2018 - 2019 Women's Basketball Season

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 5 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote: ↑5 years ago I'm told Shea Ralph is a "finalist."

If she gets it, I wonder if they’ll set up a home and home with UMass Lowell.

Bluebird · Unread post by **Bluebird** » 5 years ago

Shea Ralph is an excellent choice!

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 5 years ago

Rhody74 wrote: ↑5 years ago
Iggy1979 wrote: ↑5 years ago I'm told Shea Ralph is a "finalist."
If she gets it, I wonder if they’ll set up a home and home with UMass Lowell.

Would make the babysitting easier

rhodyruckus · Unread post by **rhodyruckus** » 5 years ago

I was just going to say Shea Ralph is the obvious successor in the near future to Geno at UConn and it seems like he has missed games each of the last several years, however Geno is "only" 65 which is younger than I thought. And Chris Dailey head assistant is under 60. So the coaches in front of her are not quite as close to retirement as I thought, most likely. That said it would probably take a great salary to pry her loose to leave the comforts of UConn.

In looking this up, Chris Dailey makes a little over $300k/year and Ralph makes a little over $200k/year.

rhodyruckus · Unread post by **rhodyruckus** » 5 years ago

RhowdyRam02 wrote: ↑5 years ago As of 2015 she had a base salary of about $172,000. This article talks about the potential of taking over her own program a little bit:

https://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-wo ... story.html

For comparison La-Force was making about $185,000. I'd imagine if we want Ralph we'd have to raise that figure slightly and we'd probably have to make a lot of the same type of program enhancements that Hurley was looking for when he first got here. We're about 15 minutes further away from UMass Lowell (where Garrick is the head women's coach) than Storrs is, so that probably wouldn't be an issue

Oops, I didn't see you had already dug into this. My info above came from the UConn message board where one of the members looked into the public documents disclosing salaries, just a little higher for Ralph than your source.

I think ascending in the women's game is much more difficult than the men's game, so a woman who went to UConn and had major success as a player and now has enjoyed years of the same as an assistant, I can't see her leaving for a huge rebuilding job without a godfather offer. We're talking over double what they were paying La-Force at a minimum.

RamZone72 · Unread post by **RamZone72** » 5 years ago

I was doing a little research on Shea Ralph and what I can find she makes a little more than 200k. From reading past articles Daynia made about $150k which was and still almost the lowest in the A10 with a raise each year that I believe topped out at 180k. I can't see Shea leaving UConn for that much of a difference in salary

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

What is the deal with the one year contract? Administration trying to protect themselves from getting saddled with lemon coaches for multiple contract years? Seems like this will only attract bottom of the barrel candidates. Amazing how the men’s program treated much more different than women . Understand the men bring in the bacon but couldn’t see them offering a men’s coach a 1 year deal.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 5 years ago

Are we offering a one-year contract or is she on a one-year contract at UConn?

One-year contracts are SOP for assistants from what I thought....

Shane D · Unread post by **Shane D** » 5 years ago

Not here to comment on the search (it's ongoing, so commenting is not allowed), but head coaches don't start with one-year contracts in any sport.

That claim is inaccurate, to say the least.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 5 years ago

I don't understand what All In meant by the one year contract

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 5 years ago

The posting for the position says the position is limited to 4/30/2020 with possible renewal. I think the one year came from a misreading of what that means.

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

Advice on the hiring: no retread coaches please! Like the previous hires rhody has made. Coaches with mediocre success that have failed elsewhere will only solidify rhody wbb for future failure. Need someone with an outstanding pedigree like a Shea Ralph but even that is not a guarantee as other UConn assistants have failed. Missouri State staff is a good example of a midmajor who has over achieved. A great high school coach like the one Marist got worked out great for them. Male or female they need to be disciplined , organized, tactical, program promoters, who can recruit and develop talent. There are a ton of schools who have let go coaches so rhody will have to compete to get someone who maybe has been under the radar but shows great potential! Seek and ye shall find but think outside the box and ditch the diversity hires take the best one available regardless!

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

Great game UConn vs Louisville! Something rhody should aspire to! The way UConn moves the basketball and pushes it up the floor was awesome! The way the game is supposed to be played selflessly and as a team. Loved what Katie Lou said at end of game interview! “So proud to be a part of this and represent the tradition that’s on the front of my jersey .” That’s called “culture” , it’s not about me, it’s about all of us! Geno has built that and the same can be done at URI with the right leadership!

