Hello WBCA members!

The summer months are always enjoyable as I head out into the world of women's basketball. Although the summer schedule is still hectic, it is nice to see coaches refueling their tanks and getting some prep time for their camps, recruiting and the arrival of their student-athletes in the fall.

Following my last edition of Net.News, I had the privilege of attending the 2006 Sports Excellence Tribute Gala, presented by the Raleigh Sports Club. The "Toast and Roast" honored Gail Goestenkors (Duke head coach), Sylvia Hatchell (UNC-Chapel Hill head coach) and Kay Yow (N.C. State head coach). It was a marathon of tremendous entertainment - I am sure that my backup efforts with Joanne Boyle (Univ. of California head coach and New BOD) for Debbie Antonelli's (emcee) newly copyrighted rap song topped off the evening! (Debbie, you owe me!)

WBCA CEO Beth Bass and Joanne Boyle play backup
to "rap star" Debbie Antonelli at the 2006
Sports Excellence Tribute Gala.

Stephanie Glance (N.C. State assistant coach and WBCA board member) stole the evening when she was roasting Kay Yow. We were in stitches, actually tearing our diaphragm muscles laughing at Stephanie, who did a phenomenal job of imitating Kay. She told two amazing stories. One story of note was when Kay stole a rental car, obviously not meaning to. Only Kay could steal a car, admit to it several days later and not get prosecuted or better yet, got the rental for free!

After a stop in Indianapolis to attend the NCAA Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee meeting, it was on to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn. As the first of several events that weekend, I had the honor of taking part in the NCAA's Project "Home Team" effort, a partnership providing relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas between the NCAA and Habitat for Humanity® International. Regardless of what other people say, I was proud to be the only other person in overalls besides the main contractor!

Beth Bass (WBCA CEO) and staff lend a hand at the "Sue Gunter House" Build in Knoxville, Tenn.

As a part of our intern send off, the WBCA staff and myself helped to build a Habitat for Humanity "house in a box". The house was dedicated in honor of the late Sue Gunter (former LSU head coach) and was given to Wynethia Thompson and her three sons on June 3 in Baton Rouge. What a wonderful experience! There is no question that we each walked away with much more than we gave back. It was a humbling moment when we all signed the frame of the house in Sue's honor. I signed, "Sue, you can always come home." Be sure to check out www.wbca.org for pictures from the build.

The "Sue Gunter House" was finished and
dedicated to Wynethia Thompson and her three sons.

For the climax of the weekend, I attended the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, honoring some of the great legends of our game. Congratulations to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2006, including Geno Auriemma (Connecticut head coach and WBCA board member), Janice Lawrence Braxton (former Louisiana Tech star), Katrina McClain Johnson (former Georgia standout), Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil (Texas assistant coach), Paula Goncalves da Silva (former Brazilian standout) and Barbara Stevens (Bentley College head coach).

The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2006 is honored at the induction ceremony.

It was a whirlwind of activity over the next couple of weeks! While attending the Women's Basketball Issues Committee meeting, I was able to spend some time with one of our past presidents, Wendy Larry (Old Dominion head coach). Then I flew in to see our president, Doug Bruno (DePaul head coach), before heading to Bloomington, Ill. to visit with State Farm.

It is vital to strike while the iron is hot with our sponsors as I headed back to the office, where I met with our marketing partner, Rick Jones of FishBait Marketing. This charted our off-season strategy plan with securing more dollars for the WBCA. Also, just as you all have one-on-one time with your athletes, the spring is a time where I am able to share one-on-one time with my staff doing our annual performance reviews.

Next, I went down and hung out in the Destin, Florida area for the third annual pre-SEC Conference meetings. My beach volleyball team was again victorious (three years in a row!), despite a biased crowd, officiating and scorekeeping. After getting back into town, I was able to meet Rich Ensor (Commissioner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), the newest member of the Women's Basketball Committee, for lunch as he was passing through the Atlanta area.

June began with a trip back to Indy. I had the opportunity to speak to the Black Coaches Association's (BCA) ACE program. It is always refreshing to take part in programs that enhance our brightest next crop of coaches. Speaking of next crop, our staff has begun tracking the 179 women that have graduated from our Nike's So You Want To Be A Coach program. We have heard from over 60% of the 2005 "So" class and we are excited to say that almost all of them are coaching, with a few playing overseas.

Ok, back to Indy! The purpose of my trip was to attend the Myles Brand Women's Basketball Discussion Group. Those that arrived early were able to join me for dinner at St. Elmo's. Around the dinner table sat Jean Lenti Ponsetto (DePaul Director of Athletics), Doug Bruno, Yvonne Sanchez (New Mexico assistant coach), Bernadette McGlade (ACC Assistant Commisioner of women's basketball) and Debbie Ryan (Virginia head coach). We had spirited conversations that were as spicy as the shrimp cocktail.

It was a jump-start to move us right into discussions with the group for the next two days. We came up with four initiatives through our ideation process, which centered around: Developing a marketing plan for women's basketball; increased post-season competition opportunities for women's basketball; the possibility of removing head to head scheduling of men's and women's regular season and championship competition; and implementing a revenue share formula for institutions to invest and commit to women's basketball.

We kicked off our "Rubber Meets the Road" tour this month and hope to spark the efforts in taking the game of women's basketball and the WBCA to an entirely new level. The purpose of the tour is to educate coaches, student-athletes, parents, the community and beyond about women's basketball and the importance of the WBCA. Be sure to check out updates on the tour at www.wbca.org to find out when we will be in a town near you!

