Who should take us to the Big Dance?
The search for candidates to fill the Eastern women’s head basketball coaching position is complete.
The athletic department is left with a choice between four qualified candidates: Chris Kielsmeier, Rekha Patterson, Krystal Reeves-Evans and Debbie Black.
Black is the obvious choice of the four.
With fifteen years of professional experience at home and abroad and eight seasons as the Ohio State women’s basketball team assistant coach (2005-present), she brings the most to the table for Eastern.
That experience will certainly help Black draw talent to Eastern.
Her ability to recruit cannot be understated. She has recruited players who are now in the WNBA and put a handful of players on the list of post-season awards for the Big 10.
The Panthers are already on their way to putting together a successful season. It is vital that the athletic department find someone who can bring continuity to the squad. This means finding someone with experience recruiting top players and coaching against the best-of-the-best.
The other three candidates are individuals with their own merit, but the reality is that none have experience at a top program in a leadership capacity. Black is poised to maneuver Eastern into a secure position atop the Ohio Valley Conference rankings.
If making the NCAA tournament on a consistent basis is a goal for Eastern, then an individual whose team has made it to the Big Dance in each of her seasons as a coach is exactly what is needed in the head coaching position.
The sudden resigning of Lee Buchanan comes at an inopportune time for the Panthers. Eastern and the athletic department find themselves at a proverbial fork in the road. The head coach selection has the potential to vault Eastern into the future as powerhouse or send them to a state of limbo while an inexperienced new face learns the ropes.
Eastern does not have the luxury of time.
If a coach is brought in who does not have the pedigree of Black, then all of the potential of the current team will go to waste. Additionally, Eastern will find themselves back where they were before their new-found success; a team mired in a battle for a conference which is not competitive on the national level.
In Black, Eastern has the chance to not only continue their success, but to build for the future with an established name and a talented recruiter.
Michael Spencer can be
reached at 581-2812