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 5 years ago

Iggy1979 wrote: ↑5 years ago I'm told Shea Ralph is a "finalist."

Tomorrow makes three weeks since La-Force was let go. Hopefully the lack of someone being named is due to UConn's annual run in the tournament postponing her ability to be named coach

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 5 years ago

This is a position I would totally fill with someone that has achieved great success with less resources/at a lower level. D2, D3, high school, etc. A more non traditional hire. Vs a retread or an assistant at a blue blood.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 5 years ago

There is some merit to that idea, though I can't say I'm interested in a high school coach. I think the one difference with someone like Ralph is due to UConn's proximity and her acclaim there hiring her could really give some instant sizzle and credibility to the program just with her presence. Think Bill Parcells and what his arrival meant for the Patriots, though obviously NCAA women's basketball vs. NFL

Taylor Swift · Unread post by **Taylor Swift** » 5 years ago

RhowdyRam02 wrote: ↑5 years ago The posting for the position says the position is limited to 4/30/2020 with possible renewal. I think the one year came from a misreading of what that means.

I believe that is what most URI non-classified postings state. Not sure it relates to this specific position itself based on what I've seen on their job board in the past.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

bigappleram wrote: ↑5 years ago This is a position I would totally fill with someone that has achieved great success with less resources/at a lower level. D2, D3, high school, etc. A more non traditional hire. Vs a retread or an assistant at a blue blood.

I agree. Someone who has run the program. Not an assistant. We should know soon.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 5 years ago

RhowdyRam02 wrote: ↑5 years ago There is some merit to that idea, though I can't say I'm interested in a high school coach. I think the one difference with someone like Ralph is due to UConn's proximity and her acclaim there hiring her could really give some instant sizzle and credibility to the program just with her presence. Think Bill Parcells and what his arrival meant for the Patriots, though obviously NCAA women's basketball vs. NFL

I don't disagree with that, she is probably the outlier in that anything associated with UConn women's basketball is such a coup you probably have to make that hire if she is interested. But if not her then I would go in the direction I mentioned. I wouldn't automatically disqualify a tremendous high school coach, don't forget Nate Oats. It's a risk, but there are some tremendous coaches at all levels.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 5 years ago

Oats had two years as an assistant at Buffalo before taking over plus he was a D3 assistant for a couple years earlier in his career. He had some experience in recruiting and how things are done at this level. Taking a high school coach with no college experience seems like too big of a jump with how much work needs to be done with our program, though I suppose if there is just some type of truly elite high school coach you'd have to consider it depending on who else was interested

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 5 years ago

The idea that Thorr would pass on Shea Ralph because she hasn't been a head coach is laughable to me.

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

Entire North Carolina staff put on review as outside investigators brought in to evaluate culture of program! Ga tech coach fired for bullying and improper behaviors. Holy Cross coach let go for same. There are probably 5-7 more that I know of who have been fired for some type of abuse or culture issues. What the heck is going on at these schools and with women’s college basketball in general? Some big dysfunction happening out there!

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 5 years ago

I don't think Thorr will pass on Ralph because of experience...he might because she will cost a minimum of 225K a year to hire.

Who thinks URI is going to make that kind of commitment to women's basketball?

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

All In wrote: ↑5 years ago Entire North Carolina staff put on review as outside investigators brought in to evaluate culture of program! Ga tech coach fired for bullying and improper behaviors. Holy Cross coach let go for same. There are probably 5-7 more that I know of who have been fired for some type of abuse or culture issues. What the heck is going on at these schools and with women’s college basketball in general? Some big dysfunction happening out there!

North Carolina put entire staff on leave
Georgia Tech similar situation

https://sports.yahoo.com/unc-womens-bas ... 04855.html

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

Even with HC fired comments continue to come forth regarding Georgia Tech....

The A10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade, was the 1st female HC for the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team. After she moved on her sister, Agnes Beranato, became HC for Georgia Tech. Bernadette must be watching this ugly situation at Georgia Tech with keen interest

https://www.ajc.com/sports/college/earl ... a4nylW3EP/

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

Of course there will be divergent views on what constitutes abuse but just one instance of abuse is one too many! What happened to the liberal mantra of #believe all women? Funny with this rash of firings over “culture and abuse problems “ in women’s college basketball that the coaches are now rallying to support one another calling it a generational problem and misunderstanding a lot of times. Then you got creepy uncle joe getting defended by the liberal media for his hands on policy for women! What a joke! If it was a conservative or a republican doing this stuff the libs would want them burned at the stake! I see this as a big problem in women’s basketball that will only get worse in the coming years.

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

On a more practical matter Richmond looks like they picked up a gem of a coach in the former Bucknell Head he was also a the univ of Chicago previous to that. 2 great academic schools. Coach who has a stellar record of over 300 career wins. Don’t screw this up Rhody! Why weren’t we in the running for this guy? All I hear is crickets and rumors re our open position. Let’s make a move already.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

Richmond with a very solid hire as “All In” mentions......

https://www.richmond.com/sports/college ... 5ae08.html

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

21 pages on “what did Michelle Joseph do?” In Georgia Tech Message Board.
As mentioned A10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade was the 1st female HC at GT then moved on to assistant AD. McGlade’s sister, Agnus Beranato, then took over. Long thread with some interesting reading and many applicable Newspaper, Blog, TV Station articles.

https://gtswarm.com/threads/so-what-did ... 02/page-21

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

Some possible hires listed by a poster in the GT Message Board for his/her own school:

Update: Roussell just took the job at Richmond so good pick up by the A10

Aaron Roussell, Bucknell - Has had a great run in seven years there, building that program. Won 28 games this year, but is losing four senior starters.
Tricia Fabbri, Quinnipiac - Has turned that program into a top mid-major. Has been there since 1995 so maybe she's content. Think Penn State might make a run at her.
Dawn Plitzuweit, South Dakota - 80-22 in three seasons after four winning seasons at Northern Kentucky. One of the top-ranked mid-majors.

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

Hey, maybe rhody is going all in on Shea Ralph. It would explain the quiet time right now in south Kingstown . Waiting till after the final four to make it official so as not to disturb UCONN run to title . Hey, I can wait for that!

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

Crazy situation at Northern Kentucky

https://sports.yahoo.com/additional-nor ... 17925.html

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 5 years ago

Camryn Whitaker should be fired

No way to treat a player like that who has ulcerative collatis

uriwdesbeter · Unread post by **uriwdesbeter** » 5 years ago

reef wrote: ↑5 years ago Camryn Whitaker should be fired

No way to treat a player like that who has ulcerative collatis

If what the athlete's say is true (and I don't believe most victims make this stuff up), then it's no way to treat ANY of these players.

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 5 years ago

The longer our search goes on the stronger the probability that our next coach is still assisting for a team in the NCAA tournament...

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

Ramulous wrote: ↑5 years ago The longer our search goes on the stronger the probability that our next coach is still assisting for a team in the NCAA tournament...

That could mean any of these remaining teams. Final 4 is Friday night
Friday
No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 1 Baylor, 7 p.m., ESPN2

No. 2 UConn vs. No. 1 Notre Dame, 9 p.m., ESPN2

Sunday
National championship game, 6 p.m., ESPN

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 5 years ago

Our new coach could be an assistant on any one of those teams....

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

Final Four Assistants to URI:

Notre Dame- within the realm of possibility but not likely.staff has been together for awhile and they want to win more titles.

Baylor- no chance, Baylor is a unique situation because of Mulkey. Her long time assistant Brock who may be associate head is making north of 300k and is only real assistant. The others are really not coaches but eye candy.

Oregon- like players, coaches also tend to stay in their geographic areas with exceptions. Though Kelly Graves has produced some good head coaches from his tree. They tend to stay West Coast, Midwest.

UCONN- this is the one that makes the most sense. It won’t be the associate head, she makes too much money and has been with Geno forever. His lower assistants have move on so there is a track record. Not all have been successful. That being said Shea Ralph would be most logical choice and worth waiting for if she was so inclined.
Rhody would have to pony up at least 275-300 to get her but she is worth the investment. We see what the bargain basement hires have produced in the past so let’s not go down that road again. Former Point Guards usually make great head coaches ala Kim Mulkey, kelly at Missouri state headed to Tennessee and I would look at Megan Duffy at Miami of Ohio as a sleeper, mentioned for some bigger jobs but URI would be a nice fit.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 5 years ago

Why are we even doing this level of analysis? If the next women’s coach is in the final four it is Shea Ralph. If it’s not her, then the next coach is not coaching in the final four, and URI is either dragging its feet or it doesn’t realize it isn’t Shea Ralph yet. What is the point of talking about assistant coaches on the Oregon staff? Lol

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

Baylor beats Oregon
Notre Dame beats UCONN
Both close, exciting games

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

Let’s pray we get Shea!

