Report: UCF women’s basketball search honing on established programs

UCF athletic director Danny White in explaining his decision to hire Johnny Dawkins as the new men’s basketball coach talked about the experience Dawkins brought, not as a head coach, but as a player and an assistant coach.

Dawkins had played four years with Duke, helping put the Blue Devils on the map. He later joined Mike Krzyzewski as a coach and was part of continuing to build up the Blue Devils as they were one of the elite programs.

That aspect to Dawkins and his career was very much behind the decision to hire Scott Frost as the had football coach too.

Frost was a quarterback at Nebraska and gained his coaching pedigree at Oregon as that program ascended to national relevancy and championship competition.

The idea is that these coaches having been around these marquee programs can bring some of those lessons and some of that culture to UCF to help the football and basketball teams grow.

It is no surprise then that the Knights are also looking to this method with their hire in women’s basketball.

After Thursday’s introduction of Dawkins, athletic director Danny White said the women’s basketball coaching search was ongoing with a few interested candidates. But the team had not begun interviewing candidates. They hoped to move quickly after hiring the men’s basketball coach with the women’s position.

And, again, it appears they have honed in on coaches who have been with a marquee program to lead the charge.

According to Brandon Helwig of UCFSports.com, the Knights have winnowed down something of a final list with several names on them. Two that have emerged, although it is not clear if they are the only two or are the favorites come from stellar programs.

Helwig reports Tennessee associate head coach Kyra Elzy-Lander and Michigan assistant Megan Duffy are among the names the Knights are considering for the job left vacant by Joi Williams’ dismissal earlier this month.

Elzy-Lander did not coach with Summit, joining the staff after Summit retired. She won two national championships as a player in the late 1990s before beginning here career as an assistant coach.

Before returning to Knoxville, she was an assistant coach at Kentucky and helped build that program. She is really well known for her recruiting and was instrumental in keeping Tennessee strong after Summit’s retirement.

Duffy too has ties to an elite program and professional experience.

Duffy played at Notre Dame where she helped the team reach the Sweet Sixteen twice and the NCAA Tournament in all four years she was there. She went on to play three seasons in the WNBA with the Minnesota Lynx and Indiana Fever.

She entered coaching at George Mason and joined Michigan’s staff in the 2015 season.

Whether or not the Knights have honed in on these two or whether there are other candidates the Knights plan to interview, it is clear they have focused in on coaches who have a strong background in recruiting and established ties to elite programs.

That has been the trend throughout White’s early hires this season.

It does appear UCF is moving forward and should be conducting interviews to fill the women’s basketball coaching vacancy soon.