Does UNT need a female for its next hoops coach?
UNT seems to be on a bit of a roll the last couple of years when it comes to hiring new coaches for its women's sports teams. Sujay Lama has the tennis team off to an 8-7 start, which is pretty impressive considering where the program was just a few years ago. The UNT softball team is 4-2 in conference play and 13-16 overall under T.J. Hubbard. After winning four of its last five games, the Mean Green appears as if it will post its best finish ever, exceeding last year's mark of 22-36. Swimming coach Joe Dykstra was just named the Sun Belt’s Coach of the Year.
All three appear to be solid hires, but that hiring history makes one wonder if UNT might lean toward hiring a woman as its next basketball coach. Volleyball coach Cassie Headrick and women’s golf coach Amber Chevrie are the only female head coaches on campus. The Mean Green has several female assistants, including softball coaches Jenn Cody and Erin Evans, swimming assistant coach Maya Nikolova, diving coach Summer Allman, track assistant coach Laurie McElroy and volleyball assistant coach Miranda Orr.
UNT has nine women’s sports programs in all, including track and cross country, which are essentially one team with a staff that coaches both squads. A total of eight women’s coaches are on the athletic department staff. The total was 11 before the women’s basketball team’s staff was let go at the end of the season.
That mix is common around the Sun Belt. Arkansas State has just one female head coach, Arkansas-Little Rock has three as does Louisiana-Lafayette, but adding to the number of female head coaches on UNT’s staff could end up being a consideration.
There is no way UNT should pass up the right coach because of gender, but I have heard the topic of how many female coaches there are on staff discussed in the past.
Post your take on the blog. Does UNT need to turn to former UT-Arlington head coach Donna Capps, former Middle Tennessee and Alabama coach Stephany Smith or another woman as its next basketball coach? Or would taking on another male head coach of a female team be the right move if it was the right coach?
Posted by Brett Vito 
at 7:13 PM | Permalink
Comments
NT needs a good coach, male or female, that can coach the talent that is here and continue to recruit well. This should be one of NT's revenue sports, yet continued to only draw a couple hundred a game.
Posted by: JD | March 22, 2008 9:37 PM