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 5 years ago

Yes all in on Shea Ralph !!!

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

Off topic but women’s basketball related......Sabrina Ionesco is staying for her senior season at Oregon.
Oregon will now return 4 of their 5 starters. They won PAC 10 and made the Final 4.
Ionesco was predicted to be the #1 pick in the draft this season
She holds the NCAA record for career triple founkes with 18. Very good news for Oregon.

All In · Unread post by **All In** » 5 years ago

From the boneyard: some decent coaches on Hearing a ton of candidates for @RhodyWBB -

Bill Ferrara - New Mexico Asst
Erik Johnson - Former BC HC
GP Gromacki - Amherst Coll. HC
Michelle Baxter - USF Asst
Maureen Magarity - UNH HC
Shea Ralph - UConn

Leading Candidate - Caroline McCombs - Stony Brook HC

Expect an announcement this week

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 5 years ago

ramster wrote: ↑5 years ago Off topic but women’s basketball related......Sabrina Ionesco is staying for her senior season at Oregon.
Oregon will now return 4 of their 5 starters. They won PAC 10 and made the Final 4.
Ionesco was predicted to be the #1 pick in the draft this season
She holds the NCAA record for career triple founkes with 18. Very good news for Oregon.

Has a player ever declared early for the WNBA draft? It is impossible for a person to know less about WNBA than I do, but my impression was the the compensation was an order or two of magnitude less than what NBA players get, so I assumed it is almost never worth it to forego a degree to pursue what is necessarily a relatively short career when over the course of their lives they will likely earn more from regular jobs than from playing sports.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 5 years ago

TruePoint wrote: ↑5 years ago
ramster wrote: ↑5 years ago Off topic but women’s basketball related......Sabrina Ionesco is staying for her senior season at Oregon.
Oregon will now return 4 of their 5 starters. They won PAC 10 and made the Final 4.
Ionesco was predicted to be the #1 pick in the draft this season
She holds the NCAA record for career triple founkes with 18. Very good news for Oregon.
Has a player ever declared early for the WNBA draft? It is impossible for a person to know less about WNBA than I do, but my impression was the the compensation was an order or two of magnitude less than what NBA players get, so I assumed it is almost never worth it to forego a degree to pursue what is necessarily a relatively short career when over the course of their lives they will likely earn more from regular jobs than from playing sports.

Yes, players have declared early for the WNBA draft. A significant number of WNBA players also play professionally overseas, which generally pays more than the WNBA. There’s a lot of money to be made that way. Professional opportunities in the U.S. lag way behind. Come back later for the degree, use basketball to make money now.

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 5 years ago

All In wrote: ↑5 years ago From the boneyard: some decent coaches on Hearing a ton of candidates for @RhodyWBB -

Bill Ferrara - New Mexico Asst
Erik Johnson - Former BC HC
GP Gromacki - Amherst Coll. HC
Michelle Baxter - USF Asst
Maureen Magarity - UNH HC
Shea Ralph - UConn

Leading Candidate - Caroline McCombs - Stony Brook HC

Expect an announcement this week

If it’s McCombs there’s probably a buyout since she received an extension last year:
“Stony Brook Athletics announced on Thursday, May 10 that Women’s Basketball head coach Caroline McCombs has signed a three-year extension through the 2021-22 season.”

thatRamBand · Unread post by **thatRamBand** » 5 years ago

Just bare bones here on each of the coaches mentioned in that tweet...

Bill Ferrara (New Mexico Asst): Has been through several programs as an assistant - Hofstra, Central Michigan, GW, Florida, New Mexico. Has been involved in player development and recruiting. Might be a good candidate to jump into HC, young and hungry.

Erik Johnson (Former BC HC): Coach from 2012-2018, overall record of 68-115 (best year was 15-16). This is the kind of hire you may want to avoid, underperforming re-tread HC.

