A week ago we were assured the rumors were false. UNC Wilmington coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke was not going to USC as rumored by several news outlets.
Tuesday the CAA confirmed that Cooper-Dyke is leaving -- to take the head coaching position at Texas Southern University, pending approval by school officials. Cooper-Dyke coached SWAC school Prairie View A&M to its first conference title and NCAA tournament berth in 2006-07. Charles McCelland, who hired Cooper-Dyke at Prairie View, is the current athletic director at Texas Southern.
The four-time WNBA MVP spent five years at Prairie View before coming to Wilmington in 2010. The Seahawks have made back-to-back appearances in the WNIT. UNCW finished 20-13 last season and 24-9 in 2010-11 -- best ever for the program.
Associate head coach Joe Garrity has been named interim head coach and a national search will begin immediately.
In other CAA news, Georgia State announced it is leaving the league in 2013 to join the Sun Belt.
Wanna wage a bet? Radford probably will be invited to join the CAA.
ReplyDeleteR-
Not sure Radford, which doesn't have football, fits with what the CAA would like to accomplish with expansion. But hey, you called Longwood to the Big South, so maybe you're onto something.
ReplyDeleteCooper-Dyke generated some controversy at UNCW with her unorthodox practice methods, and at times, her over the top intensity as a coach, but she did produce results. Hope UNCW finds a good replacement to build on the past two seasons.
ReplyDeleteAnd Radford will never be invited to the CAA. Any post suggesting that Radford will join the CAA is either ignorant, or one that's just meant to insult the CAA.