The University of Southern California women’s basketball team has been without a head coach for 43 days and counting. A lack of urgency to fill the position and lowball offers could be among the reasons.
USC’s hunt for new women’s basketball coach is not going well
Are the Trojans and athletic director Lynn Swann creating their own obstacles in the search for a new head coach?
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Hall of Famer Lynn Swann, a former USC wide receiver with no other college athletics administration experience, was hired as athletic director in 2016. Skeptics of another unfit, big-name USC graduate with a huge role but little qualification have reason to worry again.
Cynthia Cooper-Dyke resigned from her position as the Trojans head coach early in March after a 14-16 season. She gave no reasons other than it was best for her to step aside.
Since then, USC has had at least three head coaching candidates turn down offers: Stanford associate head coach Kate Paye, Florida Gulf Coast head coach Karl Smesko, and former Long Beach State head coach and USC alumni Jody Wynn, according to Swish Appeal.
Inside the first 30 days of searching, Paye was the top candidate until she turned down the offer.
Next, the program reached out to Smesko and Wynn with reports widely suggesting that Smesko was the top choice. During the time when interviews were expected to take place, shortly after the finalists were notified, Swann was seen in Augusta at the Masters.
It didn’t sit well with Wynn, a former USC player and assistant coach, that she wasn’t the target of the Trojan’s search, according to Swish Appeal, and she instead accepted a position as the Washington Huskies head coach. Smesko later turned down the offer as well.
Part of the reason USC may have failed to close the deal was because of its incredibly low salary offers. While Illinois’ new head coach, who was hired away from a D3 school, received $500,000, USC was reportedly offering $350,000.
Now, nearly a month-and-a-half since Cooper-Dyke left, USC fans are questioning how much or even if women’s basketball is a priority for Swann, who was largely hired to revive the football program.
Swish Appeal reported that Duquesne head coach Dan Burt and Cal State L.A. head coach Cheryl Miller are names circulating the rumor mill of who may finally step in and coach the Power 5 school. The search shouldn’t be this difficult.
See More:
