Cal Women's Basketball Coaching Search: Final Three Candidates?
by norcalnick on Apr 22, 2011 10:30 AM PDT
in California Golden Bears Women's Basketball
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PrintAfter a couple weeks with nary a credible news source or meaningful rumor, yesterday finally saw two interesting pieces of news related to Cal's women's basketball coaching search. Some have speculated that Cal would be directly competing with UCLA for coaching candidates, but the announcement that the Bruins hired Cori Close appears to debunk the idea. I can't begin to judge her resume, but I'd guess that UCLA fans aren't thrilled to have hired a career assistant coach to follow the incredible tenure of Nikki Caldwell.
The more important piece of news was that Lindsay Gottlieb interviewed yesterday, and that Adrian Wiggins and Curt Miller are the other two candidates for the job. After nothing but idle speculation, it appears that Sandy Barbour is indeed going after two coaches most frequently cited by Cal fans since Joanne Boyle left for Virginia. (Note: Everything I write from this point forward is predicated on this report being true. If Cal announces that they've hired Phil Jackson in the next two days this post can be safely ignored)
It's also worthwhile noting that two of the candidates are men. Gender politics can unfortunately be a factor in women's basketball, so I'm pleased to see that Sandy Barbour isn't restricting her search to women. I want Cal to hire the most qualified candidate regardless of gender. (Of course, that goes for all Cal sports. If we were unlucky enough to lose Mike Montgomery, I'd be thrilled if we could steal another successful Stanford coach, if you catch my drift.)
So, with some actual names to consider, let's actually look at what each coach brings to the table:
Lindsay Gottlieb
via grfx.cstv.com
Experience:
UC Santa Barbara Head Coach: 2008-present
Cal Assistant Coach: 2005-08
Richmond Assistant Coach: 2002-05
New Hampshire Assistant Coach: 2001-02
Syracuse Assistant Coach: 1999-2001
Record as a head coach:
2008-09: 22-10, 15-1, Big West regular season and conference champions, NCAA first round
2009-10: 15-17, 9-7
2010-11: 19-12, 12-4, Big West regular season co-champs
Adrian Wiggins
via a.espncdn.com
Experience:
Fresno St. Head Coach: 2005-present
Fresno St. Assistant Coach: 2002-05
Cameron University (Div. II) Head Coach: 2000-02
Record as a head coach:
2005-06 24-8, 14-2, WNIT 3rd round
2006-07 18-13, 10-6
2007-08: WAC regular season co-champs, tournament champs, NCAA first round. Season vacated because of ineligible player
2008-09: 24-9, 12-4, WAC regular season co-champs, tournament champs, NCAA first round
2009-10: 27-7, 16-0, WAC regular season champions, NCAA first round
2010-11: 25-8, 14-2, WAC tournament champions, NCAA first round
Curt Miller
Experience:
Bowling Green Head Coach: 2001-present
Colorado St. Assistant Coach: 1998-2001
Syracuse Assistant Coach: 1994-98
Cleveland St. Assistant Coach: 1991-94
Record as a head coach:
2001-02: 9-19, 6-10
2002-03: 12-16, 5-11
2003-04: 21-10, 11-5
2004-05: 23-8, 13-3, MAC regular season and tournament champions, NCAA first round
2005-06: 28-3, 16-0, MAC regular season and tournament champions, NCAA first round
2006-07: 31-4, 15-1, MAC regular season and tournament champions, NCAA sweet 16
2007-08: 26-8, 13-3, WNIT 2nd round
2008-09: 29-5, 15-1, MAC regular season champions, WNIT 3rd round
2009-10: 27-7, 14-2, MAC regular season and tournament champions, NCAA first round
2010-11: 28-5, 13-3, MAC regular season and tournament champions, NCAA first round
What does this all mean?
For one, I think all of the candidates have a pretty similar resume. Wiggins and Miller in particular have very similar records of achievement. Both have had incredibly successful runs in some of the better mid-major conferences in the nation, and both have produced multiple NCAA appearances. Wiggins has had the challenge of unseating perennial WAC power Louisiana Tech, which explains why Fresno St. hasn't been as overwhelmingly dominant as Bowling Green has been.
Lindsay Gottlieb's resume isn't quite as impressive as Wiggins and Miller, but it's still been a solid three years at UCSB and her advantage is the time she spent at Cal under Joanne Boyle. What's important to note is that while she was in Berkeley, her focus as an assistant coach was on Cal's post players. That's right, Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker. That turned out pretty well. If hired, we can only hope she can engineer similar leaps from Talia Caldwell, Gennifer Brandon and Reshanda Gray.
Now, you're all probably looking at Wiggin's 2007-08 season. After doing a little digging, I'm not going to hold that one against him. Fresno St. had an Australian player on their roster that year, and evidently while in high school back home she player about 30 minutes of basketball for a professional team. The NCAA, being the unbending, draconian governing body everyone loves, vacated an incredibly success season. Alas. This wasn't blatant malfeasance, it was something more along the lines of Monty's accidental phone calls.
My main concern with Miller: Is he actually willing to leave Bowling Green? I have to assume that after going 31-4 and making the Sweet 16 that he must have had his pick of job offers, yet he's still at Bowling Green four years later. Is he really willing to leave a regional power and move halfway across the country? Until I hear that he's been interviewed I'll be a bit skeptical about his availability.
And what about academics? Well, the bios of each coach mention academics in some fashion, though Gottlieb hasn't really been around long enough at UCSB to have much of a reputation either way:
No coach can guarantee wins, but I can guarantee that my players here will receive a tremendous education
Academics is a high priority for coach Wiggins. Since taking over the head coaching duties, Wiggins has coached 20 student-athletes who have earned Academic All-WAC honors. His team has represented the University with integrity as the Bulldogs have posted a 3.0 team GPA in four semesters during his tenure.
In the classroom, BGSU’s teams have been equally successful. The Falcons ranked fifth in the entire nation on the WBCA’s 2008-09 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll. The award recognizes teams throughout the country that had the highest grade point averages for the 2008-09 academic year. BG was sixth in the nation on that list in 2009-10, and the team GPA improved from the prior year.
Make of that what you will, but I don't think academics are a problem with any of these candidates.
Conclusion
Really, you can make a strong argument for all three candidates. Miller has the best record solely based on wins and losses, but Wiggins is very close and has the advantage of being close to Berkeley and presumably familiar with west coast recruiting. And Gottlieb has the advantage of being very familiar with Cal's program and has the Mike Silver stamp of approval. All three are relatively young and energetic, and all three would likely be excellent hires. If this is indeed the short list, Sandy Barbour has followed through with her pledge to keep women's basketball going strong at Cal. Now we just have to be patient and wait for an announcement.
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Lindsay Gottlieb is the best candidate for me. (And I can confirm she is definitely in Berkeley interviewing.) It’s not just the gender politics of it, where I think we need more female coaches in general, but her experience with Cal and its academics. I’m reading that thing about Fresno Coach Wiggins’ academic experience, and I’ll just say that Cal and Fresno State are not on the same level.
Gottlieb would be my choice
Familiarity w/ the program + + +
UC experience + + +
Is Lindsay related to Gregg?
http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/gottlieb_gregg00.html
#Dominate
I lean toward Lindsay
Wiggins and Miller are more accomplished as head coaches at this point; that much is true. Of those two, I am particuarly intrigued by the Miller candidacy because I think he is a helluva coach. I’m a little surprised he’s still at BG after the run he’s had there.
But all things considered, I think Gottlieb is not only a good choice but the best choice. She has modest success as a head coach in the Big West (2 out of 3 years in the postseason, one outright reg season conference championship, one reg season co-championship), she has familiarity with West Coast recruiting, she has a reputation as a good recruiter (from my recollection), and she is familiar with how Cal works. That last factor can’t really be understated, IMO.
Yes, I am an Old Blue. Now get off my lawn.
Familiarity with Cal
Make of that what you will, but I don’t think academics are a problem with any of these candidates.
With all due respect to Fresno State and Bowling Green, Cal provides a different set of academic challenges than those schools. Lindsay’s familiarity with those challenges is a plus.
Yes, I am an Old Blue. Now get off my lawn.
I voted for her too but don’t we want the BEST coach who puts importance on academics… not just one who is familiar with ours…. after all, she came from small colleges back east… I think Miller would be great too…..
I meant from a coaching aspect….Syracuse is big but Richmond and New Hampshire are small colleges comparatively speaking….again, I voted for her too but was wondering how much weight do we put on familiarity compared to actual coaching expertise…that was all I meant….I think Miller is an intriguing pick also….
I also think Lindsay is the best choice
I think Gottlieb is the best choice for several reasons. First of all, she is an excellent coach. I’ve talked to some former (star) players who think very highly of her and credit her with much of their development while at Cal. Secondly, she is very outgoing and would be a wonderful ambassador for the program. Fans already know and like her and I would guess that Charmin Smith (who came to Cal because of Lindsay) might stay on as an assistant. It would be a win, win for the program. Gottlieb would offer a change in direction, yet provide continuity.
Miller is obviously a talented coach, but I think Lindsay’s positives outnumber his.
Thanks for the info, nick. Although I voted for Gottlieb, I would not be unhappy with any of these choices.
Official Acceptor of TwistNHook's Unconditional Surrender Person of CGB and Queen of Spite Recs
I'm a Lindsey Gottlieb fan, but......
I’m always a little wary of “hiring from within” because it smacks of not considering ALL the best candidates. Let me put it this way, if she had NOT been a Cal assistant, would she still be on the short list? If the answer is yes, call her now and fly her up for the press conference. If the answer is no, then I’m voting for either of the other candidates.
If all three coaches were considered equal talents, I’d take the woman every time for (as NorCalNick alluded above) ANY coaching position. I just want to be sure we’re not “blinded” because she wore Blue and Gold before.
Whoever it is, let’s make the announcement and see if we can change DeNesha’s mind. Go Bears !!!!!
I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.
BTW...
A few years ago in Corvallis my kids and I stayed after the game for autographs when the team comes back out on the floor. Coach Gottlieb came up to me and shook my hand and thanked us for being there to support the team. She was very friendly without the hard edge (for better or worse) that Coach Boyle always seems to carry with her.
I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.
DeNesha isn’t going to change her mind….really, she has moved on and so must we. However, I do think that Gottlieb offers more than just having worn the Blue and Gold before. UCLA contacted her about their position, although I’m not sure how far that got. She brings a lot to the table as a coach and as a person. Believe me, the Bears who played under her (and were coached by her) respect her very much. She is just what Cal women’s basketball needs to take the program to the next level from both a coaching perspective and from a fan perspective too. It’s good that Sandy has considered other talented coaches for this hire, but hands down I’d say Lindsay is the best choice.
I don't want Curt Miller to leave Bowling Green
But he would. He almost did leave in 2007 (right after the Sweet 16) to Michigan State, but he did not get the job. He graduated a lot of seniors this year and it would be a good time to go if he didn’t want to stay.
Don't forget to hustle.
He also just interviewed at New Mexico
And did not get that job either.
Don't forget to hustle.
by Matt Sussman on Apr 22, 2011 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions
I'd like to see Gottlieb
as head coach and Charmin Smith as associate HC. (And the other LG as assistant coach one of these days.)
Since we're talking about Charmin....
…how come her name isn’t in the mix? She’s coached at several schools, coached ‘Furd into the elite 8, helped develop Jayne Appel, is head of recruiting, etc. I’d like to see her stay with the program and continue her recruiting prowess, but like we’ve said about Tosh Lupoi, when a better deal comes along you can’t blame someone for taking it.
Maybe her name was in the mix but we’re looking for someone with head coaching experience only?
And if I want to hold onto my dream of DeNesha sticking around, don’t go bursting my bubble…..yet.
I'd like to smell the Roses before I die.
I can only speculate, but it’s entirely possible that Charmin has interviewed as well and for whatever reason that information has been kept private. Her success as a coach and recruiter, and evident popularity with fans and within the program would make is seem like a reasonable option.
The #1 greatest threat to America: BEARS
I concur
Charmin is already on campus so I would assume she has probably talked to Sandy about the HC position. Charmin is really holding down the fort right now and is the person who contacted our recruits to reassure them that all would be well. It wouldn’t shock me to see her named HC either and I would be supportive of that move.
For what it’s worth, Wiggins earlier today denied being contacted and having interest in the Cal job.
The #1 greatest threat to America: BEARS
This job has Mary Murphy's name written on it!
Too bad her name isn’t in the mix:(
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