Hoops notes (VTech, Radford, ODU etc.)

VIRGINIA TECH: Among the things we wondered about upon learning of last week's report of a man carrying a gun on the Virginia Tech campus was how much this kind of story would hurt the Hokies' recruiting. Well, in at least one case, it hurt quite a bit. The Baltimore Sun reports that football offensive line prospect Greg Pyke postponed a trip to Tech upon hearing the news and visited Georgia instead - and wound up committing to the Bulldogs on the spot.

"We were on the way down, and we heard on the radio that there was a guy with a gun," Pyke said. "We called the [Virginia Tech] coaches, and they told us that the school was on lockdown. Obviously they take that very seriously because of what happened four years ago. So we told them it was probably best if we just rescheduled, and we just kept on going down to Georgia."

Don't know if any women's basketball recruits were similarly scared off. But we're sure it didn't help.

RADFORD: OK, so the youthful Virgin Islands team led by Highlanders head coach Tajama Ngongba didn't exactly set Nassau on fire last week as the team finished fourth out of six teams at the CBC Championships in the Bahamas. But we bet those players know a whole lot more about defense than they did a few weeks ago...Hanka Musa, the 6-4 center we thought would make a huge impact for the Highlanders a year ago as a junior-college transfer, has quietly transferred to Division II Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee. Formerly of Liberty Christian Academy, Musa played only 10 minutes over five games in her lone season at Radford. At least now she gets to play with her sister Edina, who transferred to Lincoln Memorial from Gardner-Webb. Also, she goes from one cool nickname - the Highlanders - to another: the Lady Railsplitters.

OLD DOMINION: Did you catch Deion Sanders' shout-out to Nancy Lieberman during his doo-rag Hall of Fame speech Saturday? Lieberman sure did - she was in Canton, Ohio for the ceremony. Seems like she's been just about everywhere over the past few months, from Israel to San Antonio for the WNBA All-Star Game to Chicago to sign copies of her book "Playbook For Success." Next month, she'll be running hoops clinics in Hawaii. And just think: if she'd gotten the Old Dominion job, she could have spent most of that time sitting on wooden bleachers watching teenage hotshots. I mean, it was cool of Lieberman to throw her star-studded hat in the ring for the Lady Monarchs' head-coaching job. But even had it been offered, we could never picture her giving up everything she has going on - and leaving her beloved Dallas - to actually take it. Speaking of Lieberman, in this Q&A with ESPNW, "Lady Magic" reveals, among other things, that her big-picture goal is to own a professional team...Old Dominion star forward Tia Lewis leads all scorers (13.3 ppg) in the 7 Cities Pro-Am Summer League, which will wrap up with playoffs Saturday and Sunday at Maury High School in Norfolk. Click here for the postseason schedule.


NCAA: In "It's About Time" news, the NCAA Division I Leadership Council appears to be moving towards eliminating its text-messaging ban as part of a series of adjustments to men's basketball recruiting. In other words, instead of vainly trying to stuff the text genie back in the bottle, coaches may soon be able to use the most effective means of communicating with today's teenagers.

Again, this is a men's basketball proposal. But we have to believe the women's basketball folks will follow suit as soon as their next meeting. And if there's no meeting on the horizon soon, they ought to schedule one just to get this change in motion.

DELAWARE: Nice story from USA Basketball on Delaware star (and honorary LadySwish hoopster) Elena Delle Donne, who left for Shenzhen, China Monday as part of the United States team that will compete in next week's World University Games. Of course, the big question with Delle Donne - and it's one we're not sure even she knows the answer to yet - is whether or not she'll leave Delaware after this season. The WNBA allows players to join its league if they are four years removed from high school, which Delle Donne will be after the 2011-12 season. While this will be just her third season playing basketball at Delaware, Delle Donne spent her first year with the Blue Hens as a Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie team performer on the school's volleyball team after famously leaving UConn in the summer of 2008.

Now, as huge fans of Delle Donne's hoops skills, we're hoping she stays an extra year in Newark. And we get the sense it'll be hard for her to leave, as Delle Donne speaks extensively about how much she loves being close to home and family. Were she to depart, as a sure-to-be high-lottery WNBA draft pick Delle Donne could easily find herself toiling in Tulsa this time next year (no offense, Shock fans).

So we think ultimately, hanging with the fam will be too tough for Elena to pass up. Having said that, we're fully aware that, as Delle Donne's shown us in the past, a girl's entitled to change her mind.

Thanks, from LadySwish

We at LadySwish want to say thanks. Last week we completed our 1,000th post. Our Twitter following continues to grow. We love the cooperation we've gotten in two plus years from the state's coaches, players and sports information directors.

Our following continues to humble us. In addition to huge support within the United States, we thank those from the United Kingdom, Italy, Singapore, the Philippines, Canada, India, Israel, Ghana, Tunisia and Greece who have checked us out.

