Troop's Takes: Lady "Cats hoops program should be optimistic after hiring of Randall
By Caleb Troop
Athens NEWS Sports Columnist
May 12, 2008
Move over Boo Jackson; there’s another “Boo” in town now.
Semeka “Boo” Randall that is.
Randall was named the ninth head coach in the history of the Ohio University women’s basketball program on Friday afternoon, just 10 days after the official departure of Sylvia Crawley to Boston College.
Randall picked up the unique nickname after a series of high-intensity plays garnered roaring boos during a game from the opposing Connecticut fans when Randall was playing for legendary coach Pat Summit as a standout for Tennessee. Maybe the UCONN faithful don’t adore Randall too much, but Bobcat fans should start to.
This quick hire is fantastic. To be honest, it’s almost scary to see the similarities between the resumés of Crawley and Randall.
An Ohio native like Crawley? Check. Randall grew up in Cleveland and attended Trinity High School.
A standout player for a top college program like Crawley? Check. Randall starred at Tennessee from 1998-2001.
A national champion like Crawley? Check. Randall won a title in 1998 for the 39-0 Vols, just four years after Crawley won a title at North Carolina.
A stint in the WNBA like Crawley? Check. Randall was a first round pick (17th overall) in the 2001 Draft, and in 2003 she teamed with Crawley on the San Antonio Silver Stars.
A young, first-time head coach like Crawley? Check. Randall, 29, starts her tenure at Ohio after assistant coaching stints at Cleveland State, Michigan State and West Virginia.
Simply put, there are too many correlations and too many check marks not to expect Randall to build on the ’Cats’ Mid-American Conference Tournament championship appearance from a year ago.
Despite the departure of starters Lauren Kohn and Quintana Ward, the Bobcats will return 10 scholarship players for next season. And when you look elsewhere around the MAC, the ’Cats have as good a chance as anyone to dominate in ’08-09.
Bowling Green has consistently been the team to beat in the MAC, but Ohio ended their tournament run last year, and BG’s do-everything point guard Kate Achter has graduated. Likewise, Miami (Ohio) loses their inside-outside duo of Laura Markwood and Amanda Jackson. The Redhawks were the conference champs last season, but the pair accounted for nearly 44 percent of the team’s scoring.
The time for the Ohio program is now.
Randall should have no problems winning right away, and the expectations will persist. Unlike the Frank Solich hiring a few years ago, Randall will get no grace period.
Maybe more impressive than the resumé of Randall was the speedy process in which new Ohio Director of Athletics Jim Schaus made this hire. In just the blink of an eye Schaus went out and found a new head coach pretty late in the hiring process for college basketball. Time will only tell if Randall plays out to be a good coach, but Schaus really deserves praise for expediting the search process.
Of course, the question always becomes that of longevity at the mid-major level. Ohio chose to hire a young up-and-comer, which means that if this program continues to grow, Randall could do exactly what Crawley did and head for greener pastures in the near future. Schaus, though, said Randall could very well be a long-term fixture in Athens.
“She wants to be here,” Schaus said. “There never is any guarantee, but this is her home. And that helps a lot.
“I do think we have a lot of elements in place hopefully for her to be here a long, long time,” added Schaus. “What you have to do every time is go out and get the very best person that can come in and help your program build and grow.”
Schaus is quickly becoming Mr. Big Quote at Ohio for all of his intensely worded and over-the-top optimistic statements about Bobcat athletics. On Friday he added another entertaining one to the list, saying the Bobcats “hit a winning half-court shot at the buzzer in hiring Semeka Randall.”
Time will provide all of the answers to these declarations, but thus far Mr. Big Quote has done everything to make me feel confident his statements will be backed up with substance.
Now is the time for “Boo” to do what she does — win.
Caleb Troop is the sports columnist for The Athens NEWS and can be reached at ctroop@TroopSports.com. He co-hosts “The SportsFan” weeknights from 6-7 on 970 WATH-AM.
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