history of the women’s basketball program. One of her best friends was killed in a car accident. In Brenda’s own words, she said, ‘Let me tell you, I don’t make a lot of money, but that’s how much of an impact this person had on my life and that’s how much I believe in women’s athletics.’ That was pretty powerful.

Beth spends some time with Brenda Van Lengen, Tina Krah (NCAA) and Joni Comstock (American Univ.) at the
DII Banquet.

Following the Division II banquet, I was back in the office until we headed to Cleveland for the 2007 WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four. This year, I thought it would be fun to provide you all with my “Cleveland Top 10 moments”:

1. Senator Birch Bayh stopping by our Board of Directors meeting and having him hold audience with us for 20 minutes.

2. My staff’s performance – like trusting me to roll with seemingly off-the-wall ideas. EXAMPLE: Division I electronic voting.

3. Speaking to the High School All-America kids with all of their energy and delightfulness at the Kodak All-America Team Press Conference.

4. Walking into the WBCA’s High School All-America Game presented by Nike filled to capacity.

5. Presenting the inaugural Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year award to Krista Kilburn-Steveskey, alongside Jamie Dixon (Maggie’s brother) and Doug Bruno (coached with Maggie).

6. Group hug with Jody Conradt and Mimi Griffin at the Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year Luncheon presented by AstraZeneca.

7. Making Coach Yow laugh at the Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year Luncheon presented by AstraZeneca.

8. Sylvia Hatchell’s classy appearance, post her loss in the semifinals, to honor Brenda Byrd (her Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award nominee who was the 2007 winner).

9. Presenting the NCAA/WBCA Coaches’ Trophy to my dear friends Pat Summitt (Tennessee) and Holly Warlick (Tennessee).

10. Hanging with our president, Doug Bruno, Russ Davis (WBCA Board member) and company in the suite after the NCAA/WBCA Coaches’ Trophy celebration.

After March Madness and the hectic schedule at convention, it was time to head to one of my favorite spots, Key West, for some decompression. I was self-evacuated because of “Hurricane Imus”. During the 80 hours of media mayhem, I was proud to see how the events unfolded on the following Monday and Tuesday. C. Vivian Stringer and the Rutgers’ squad showed such class in handling the appalling statements made by Don Imus. I guess it is true, that even in the toughest of times and the blackest of clouds, there is a silver lining.

Along with the end of the women’s basketball collegiate season, comes the end of the Betty F. Jaynes Internship for seven members of our staff. Many of you had the opportunity to meet them at the WBCA’s National Convention and I’m sure you would concur that the “Class of 2007” was a great one! If any of you are interested in hiring one of our interns or a Nike’s So You Want To Be A Coach participant, please contact Stephanie Baron for more information.

Getting back to business, don’t forget that the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll nomination forms go online on May 14! Thank you all for making the 2006-2007 season so memorable.

Until next time…

Your CEO,

Beth Bass

Click here!

Attention! Check out the WBCA bookstore where you'll find the new release Coaching Basketball Technical and Tactical Skills, plus other must-have basketball resources from the American Sport Education Program and Human Kinetics. Click here to visit the WBCA bookstore.  

Thanks to all the coaches who stopped by the WBCA Career Center to drop off their resumes and job openings. Remember to go to WBCA.org to see new job listings everyday and to post your resume, open dates and camps.

Black Women Moving Into Head Coaching Jobs in Div. I Basketball
New Penn State coach Coquese Washington hopes she has a streak going. It has nothing to do with wins, Big Ten titles or NCAA tournament appearances. With her selection Monday, four black women have been chosen to fill head coaching jobs this year in Division I women's college basketball, or more than 20 percent of the roughly 18 openings, according to the Black Coaches Association. The other three are Pam DeCosta at San Jose State, Joi Williams Felton at Central Florida and Tia Jackson at Washington. The numbers might not seem like a lot until you consider that black women held just 9 percent of the Division I head coaching jobs in women's basketball in 2005-06 - while nearly half the players in Division I are black, according to a study by Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.

Charlotte Names Aston Head WBB Coach
Charlotte 49ers Director of Athletics Judy Rose has announced the hiring of Baylor associate head coach Karen Aston as the 49ers new head women's basketball coach. Aston will be the seventh head coach in the 32-year history of the 49ers women's basketball program. Aston, who is considered one of the best recruiters in college basketball, has spent the past 13 years coaching at the NCAA Division I level in the state of Texas.

