Roundtables: Cal Women’s Basketball Future

We now have another coaching vacancy we have to fill. Where do we look? Are we looking for an up and coming coach or making a significantly competitive offer to an established HC?

thedozen: Former Associate Head Coach Charmin Smith might have been the odds-on favorite, but she already joined the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Longtime assistant Kai Felton has been named interim head coach, so it seems that Jim Knowlton is looking externally. Why not begin with a rising star in Notre Dame assistant Niele Ivey?

Nick Kranz: Pure guesswork on my part, but: I doubt that Cal has the budget set aside in a sport that isn’t making money to make a splash hire. Which means that the possibility of hiring away an already successful P5 head coach is unlikely. Do you call Scott Rueck and Adia Barnes? Of course. But Cal probably won’t pay to pry away somebody like that.

Which means you’re left choosing between mid major head coaches and elite program assistants. Sadly, I don’t have the bandwidth to come up with a list beyond the obvious names you’ll see from WBB journalists on twitter, but I’m guessing those types of names are where Cal will look first.

Rob Hwang: I have no idea who are up-and-coming coaches in Women’s Basketball also, as Nick noted, the budget for this hire. There was a few coaches that have come around the area to play against us. I really liked that Geno Auriemma and what he had to say when he did that Q&A with Coach Steve Kerr. My votes in for him.