Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour launched a national search for a women’s basketball coach Saturday in the wake of Joanne Boyle’s departure to Virginia.
“We’d like to get it done as quickly as possible,” Barbour said. “There is uncertainty out there for a lot of folks. I’d like to eliminate that uncertainty.”
Cavaliers officials announced Saturday that Boyle would be introduced Monday as the replacement for Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach Debbie Ryan, who resigned last month at the end of her 34th season.
Boyle, who turned the Golden Bears program around during her six-year tenure, did not return calls for comment. She leaves Berkeley as the school’s most successful women’s coach.
“I would have loved to have seen Joanne to continue to build on that success that she started,” Barbour said. “She obviously made a very personal decision.”
Boyle had a 137-64 record at Cal, leading the Bears to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and two trips to the Women’s NIT. Cal reached the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 in 2009 for the first time in school history.
The Bears won the WNIT in 2010 but got bumped in the second round this season and finished 18-16. Before Boyle’s arrival, Cal went 12 seasons without a winning record.
“I was very proud of what we accomplished while we were there,” said graduate Lauren Greif, one of Boyle’s first Cal recruits. “I think we did lay some great groundwork. It’s a fantastic place. With the right coach it will be a fantastic place again.”
Boyle signed three outstanding players for next season: 6-foot-3 Reshanda Gray of Los Angeles, 6-1 Erika Johnson of Seattle and 5-9 Brittany Boyd of Berkeley. HoopGurlz.com had ranked Cal’s incoming class seventh in the nation, just behind No. 6 Stanford.
Gray, a McDonald’s All-American, told HoopGurlz on Saturday that she still plans to attend Cal. Boyd’s father and AAU coach didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment, and Johnson’s father indicated that his daughter is weighing her options.
“Her status has not changed,” Tony Johnson said. “But it’s still pretty early in the process.”
Cal assistant coach Charmin Smith has contacted the families of the three recruits. Barbour said the message was simple: “I wanted to make sure they understand that there is not uncertainty to our commitment to the women’s program.”
Gray could play a big role next season, particularly with the transfer of leading scorer DeNesha Stallworth, a 6-3 forward/center out of Pinole Valley High.
She wasn’t the only player to switch schools under Boyle. Kelsey Adrian, Casey Morris and Angelei Aguirre left after the 2008-09 season, and Jene Morris, now with the Indiana Fever, transferred after Boyle’s first season.
Whoever replaces Boyle will come to Berkeley at a time the athletic department has suffered because of state budget cuts. Barbour had to eliminate five varsity teams in September and pare the budgets of other programs. Four of the eliminated sports have raised enough money independently to be resurrected.