Here's what we ask. Keep checking us out -- including our updated team pages. We've been lax on those in the past, but we want to make it easier for fans of specific teams to find old news and new news consolidated in one place. So we've updated our team pages, and included the available 2011-12 rosters. No schedules yet, but as soon as we get those, we'll add them.

Lastly, if there's something you'd like to see, someone you'd like to know about, a question you'd like an answer to, let us know. We aim to be more interactive for the 2011-12 season. More quirky, too. More informative and more fun about the sport you love and we love.

Thanks for following us, folks, and if you get a chance, tell a friend about LadySwish and add LadySwish to your favorite pages on Facebook. We appreciate it and all of you.

ODU's Barefoot scores big on recruiting trail with Princess Anne's Goodhope

Karen Barefoot has struck again.

Princess Anne High School star Galaisha Goodhope, a top 100 player according to ESPN, has verbally committed to Old Dominion for the class of 2012. The 5-4 point guard chose ODU over Miami, Virginia Tech, Liberty, Elon (where Barefoot coached before accepting the ODU job in June), Charlotte and VCU. Her father, Orlando, credited his daughter's strong connection with Barefoot in making her collegiate choice.

Goodhope is the second player Barefoot has nabbed for the Lady Monarchs. Warwick High School's LaQuanda Younger, the Peninsula District Player of the Year, and a first team all-state pick, verballed last month. Goodhope was a second team all-state pick as a junior last season.

Click here for the verbal commitments (so far) of all the state's Division I schools. 

Virginia assistants to wed Sunday; we've got gift ideas

Exciting news for the Virginia women's basketball family this weekend as newly-installed assistant coaches Kim Hairston and Cory McNeill will be getting married Sunday in McNeill's hometown of Baltimore.

We can't make it to the ceremony (for which we're sure they're both grateful), but we'd love to mark the occasion with some sort of gift.  But what to get? The director's cut DVD of "Love and Basketball" perhaps? Nah, too cliche. Besides, is there anyone in this sport that hasn't seen that flick at least 10 times already?

No, this wedding calls for some less-conventional thinking. So how 'about....

- A "Virginia is for Lovers" picture frame - We know the slogan was meant to describe the state, not the college. But you have to admit, in the case of you two crazy kids, it fits and what better place to put your pic of the first kiss.

- Hair extensions - Said Hairston: "It's stressful. I'm pulling my hair out with recruiting and dealing with the wedding." This gift will help you, er, patch things over. But don't worry, Coach. As Britney Spears can attest, the real stuff will grow back.

- Hula  lessons. - Not sure what kind of dancers Hairston and McNeill are, but once they take this crash course, it won't matter. And by the time the Cavaliers get to Hawaii in November, you guys will be able to boogie like natives.

- A wedding party on the night of March 4, 2012 in Greensboro, N.C. - That's the when and where of the ACC Tournament final, which means this one's contingent on the Cavaliers still being in Greensboro on March 4. So we can't give this gift to the newlyweds. Only the players can.

- Matching high-performance bowling balls (orange and blue, of course) - Bowling's McNeill's game; not sure how Hairston feels about going alley to alley. But since she loves McNeill, we're sure she'll at least give it a try. And seeing as she had a higher scoring average at Radford/Richmond than McNeill did at Morgan State, we wouldn't be shocked if McNeill soon finds he's the second-best bowler in the family.

- His-and-her police uniforms - Nothing kinky here, folks. We just figure that on the occasions when new coach Joanne Boyle really gets after the players - and we've yet to meet the successful head coach who doesn't - Hairston and McNeill may have to play "good cop" to one or more of the more impressionable Cavaliers. Might as well look the part.

And finally....

- Three consensus Top-10 recruits - Based on their resumes, it doesn't appear as though either of these guys needs our help recruiting. But giving how competitive acquiring top talent has become, our guess is they'll take it.

Congratulations, guys. Here's wishing you the very best in your future together.

EDD, etc

Think Elena Delle Donne isn't psyched about making the 12-player cut on Wednesday for the United States team that will play in the World University Games? Check out her new profile pic.

Woodside's Alecia Bell chooses Delaware

Big Delaware news day here at Ladyswish Central. First Blue Hens star Elena Delle Donne makes the U.S. team for the World University Games. Now comes word - via Twitter - that Woodside rising senior Alecia Bell has verbally committed to Delaware. The Daily Press followed with full details.

Score this one as a big CAA victory for the Blue Hens. A few weeks ago, the 6-0 Bell, who averaged 15.2 points per game for the Wolverines last year, told the Daily Press she was seriously considering offers from William and Mary and VCU in addition to Delaware. In addition, George Mason had also been in the picture. And check out this quote from this Daily Press story in March:

And after Bell's 19-point performance (on 8-of-14 shooting) Saturday against Western Branch, (Woodside coach Mike) Tallon said Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry approached him and asked, "What do I have to do to get her?"