GP Gromacki (Amherst Coll. HC): D3 coach with a huge amount of success at that level (491-62 (.888%!)) Has been at Amherst for 12 seasons, 3 national championships.

Michelle Baxter (USF Asst): Has been at USF since 2008. Very good recruiter, AAU and International ties. HC experience at Monmouth with mixed results.

Maureen Magarity (UNH HC): Has been HC at UNH since 2010. Overall record of 136-135 over 9 seasons. Realy underperformed this year (6-24), but can't be an easy place to recruit. This seems like low risk and low reward.

Shea Ralph (UConn Asst): Former UConn star, Asst at Pitt from '03-'08. Good record of player development and recruiting at UConn as an assistant, most likely ready for an HC job.

Caroline McCombs (Stony Brook HC): Overall record of 87-67 at Stony Brook since 2014 (23-8 this past year). Seems to recruit well for the America East and is trending towards a move up in competition. 4 winning seasons in 5 tries, much better than our former coach from the America East/CAA.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 5 years ago

thatRamBand wrote: ↑5 years ago Just bare bones here on each of the coaches mentioned in that tweet...

Bill Ferrara (New Mexico Asst): Has been through several programs as an assistant - Hofstra, Central Michigan, GW, Florida, New Mexico. Has been involved in player development and recruiting. Might be a good candidate to jump into HC, young and hungry.

Erik Johnson (Former BC HC): Coach from 2012-2018, overall record of 68-115 (best year was 15-16). This is the kind of hire you may want to avoid, underperforming re-tread HC.

GP Gromacki (Amherst Coll. HC): D3 coach with a huge amount of success at that level (491-62 (.888%!)) Has been at Amherst for 12 seasons, 3 national championships.

Michelle Baxter (USF Asst): Has been at USF since 2008. Very good recruiter, AAU and International ties. HC experience at Monmouth with mixed results.

Maureen Magarity (UNH HC): Has been HC at UNH since 2010. Overall record of 136-135 over 9 seasons. Realy underperformed this year (6-24), but can't be an easy place to recruit. This seems like low risk and low reward.

Shea Ralph (UConn Asst): Former UConn star, Asst at Pitt from '03-'08. Good record of player development and recruiting at UConn as an assistant, most likely ready for an HC job.

Caroline McCombs (Stony Brook HC): Overall record of 87-67 at Stony Brook since 2014 (23-8 this past year). Seems to recruit well for the America East and is trending towards a move up in competition. 4 winning seasons in 5 tries, much better than our former coach from the America East/CAA.

Thanks for the backgrounds. I looked the backgrounds up myself yesterday. How would you rank the candidate if you were Thor/Dooley knowing the current condition of our program and future goals?

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 5 years ago

thatRamBand wrote: ↑5 years ago Just bare bones here on each of the coaches mentioned in that tweet...

Bill Ferrara (New Mexico Asst): Has been through several programs as an assistant - Hofstra, Central Michigan, GW, Florida, New Mexico. Has been involved in player development and recruiting. Might be a good candidate to jump into HC, young and hungry.

Erik Johnson (Former BC HC): Coach from 2012-2018, overall record of 68-115 (best year was 15-16). This is the kind of hire you may want to avoid, underperforming re-tread HC.

GP Gromacki (Amherst Coll. HC): D3 coach with a huge amount of success at that level (491-62 (.888%!)) Has been at Amherst for 12 seasons, 3 national championships.

Michelle Baxter (USF Asst): Has been at USF since 2008. Very good recruiter, AAU and International ties. HC experience at Monmouth with mixed results.

Maureen Magarity (UNH HC): Has been HC at UNH since 2010. Overall record of 136-135 over 9 seasons. Realy underperformed this year (6-24), but can't be an easy place to recruit. This seems like low risk and low reward.

Shea Ralph (UConn Asst): Former UConn star, Asst at Pitt from '03-'08. Good record of player development and recruiting at UConn as an assistant, most likely ready for an HC job.

Caroline McCombs (Stony Brook HC): Overall record of 87-67 at Stony Brook since 2014 (23-8 this past year). Seems to recruit well for the America East and is trending towards a move up in competition. 4 winning seasons in 5 tries, much better than our former coach from the America East/CAA.

IMO based on the above I am honed in on Gromacki, McCombs and Ralph. All 3 are very compelling candidates to get excited about, the others not so much.

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