2022 Coaching Carousel

There might be a coach or coaches already in place. It just may not have been announced yet. The Lauren Fields impending visit makes me think that's the case.

 

Wasn’t she working with some AAU group coaching players one on one when Aston invited her to join the staff? I expect she was better on that level vs. head coaching tasks. If she still has a desire to coach I expect she needs to be an assistant again to prove herself as capable of moving up based on her ability vs. her WNBA career.

 

10 working days. Expect something next week.

 

@BALL IS LIFE, I believe you may have connections with AAU coaches and/or high school coaches, have you heard any rumors or speculation on coaching candidates other than Lovato?

 

I think we all expected this but now official!! Welcome back coach

 

Sydney Carter is the only other name I have heard

 

I even got her title right. Now I need an ice pack for the muscle I pulled patting myself on the back.

 

Good to see that. Maybe some of the people a little more prone to hyperventilating over off-season program issues will be able to survive Easter weekend.

 

She’s baaaaaaack!

 

Ahhh, good point. All these former players as coaches have flamed out other than Staley. They become demanding control freaks apparently.

 

Anyone know why she left in the first place? Was it family issues?

 

Me too.

 

I'm actually surprised she was promoted to Associate Head Coach after taking a year off from the coaching industry. That tells me that the 2 assistant coaches still to be hired are most likely going to be lacking on collegiate coaching experience. Was really hoping he was going to hire someone with double-digit years of Division I coaching experience as his Associate Head Coach.

 

He might still - has done it before. Johnnie and Dionnah had associate head coach titles simultaneously.

 

I guess that's possible; Dionnah still strikes me as very "young" in her coaching career; but, I guess Associate Head Coach titles are handed out a lot sooner these days.

COACHING HISTORY
2020-Present: Associate Head Coach, Texas
2019-20: Associate Head Coach, Mississippi State
2015-19: Assistant Coach, Mississippi State
2013-15: Assistant Coach, George Mason
2010-13: Assistant Coach, Southeast Missouri State

 

I’d be perfectly happy to see Sidney hired. Actually I’d Love it!

 

Although Elena was away for a year, she was still following the players and the program on a regular basis. If I were to guess, she probably needed some time away to deal with family stuff. The other plus is that she can hit the ground running with no learning curve of how Vic likes things done!

 

I'm thrilled she's coming back; I stated previously different reasons why she is a great re-hire.

I'm just surprised she was promoted after being away one year. I'd love it if I could take a year off (sabbatical) from my job and then have my boss promote me!

 

Remember she was HC of Arkansas Fort-Smith after leaving for a few years to be closer to family (health reasons). And when she went back to MSU, the other more tenured coaches had the title of Associate Head Coach. LinkedIn shows her as sale rep for "StimLabs" in Albuquerque, NM (again I believe for family health reasons). So it's not that she's left and returned on a whim. I don't speculate as to which family member needed her as I don't know. But it wasn't the typical "spend more time with my family" reasons that they give for disgraced or fired coaches.

*My dad retired as a "Full" tenured professor. I was educated early on to the significant meaning of: Associate, Assistant, and Full when it comes to titles in academia and how it relates to future hires.

 

I think Tina Thompson wou!d be be a great pick it she is available. Her star quality helped Karen Aston recruit a lot of 5 stars. She also seemed to have good reporre with players.

 

Sydney Carter now following Kobe King-Hawea and Aaliyah Moore on Instagram. I feel confident she'll be joining Vic's staff in some capacity.

 

So now both Dom’s (Director) and Jazz’s (Coordinator) player development positions are posted. Jazz we know went with Dionnah and I would guess Dom would’ve announced by now if she were leaving. At this point, I will be surprised if she isn’t promoted to assistant coach.

The University of Texas at Austin Staff Jobs

 

Looks like the Director of Player Development job posting has been pulled. Can we assume that it has now been filled? It had an "earliest start date of 4/17" (yesterday). Sydney Carter?

The University of Texas at Austin Staff Jobs

 

That would be my guess.

 

Speaking of Sydney Carter, obviously, I've been peeking at her Instagram follows and followers over the last week or so. It caught my attention that a couple of days ago she started following Maryland assistant coach Lindsey Spann. Today, Spann started following Carter. Could mean nothing as it pertains to Texas. Or, we might be able to connect some dots if Sydney is hired by Vic.

Lindsey Spann - Women's Basketball Coach - University of Maryland Athletics (umterps.com)

 

On TexAgs there is a photo of Janiah Barker on her visit to A&M. Coach Chelsea Newton was in the photo with Barker. Although it hasn't been announced, it looks like Newton will join Joni Taylor's staff at A&M.

 

Yeah, when I saw Newton following all these different A&M athletic accounts on twitter, I was certain she was following Joni.

One of Joni's assistants at Georgia did get hired by Duke; I thought that was because that job would go to Joni's husband at A&M. But, there was an article yesterday indicating he was staying with the Atlanta Dream.

 

Does husband/wife fall under the nepotism laws? We know Vic can't give Blair a position that reports directly to him, would the same apply to Joni's husband?

My gut tells me it should.

 

And yet, Kristy Curry's husband was one of her assistant coaches when Curry was the head coach for Texas Tech women's basketball. Are exceptions sometimes made with approval from the appropriate administrators?