The Bobcat Nation

Hey guys-our rumor mill needs some serious tuning up!

I just saw on the news that Robin Potera-Haskins has resigned as MSU women's b-ball coach. They said MSU and Potera reach some sort of mutual agreement for her to leave. Yarnell and Davies were interviewed and basically said they didn't like the direction the program was headed. Her assistant (forget his name) will be the interim coach.

This is a bit of surprise, considering we usually hear about stuff like this on these message boards long before the news media gets it.

Good Riddance.....don't let the door smack you on the ass on the way out!!


My nomination for the new coach:

Brian Orr: former assistant coach under McCarthy, and current head coach at Lewis and Clark (I think)

Kevin Englant (I think that's his name): Current head coat at Western

Mark Kellog: Former assistant, and current interam coach. Great guy who now has the opportunity to shine with the wicked witch of the west gone.

no smack that is the best thing to happen in cat land in awhile. potera was a good x and o coach but a first class b itch.

Wow!! Who would think that the coach of the "premiere women's team" (her term - not mine) in Montana would want to resign?! She must have received an offer from one of the big-time powers!

Not a surprise.

As for getting scooped...I blame Velo - this is his area of responsibility!

I too like the idea of Kevin Englant (sp??). Great ties to the state of Montana and has done a great job at Western. I guarantee he would do a great job for the womens program!

GO CATS!!

Would any of you folks support Frank McCarthy if he became a canidate, again?

Scooped!? I think we were talking about this possiblity well over a month and 1/2 ago. I know I brought it up as a stong possiblity.

Recruiting: The articals in the variuos newspapers mentioned that this news could not have come at a worse time with the signing day coming next Wednesday. While this is true, last fall it was reported with Potera's fall signing class, the womans basketball team had finished their recruiting for the 2003-2004 year. Given that this move , as reported in the same papers, was made to retain existing players I do not think this will hurt us that much in recruiting. Given that there may be a little player fall out from this the remaining coaches will most likely have only 1-2 spots to fill. More importantly I really was not that impressed with the athlete Potera did sign last fall as a class with the exception of Goodman from Greatfalls.

i wouldn't mind mccarthy. potera-haskins did a great job, you can't argue with 2 titles,albeit with others players.

Any time coaching changes are made, the disruption to the existing situation can be bad. The current players on the Women's team have shown they have the potential to do good things.

The announcement of the old staff staying on as the interim staff is a good move, keeping a potentially bad situation in control from a continuity standpoint. Coaches Kudrna, Kellogg, and Mattio have good relationships with all the returning players and have been building an improved recruiting process in Montana. I'm glad they have a chance to remain for the short-run and give themselves an opportunity to be considered for the position long-term.

I know there are likely many good candiadtes for the permanent position, but this is probably the best short-term solution to keep the incoming recruits and the existing players happy and build on the good finish from this past year, then allow an orderly permannet coach selection and transition process to take place. I congratulate the athletic department on how they handled this situation.

McCarthy? No. There are reasons why he's no longer the coach in the first place.

This is a personal bias, but I would really prefer that we find a woman to coach the women's team. Granted, the last couple have apparently turned out to be vicious to the players, but in the macro sense, it makes sense that we would reserve the opportunities in women's basketball for the qualified women coaches out there. It's silly that there are so few at the college level in Montana to begin with.

Does anyone know of any up and coming female coaches who might shine in this position (and not chase off all of the players)?

What about Sarah Flock/Fowler? Doesn't she coach in Belgrade? Yes, she would be new in the college ranks but she knows the sport and it seems like she would have the inside on some recruiting -being a Montana player who was at the top of the Big Sky during her career here.

I would really prefer that we find a woman to coach the women's team.

How about we find the best qualified candidate.

wbtfg: Yeah, I'm sure that's what everybody has in mind when hiring a men's basketball coach -- they are going to hire the most qualified candidate, man or woman. We know that's not how it works. These are literally the only coaching jobs women can get, so I'm sure we can find some very qualified female candidates, and hopefully one of them proves herself to be the best candidate for the position.

BAC:
Karyn Ridgeway- (something)

It's Ridgeway...she got divorced and dropped - Pilskalns

Bay Area Cat wrote:This is a personal bias, but I would really prefer that we find a woman to coach the women's team.

Yup better get a woman, I mean men obviously cant coach women just at our own Robin Selvig or Geno Auriemma the coach of the 3 time defending champion UCONN Huskies. That kind of thinking certainly won't help your womens hoops program move forward.

Griz37: Hmmm. What you posted really doesn't match up with what I said, did it? That's call a straw man argument.

I didn't say that men can't coach women's basketball, I merely pointed out that I have a bias towards a progressive view that says that we give qualified women opportunities to succeed in coaching women's sports, as obviously they will never have an opportunity to coach men's teams. Of course, if we did something radical like that, we might end up with an awful coach like Tennessee or Stanford. Yup, that would sure terrible. Gotta hire a dude, cuz UM dun it.

I tend to agree with both BAC and wbtfg, if that is possible. Overall, and most importantly, we need to hire the best-qualified individual, regardless of sex/race/etc. However, I would kind of like to see that person be a woman, because of the arguments BAC has made. One problem I foresee with hiring a woman is the completely backwards attitude of quite a few Montanans to women in high positions. They don't trust them, they don't warm up to them = they never really accept them. I fear this may have a long-term impact on recruiting and the general attitude of most Montanans towards the women's basketball program at MSU. I don't think Potera did anything to dissuade that type of thinking, as "50's-ish" as it may be.

I agree with Bozone.. whether it is sexist or not, Montanans seem to give more credence to a male basketball coach. Unfortunately when you have to deal with an established male basketball coach who is very successful at your main rival university, it becomes almost impossible to obtain an edge or even equality in recruiting...unless you have name recognition that is just as pronounced in the field. I suppose Pat Summit could match Selvig here in Montana recruit for recruit!

As long as we're into Montana social commentary, I have to admit I'm always a little skeptical of women who combine their maiden-married names. I suppose there's various and valid reasons, but to me it seems like some type of double oppression when she packs around both her father's and husband's last name. If we locate a women's coach, try to make it someone like Alice Jones or Alice Kobeldink, not Alice Jones-Kobeldink.