The tour lands at the Lady Vols team camp.

Back in Atlanta, Seana Peck (WBCA Manager of Marketing, Sales and Activation) and myself were able to sit down with RUSSELL ATHLETIC to continue our theme of touching base with corporate partners, relaying activity reports and planning for the following season. More importantly, after meeting with RUSSELL, I was able to spend some time with Donna Noonan, longtime friend of the WBCA. It was good to see her prospering in her new role as the Vice President of the Coaches Ministry at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). She has been extremely busy putting together the Coach's Bible which will soon be available. For more information, visit www.fcagear.com.

It was a pleasure to have Sherri Coale, the new Vice President for the WBCA, in town for Vice Presidency 101. Sherri will certainly be a great addition to the WBCA Executive Committee and a great leader for our association!

Continue to enjoy your summer as you are out and about recruiting and enjoying a little free time. The season will be here before you know it! See you on the road. Until next time…

Your CEO,

Beth Bass

Bruno To Lead 2006 Women's FIBA Americas U18 Championship Team
DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno has been selected to lead USA Basketball's 2006 Women's FIBA Americas U18 Championship Team and will be assisted by Northern Illinois University's Carol Owens and the University of Hartford's Jennifer Rizzotti. USA Basketball has been named host for the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Women that will be held at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., from June 28-July 2.

Worrell steps down as Tenn. Tech coach
He was part of more than 500 Golden Eaglette victories, including 408 wins and 12 Ohio Valley Conference championships during his 20 seasons as head coach. Bill Worrell announced his retirement as Tennessee Tech University women's basketball coach. Worrell turned 60 in May, 2006.

Frese Receives Winged Foot Award
Head coach Brenda Frese, who led the Maryland women's basketball team to the program's first-ever NCAA title, received the New York Athletic Club's Winged Foot Award on Wednesday, May 17 in New York City. The award is presented annually to the winning coach of the NCAA Division I Basketball Championships.

Sharp named emeritus
The former head coach of the Lady Raiders basketball team might be the first in the country to receive an honorary academic title. Lady Raiders basketball coach Marsha Sharp is now Marsha Sharp, Head Coach Emeritus of Women's Basketball. Sharp coached a national champion team in 1993 and racked up 570 wins in her 24-year career with the Tech's women's basketball program.

Summitt Reaches $1 Million Mark in Salary
Pat Summitt is the newest millionaire coach. University of Tennessee officials said Monday they raised Summitt's salary to $1.125 million for next season and added six years to extend her contract through the 2011-12 season. The 53-year-old Summitt leads all Division I basketball coaches - men's and women's - with 913 career wins. She will be starting her 33rd season with the Lady Vols this fall.

Wingate's Jacumin to retire following 2006-07 season
Wingate University women's basketball head coach Johnny Jacumin has announced his retirement, effective at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season. In 26 Wingate seasons, Jacumin has compiled an overall record of 568-211.

Interstate 8 choose Landmark name
The group of schools informally referred to as the Interstate 8 have chosen a name of their own. Catholic, Drew, Goucher, Juniata, Moravian, Susquehanna and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy will be known as the Landmark Conference when league play begins in the fall of 2007.

Dawn Staley Announces Retirement
It's the last hurrah, the final curtain call. Whatever you want to call it Dawn Staley is retiring as a player after the 2006 WNBA season.The three-time Olympic gold medallist and two-time national college player of the year said she has no regrets over what will be 10 seasons in the WNBA.

Trio of Swoopes, Leslie, Thompson among originals left in WNBA
Sheryl Swoopes has little trouble remembering the birthdate of the WNBA. It coincides with the birth of her son, Jordan. Swoopes won four consecutive championships with the Houston Comets. Along with Houston teammate Tina Thompson and Los Angeles star Lisa Leslie, both also original WNBA members, the three have combined for six WNBA championships, five MVP awards and three consecutive Olympic gold medals. They are among the seven original WNBA players still in the league, joining Vickie Johnson, Wendy Palmer-Daniel, Mwadi Mabika and Tamecka Dixon.

NCAA approves rules changes
Among basketball proposals, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a requirement that Division II and Division III schools have game clocks that display tenths of a second and shot clocks mounted on backboards, starting with the 2010-11 season. A proposal barring a player from calling a timeout while falling out of bounds or into the backcourt also was approved.

June 26-30, 2006:
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Summer Meeting

June 30, 2006:
Deadline for WBCA Academic Top 25 Online Nominations.

June 30-July 8, 2006:
AAU Nationals (12), Kingsport, Tenn.

July 2-5, 2006:
CoSIDA Workshop, Nashville, Tenn.

July 4, 2006:
Independence Day

July 5-11, 2006:
AAU Nationals (17/19), Orlando, Fla.

July 11-17, 2006:
AAU Nationals (16), Orlando, Fla.

July 14-22, 2006:
AAU Nationals (13), Overland Park, Kan.

July 20-26, 2006:
AAU Nationals (15), Monroe, La.

July 22-29, 2006:
AAU Nationals (14), Lafayette, La.

July 26-August 2, 2006:
Junior Olympics, Hampton Roads, Va.

July 31-August 2, 2006:
WBCA Board of Directors Meeting, Atlanta, Ga.

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