Athletic directors always have a list of replacement candidates, be they coaches, assistant ADs or Web designers.
That said, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga AD Rick Hart spent much of Monday hoping women’s basketball coach Wes Moore would change his mind about leaving for East Carolina.
“I guess I picked a good week to go on blood pressure medication,” Hart joked a few minutes after wrapping up a Monday lunchtime appearance for the Quarterback Club.
“I was at North Carolina when Coach (Dean) Smith retired. That’s probably the most similar thing I can compare this to. But they had Bill Guthridge waiting in the wings. We’d probably start from scratch.”
Unless Moore makes an about-face before being introduced at ECU this afternoon, Hart should begin his search with a couple of names familiar to women’s basketball enthusiasts in this area: Lee University coach Marty Rowe and Kentucky assistant and former Tennessee Lady Vols great Kyra Elzy.
Rowe would allow UTC to revisit a similar path to success traveled by Moore. Much as Moore first made a name for himself at NCAA Division III Maryville and Division II Francis Marion, Rowe has worked wonders at NAIA Division I Brescia and Lee, guiding both to national semifinal appearances.
Also much like Moore, Rowe’s players graduate, are model citizens and play an exciting yet disciplined brand of basketball.
As for Elzy, her resume is stunning, beginning with her role as a key member of two national championship teams at UT in 1997 and ’98. She became the first Lady Vol to earn a master’s degree while still playing.
She’s been an assistant at UK, Kansas, Western Kentucky and Virginia Tech, so she knows how to work with and without big budgets. Beyond that, she has been widely credited with bringing in the Lady Kats’ recruiting class for the season just past that included Freshman All-America A’dia Mathias.
But if those names aren’t enough for Lady Mocs fans to get excited about, don’t be surprised to see Hart approach Oklahoma assistants Stacy Hansmeyer or Jan Ross, as well as North Carolina recruiting coordinator Tracey Williams-Johnson. She played at UNC-Pembroke, where UTC chancellor Roger Brown previously worked.
Longtime East Tennessee State coach Karen Kemp — a former Lady Mocs assistant — might also get a call, though she recently signed a three-year extension after guiding the Lady Bucs to a third straight NCAA tournament appearance.
Any of the above names would be a strong hire. Elzy, Kemp and Williams-Johnson would carry the added benefit of not only becoming the third woman to become a UTC head coach in the male-dominated athletic department, but also giving the school a black head coach.
“It’s definitely a different approach than football,” Hart said. “The candidate pool is very different. But the expectation level could keep candidates away for the exact opposite reason as football. Before Russ (Huesman) came here and proved we could win, there was probably a fear among some football coaches whether or not you could succeed here. With the women’s basketball job, there’s probably concern whether or not you can match the standards set by Wes.
“But we’re going to be fine. We’ll take however much time we have to get the right person.”
Still, as Hart pointed out to the Quarterback Club, replacing Moore isn’t his only concern these days. The budget remains a problem and is only going to get worse. Through no fault of the current coaching staff, the football program won’t be out from under its APR problems until this time next year. Renovating outdated McKenzie Arena remains a top priority, especially after numerous design firms have shaken their heads in dismay about the current state of the facility.
“To put it kindly, they’ve never seen anything quite like it,” he said. “They’re amazed at what we’ve been able to do and still keep our sanity.”
For Lady Mocs fans, now is the time to keep their sanity. All one needs to do to feel good about Hart’s hiring skills is to look to Huesman or wrestling coach Heath Eslinger.
Besides, if UNC replacing Dean Smith is his guide, Guthridge didn’t do too badly. He reached the Final Four twice in three seasons.