Ole Miss' Carol Ross To Retire
Mississippi women's basketball coach Carol Ross announced her retirement and will be replaced by assistant coach Renee Ladner. Ladner was introduced at a news conference. Ross, a former Southeastern Conference coach of the year, had her most successful season in Oxford, guiding the Rebels to the NCAA quarterfinals and a 25-11 record. She was 78-50 in four seasons at Ole Miss and had a career record of 325-171 in 16 seasons.

Mitchell Selected Women's Coach At Kentucky
Morehead State coach Matthew Mitchell will be Kentucky's next women's basketball coach, the first male coach in the 36-year history of the program. Mitchell was an assistant to DeMoss for two seasons at Kentucky. DeMoss resigned abruptly after four years at Kentucky's coach, saying she needed "some time to myself right now." DeMoss, an assistant at Tennessee for 18 years, was 71-56 at Kentucky.

Rutgers Accepts Apology
The Rutgers women's basketball team accepted radio host Don Imus' apology for insulting them on the air, saying that he deserves a chance to move on but that they hope the furor his words caused will be a catalyst for change. "We, the Rutgers University Scarlet Knight basketball team, accept - accept - Mr. Imus' apology, and we are in the process of forgiving," coach C. Vivian Stringer read from a team statement a day after the women met personally with Imus and his wife.

Sam Nichols departs from McMurry
The most successful women's basketball coach in McMurry University's history announced his resignation. Sam Nichols departs McMurry after 12 seasons with the school and an impressive 199-114 record. He's accepted a position at local CBS affiliate KTAB where he formerly was a weatherman.

WBCA Board Member NAIA receives Coach of Character Award
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced that Russ Davis, women’s basketball coach at Vanguard University (Calif.), has been named the 2007 recipient of the NAIA Coach of Character Award. Davis recently completed his tenth year as head coach at Vanguard and has guided the Lady Lions to five consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference championship titles, eight total conference championship titles and nine NAIA Division I women’s basketball national tournament appearances. Davis, who has over 25 years experience in the coaching profession, has a philosophical approach to teaching the game of basketball that embraces the NAIA’s Champions of Character core values: respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.

NCAA survey: Male practice players prominent
The NCAA's first membership survey on the issue of male practice players for female teams found widespread use of male practice players in all three divisions, most prominently in women's basketball and to a lesser degree in volleyball and soccer. And most respondents said male practice players don't change how the non-starting members of a team are used in practice and don't affect the number of grants-in-aid schools award to female student-athletes.The survey was reported by the NCAA News.

Text-messaging ban to be implemented Aug. 1
College coaches will have to recruit the old-fashioned way next year. The NCAA's board of directors approved a ban to eliminate all text messages from coaches to recruits beginning in August, then left open the possibility of revisiting that legislation as early as 2008. The move comes a week after the NCAA's management council recommended passage of the ban, which also eliminates communications through other electronic means such as video phones, video conferencing and message boards on social networking Web sites.

For a complete list of head coaching changes, click here.

May 14, 2007
WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll Nomination Forms online @ WBCA.org

NCAA II (11 am ET) & NCAA III (Noon ET) Conference Captains Calls

May 30 – June 2, 2007
BCA National Convention at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Florida

June 4, 2007
DI Conference Captains Call (Noon ET)

June 8 – 9, 2007
Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Festivities

June 11-13, 2007
NCAA DI WBB Issues Committee Meeting

Attention! So are you looking for your next assistant coach?

If you have a coaching vacancy, Nike’s So You Want To Be A Coach participants are the best place to start. For participants’ contact information, please contact Stephanie Baron.

The WBCA will be posting several job opportunities over the next few weeks!

• Manager of Legislation and Research
• Manager of Awards and Communications Coordinator
• Manager of Marketing, Sales and Activation

Click here for updates on all WBCA career openings.

For information regarding these dates, the WBCA, or any of the WBCA programs,
please contact:
WBCA
4646 Lawrenceville Highway
Lilburn, GA 30047
(770) 279-8027 :: Office
(770) 279-8473 :: Fax
wbca@wbca.org