Lee Fowler’s Second Search For A Head Basketball Coach: How Will It Go?

NC State has recently opened a “nationwide search” for the coach to replace the late Kay Yow.   Apparently, this runs contrary to the final wishes of Coach Yow: she wanted assistant and interim head coach Stephanie Glance named as her successor and she made that clear to Lee Fowler long before her passing from cancer.

Fowler told the Raleigh Sports Club  Wednesday that when Yow was diagnosed with breast cancer again in 2007, she had requested the school name associate head coach Stephanie Glance as her successor.  That request was denied.

WRAL.com: Yow Wanted Glance Named As Successor

“At that time, I went to the chancellor. I talked to the [board of] trustees. We felt like that’s not something we really do at N.C. State, where we name the successor for somebody—not in the dean’s office, not in the head of departments, not any of those things,” Fowler said. “We always do a search.”

Interesting, in that apparently a highly visible head coaching position, especially one where the incumbent coach is in her last days, is treated like any other job in the university.  Apparently thoughts towards continuity, acceptance of the wisdom of the person who’s held the job done more than two decades was overruled.  Procedure must be followed, it’s the NC State way.  Take from that what you will, and I have some mixed feelings about it, but I will say that I think that Kay Yow probably knew what was best for her players, for her recruits and ultimately for NC State’s women’s basketball program.

The job was recently posted on the NC State HR website, which you can read here.  Per state law, the job must be posted for 30 days.  The job duties specifically are

Implement, manage, and direct a highly competitive NCAA Division I-A Women’s Basketball program. Will report directly to the Director of Athletics.Responsible for management and administration of all phases of the NCSU Women’s Basketball program including recruiting and selection, team training, game and event management, marketing and promotions. Supervises assistant coaches, volunteer coaches, director of operations, graduate assistants and other support staff. Provides orientation, training and guidance to staff as needed. Adheres to and enforces all policies and procedures of the Athletics Dept. & University, as well as the rules and regulations of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the NCAA and other authorities. Insures that the recruitment and selection of student athletes meet NCAA guidelines. Oversees the conditioning and training of team members, in conjunction with the designated Strength Coach, Athletics Trainer and Team Physician, to insure that student-athletes are physically prepared for competition. Implement and achieve academic standards for student athletes, maintaining a multi-year APR above 950. Demonstrates consistent commitment to the academic performance, retention and graduation of student athletes.

Yow’s wishes are now water under the bridge, and the search is underway.  It will be led by, you guessed it, Coach Fowler.  In fairness, Fowler did well with the search for Chuck Amato’s replacement, in that instead of trying to lead a search himself, he stepped aside and let a professional job recruiter (Chuck Neinas) do most of the work.  That led Tom O’Brien to NC State, and the football program is probably in the best hands it has been since Dick Sheridan resigned.

On the other hand, the search for a new men’s basketball coach was led by Fowler personally and probably could not have gone any worse from a public relations standpoint.  You can argue that Sidney Lowe is or isn’t the right man for the Wolfpack men’s hoops job, but what is not really debatable was the fact that the search that ultimately led to him had become something resembling a farce: need I mention Calipari, Lavin and the Beilein disaster where Fowler didn’t seem to be fully aware of the then WVU head coach’s contract buyout terms?

For Glance’s part, Coach Fowler has not ruled out her ultimately getting the job. “I think it’s very important to make sure we get the best person,” Fowler told WRAL. “If [Stephanie Glance] is the best person, it will give her credibility in the end that she went through the process and was still the best person picked.”

True enough.

Now Fowler will lead a search for another program that’s regularly in the news and followed widely amongst the Wolfpack community.  How well he does, and the decision he ultimately makes will be very interesting, to say the least.