Old Dominion adds a male assistant to its coaching staff

Wow, Old Dominion has a guy on its coaching staff!

Tom McConnell, who spent four years as a woman's assistant at Colorado, is the final hire of Karen Barefoot's coaching staff, joining Adrienne Goodson and Amaka Agugua.  He will work with ODU's new head coach in game planning and player development, while also serving as the academic liason.

McConnell spent seven seasons as head men's coach at St. Francis, including the 1997-98 season when he led the Red Flash to a 17-10 mark, the first winning season in a decade. He also had assistant jobs with men's teams at Wake Forest, Marquette and the University of Dayton.

The former head coach for the Pittsburgh Women's AAU basketball team that won the national championship in 1984, McConnell is brother to two-time Olympian Suzie McConnell-Serio, a former All-American at Penn State who is now head coach at Duquesne. Another sister, Kathy, is an assistant with the Tulsa Shock.

Delle Donne makes World University Games cut

Delaware star Elena Delle Donne survived the final World University Games cut and will be part of the 12-player United States team set to compete in the international tournament Aug. 14-21 in Shenzhen, China.

The Blue Hens' 6-5 All-American will be joined by Maryland forward and Woodbridge native Lynetta Kizer, Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters, Stanford sisters Nnemkadi and Chiney Ogwumike, Tennessee's Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen, USC's Jackie Gemelos, DePaul's Keisha Hampton and Baylor's Odyssey Sims.

Delle Donne has been blogging about her adventures and will continue through the tournament.

The final 12 players were selected from the 14 finalists that arrived in Colorado Springs Sunday for a training camp. Miami's Shenise Johnson, the ACC Player of the Year, and Rutgers' April Sykes were cut on Wednesday.

VCU's Courtney Hurt and Georgetown's Sugar Rodgers (King's Fork High in Suffolk) were part of the original 35-player tryout roster.

“Getting the group down to 12 is one of the hardest things I’ve done in my lifetime, in coaching anyway,” said Bill Fennelly, USA World University Games Team and Iowa State University head coach. “You have 14 people who worked very hard at it, who were very committed to it and it’s not something like they weren’t good enough. It’s about trying to build a team with some versatility. It was very, very hard, but I’m very happy for the 12 young people who made it. They’ll do a great job representing USA Basketball and ultimately that’s what this is all about.

“There’s a step to this. When you had 14 there were things you didn’t want to get into, because they may not be here. They were all on a little bit of an edge, because they don’t know if they’re on the team or not. Some kids handle that differently. They play passive because they don’t want to make a mistake. It’s the whole idea of playing not to lose the game rather than playing to win the game. Now, they know they’re on the team and hopefully after their initial excitement, they can relax and refocus on figuring a way to win. We know the combinations, we know the people we’re going to work with now. It is a process, but I think moving from now until we leave the training center, I think we’ll be focused a lot differently on preparing and practicing for the task at hand, getting ready to play and building a team.”

The U.S. team will leave for China on Monday and will open World University Games play on Aug. 14 against Brazil. The USA will then play Slovakia at 10 a.m. on Aug. 15 and Great Britain at 6 a.m. on Aug. 16. Quarterfinals action begins on Aug. 18, with the semifinals and finals on Aug. 19 and 21, respectively.

“This is just an experience that not many people get, so I’m just trying to take it all in,” Delle Donne said. “I’ve never been to China before; getting to go there is incredible. And then to be able to compete for a gold medal is something that is amazing and I can’t wait to do it.”

Liberty tabs Boruta to round out coaching staff

Liberty's new director of operations sounds like she'll be good for the Lady Flames, and good for folks like us, too.

The Lady Flames are excited about Sarah Boruta because, after spending the past three years at mighty Stanford, it's clear she knows a thing or two about successful programs. We're excited because it sounds like Boruta is a social media whiz. Her credentials along these lines are impeccable - Boruta owns associate degrees in web media and visual design and a bachelor's in graphic design in addition to a master's in sports management. With her spearheading Stanford's promotional agenda, the Cardinal saw an 18 percent spike in attendance and a 340-percent rise in student attendance during her time on the Farm.

Now, it's one thing to generate interest in a glamour program like Stanford, quite another to boost the profile of a mid-major like Liberty.  I mean, Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel aren't walking through that door. Then again, Liberty is kind of the Stanford of the Big South (13 titles in 15 years), so who knows?

Anyway, we figure someone with Boruta's skills will definitely make it easier to know what's up with the Lady Flames this season and beyond. We've never met the woman. But Coach Carey Green, we approve of this hire (Bet you'll sleep much better tonight knowing we have your back).

