After leading the Big Green for the last eight years, head coach Belle Koclanes announced she was stepping down to become president of a nonprofit organization in Delaware. While Koclanes’s last day was officially March 31, interim AD Peter Roby has actually been on the clock since the statement was released on February 24 – 68 days ago.
To put things into an Ancient Eight perspective, it took 29 days for Princeton to hire Carla Berube after Courtney Banghart left for North Carolina and 28 days for Brown to replace the departed Sarah Behn with Monique LeBlanc. Looking at this year’s national coaching carousel, the Big Green now find themselves with the longest coaching search in the nation.
As of Saturday:
Army: Dave Magarity/ Missy Traversi (59 days)
Auburn: Terri Williams-Flournoy / Johnnie Harris (30 days)
Austin Peay: David Midlick / Brittany Young (9 days)
Baylor: Kim Mulkey/ ? (6+ days)
Boston Univ: Marisa Moseley/ Melissa D’Amico (28 days)
Bethune-Cookman: Vanessa Blair-Lewis/ ? (25+ days)
Charleston Southern: Fred Applin/ ? (22+ days)
Colgate: William Cleary / Ganiyat Adeduntan (13 days)
Delaware State: David Caputo/ ? (29+ days)
Drake: Jennie Baranczyk / Allison Pohlman (8 days)
E. Tennessee State: Brittney Ezell / Simon Harris (11 days)
Eastern Kentucky: Samantha Williams/ ? (15+ days)
Eastern Washington: Wendy Schuller/ ? (31+ days)
Evansville: Matthew Ruffing / Robyn Scherr-Wells (36 days)
Florida Atlantic: Jim Jabir/ Jennifer Sullivan (8 days)
George Mason: Nyla Milleson / Vanessa Blair-Lewis (26 days)
George Washington: Jennifer Rizzotti / Caroline McCombs (18 days)
Hartford: Morgan Valley/ Melissa Hodgdon – Interim (1 day)
Indiana State: Vicki Hall/ Chad Killinger (36 days)
Kennesaw State: Agnus Berenato/ Octavia Blue (31 days)
L.S.U.: Nikki Fargas/ Kim Mulkey (1 day)
Loyola, MD: Joe Logan/ Danielle O’Banion (24 days)
Loyola Marymount: Charity Elliott/Aarika Hughes (12 days)
UMass, Lowell: Tom Garrick/ ? (17+ days)
McNeese State: Kacie Cryer/ Lynn Kennedy (18 days)
Memphis: Melissa McFerrin/ Katrina Merriweather (43 days)
Monmouth: Jody Craig/ Ginny Boggess (29 days)
Montana: Mike Petrino – interim/ Brian Holsinger (29 days)
Mount St. Mary’s (MD): Maria Marchesano/ Antoine White (1 day)
North Dakota: Mallory Bernhard – interim/ Mallory Bernhard (25 days)
Northeastern: Kelly Cole/ Bridgette Mitchell (24 days)
Northern Colorado: Jenny Huth/ ? (10+ days)
Oklahoma: Sherri Coale / Jennie Baranczyk (24 days)
Portland State: Lynn Kennedy/ Chelsey Gregg (17 days)
Purdue Ft. Wayne: Niecee Nelson/ Maria Marchesano (32 days)
Rice: Tina Langley/ Lindsay Edmonds (18 days)
Sacramento State: Bunky Harkleroad/ Mark Campbell (30 days)
Siena: Ali Jaques/ Jim Jabir (23 days)
Southern Illinois: Paula Buscher/ Samantha Quigley Smith (40 days)
S.M.U.: Travis Mays / Toyelle Wilson (24 days)
Stony Brook: Caroline McCombs/ Ashley Langford (26 days)
Tulsa: Matilda Mossman / Angie Nelp (25 days)
U.S.C.: Mark Trakh/ ? (10+ days)
U.T.S.A.: Kristen Holt / Karen Aston (13 days)
Vanderbilt: Stephanie White / Shea Ralph (7 days)
Wagner: Heather Jacobs/ Walt Hameline (2 days)
Washington: Jody Wynn / Tina Langley (21 days)
Winthrop: Semeka Randall Lay – interim/ Semeka Randall Lay (31 days)
Wisconsin: Jonathan Tsipis / Marisa Moseley (21 days)
Wright State: Katrina Merriweather/ ? (33+ days)
After Koclanes’s official departure from campus, a source informed IHO that no interim head coach would be named and the program hoped to have a new leader in place by the end of the month.
With no updates over the last few weeks, things looked like they might have changed this week. On Monday, Wagner head coach Heather Jacobs suddenly resigned after leading her team to its most successful season in the past two decades. Was her departure somehow linked to the Big Green job?
This year the Seahawks were 13-6 overall and 12-4 in the NEC with a second place regular season finish and the team’s first appearance in the final since the 2000 tournament. In her five years at the Staten Island liberal arts college, Jacobs has gone 43-94 overall and 33-55 in league play.
Jacobs, a native of Stoughton, Mass., does have ties to the Granite State. In 2006, she graduated from Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H.. A second team All-NE 10 Conference selection in her senior year, Jacobs graduated Franklin Pierce among the program’s top-20 in all-time scoring and rebounding.
Prior to jobs at Adelphi and Wagner, Jacobs worked at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, N.H., where she served as the team’s head coach and the department’s senior women’s administrator. During her three years in charge of the Division III Eagles, Jacob went 47-32 with a 2010 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) regular season title.
When asked about Jacobs connection to the Big Green job, both Dartmouth and Wagner did not respond to IHO. While it is possible that Jacobs could be the heir apparent in Hanover, she may also be in the mix for the open spot at UMass Lowell.
Until we hear something definitive from the folks up in Hanover, we’ll just have to continue waiting.
(Note: This post has been updated to reflect the coaching searches at Bethune-Cookman and Eastern Washington)