Boruta replaces Adam Deyo, who accepted an assistant coaching position at Tennessee Tech after eight years at Liberty, the last six as director of ops. It's the latest in a series of coaching shuffles during a turbulent offseason for the brains behind several of the state's Division I programs. Following is a list of the 2010/11 coaches that have moved on and landed other gigs:

VIRGINIA

Angel Elderkin – director of video operations, LSU

Wendy Palmer – head coach, UNC Greensboro

Bethany Dannelly (assistant director of operations) - assistant coach, Colby College

VIRGINIA TECH

Beth Dunkenberger - director of operations, Tulane

Shellie Greenman – assistant coach, Tennessee Tech

Stacy Cantley - assistant coach, Wisconsin

Angela Crosby - assistant coach, Charlotte

Jill Jameson (director of operations) - director of operations, Wisconsin

OLD DOMINION

Belle Koclanes - assistant coach, American

Celeste Hill-Brockett - working in Covington, (Kent.) school district

LIBERTY

Adam Deyo (director of operations) - assistant coach, Tennessee Tech

LONGWOOD

Gayle Coats - assistant coach, UNC Greensboro

RADFORD

Keith McCray - assistant coach, UNC Greensboro

Old Dominion's Celeste Hill Brockett reflects on moving on

Her heart is heavy.

Former Old Dominion assistant coach Celeste Hill Brockett has the U-haul packed and pointed toward Covington, Ky. -- home. But ODU is home, too. The Lady Monarchs are home. When you accept a job with Wendy Larry, it doesn't occur to you that you might be leaving sooner than you'd like.

Larry, who earned her 600th career win in January, resigned from Old Dominion after 25 years as head coach in May. Larry had one year remaining on her contract and was not offered an extension.

The word Hill Brockett keeps coming back to: sad

"It's sad," she said. "That's what's in my heart: sadness. The way everything has played out. I understand business and life, but what hurts me from the bottom of my heart is Wendy Larry. I understand expectations. I understand what it takes to have a championship team, but what Wendy has done for Old Dominion, what transpired in the last three months, by far is not right because of what she has done the last 27 years, including a 20-10 record last year. I understand it's a business. But what she has done over the years has been unbelievable.
"Wendy should have had a celebration not a resignation."

Hill Brockett said given the success Larry achieved at ODU -- a list that includes 17 straight CAA Tournament titles, NCAA runner-up in 1997, an Elite Eight appearance in 2002 -- she doesn't doubt the program would have reached great heights again. 
"In the past, she has gotten out of that hole," she said. "We were 5-21. You don't want to go back to those years, but look what she has done. Can she get out of a hole like that? Hell yeah."
Hill Brockett, a 1994 ODU graduate, doesn't want to be an assistant for another team. The job wasn't a steppingstone, necessarily, though she has thoughts of being a head coach.She is among the most decorated players in school history, earning Player of the Year honors from the CAA three times.  

Besides her all-conference accolades, Hill Brockett was named the CAA Most Valuable Player in 1994, Player of the Year in the State of Virginia, and she earned Kodak District III All-American honors. She was the first player in Old Dominion history to lead the team in scoring and rebounding all four years of her career.

"I don't think I could wear any other colors," she said. "I have my degree from Old Dominion. Lady Monarchs: You think about homecoming, you think about get-togethers; how do you reconcile? What part of me, Celeste, not coach Brockett, wants to be part of Old Dominion? I'm not bitter. I'm sad. Old Dominion is a part of my life. To be a Hall-of-Famer, to have these accolades all associated with Old Dominion ... I'm empty when I'm thinking about Old Dominion. I'm happy being associated with Old Dominion; I'm blessed with the opportunities I've had with Old Dominion, but I'm sad in the sense of, really, how everything panned out. I really don't know when I will pick up again with Old Dominion.

"I want to support ODU athletics, but how do I genuinely do that?"

Hill Brockett has a job within the Covington School District. She is just shy of completing requirements that would allow her to become certified as a teacher -- education she put on hold to return to ODU three years ago as an assistant. Her degree is in human services and counseling, and, "I applied to every city for a human services position," she said. "I never had any interviews with anybody. Ideally I would have loved to have stayed here."

Instead she, husband Gary, her son, Kingston, 2, and her niece, Zuri will depart for Kentucky on Thursday.

Hill Brockett is particularly saddened that Zuri, who lives with the family, will not be able to graduate from Princess Anne High School. Zuri, who plays for the Cavaliers, would have been a senior this fall.

"She received her class ring at the PA ring dance in April," Hill Brockett said.

Hill Brockett does feel blessed to have great support in Covington. She will complete her master's. Perhaps someday she will return to coaching.

"I will miss fans, co-workers, people I've connected with on campus. I wish the program well. I wish Old Dominion well. Like I said, I'm sad. I know Wendy, the lady who recruited me, I know she will land again .... You know what? This, too shall pass.

"To sum it up, this too shall pass."