WBB Coaching Hot Board 1.3

Now that the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team is in the market for a new head coach, it’s time to spin the Wheel of Coaches and speculate wildly on who will be on the bench for UW to start next season. Marisa Moseley reportedly resigned on Sunday after her fourth year at the helm in Madison and now Wisconsin will face another program rebuild.

What makes a coach successful? Well,,,it’s hard to say. When Moseley was hired most thought it was a smart hire, especially given her pedigree as a successful head coach at Boston University and her lengthy stint as an assistant at perennial power UConn. Turns out…that wasn’t enough!

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Coaching, especially in college, is a difficult job and there is no exact equation that results in a coach having success at a particular stop. There are certain characteristics that UW should still take into account, however. Here is a brief list of what I would look for in a new coach:

• clear communicator
• tireless salesperson
• preaches ball security, defensive effort, and rebounding tenacity
• adaptability, both in-game and from season to season
• doesn’t need to be from Wisconsin, or a Wisconsin alum, but should be familiar with the upper Midwest and the immediate recruiting area
• embraces analytics but understands to use them as a tool in their tool box and not the end-all be-all of decision making

Now, here is Part 3 of coach names that I think Wisconsin should at least consider for the head coaching position. These are current D1 head coaches who might want a new challenge in the Big Ten Conference. Strap in, folks, because I found a lot of names interesting and I’m including ALL of ‘em.

You can find Part 1 (D2 and D3 coaches) and Part 2 (D1 assistants) at the links, uh, linked here.

(The names are listed alphabetically.)

Current D1 Head Coaches

• Glenn Box, Miami (Ohio) head coach

  • assistant coach at Indiana for seven seasons

  • focused on guards, he helped 11 Hoosiers earn All-B1G honors

  • he was also the “defensive coordinator” at IU; they led B1G in FG% defense and scoring defense his last season in Bloomington

  • assistant coach at Saint Louis for four years; coached Jackie Kemph (program’s first All-American and first A-10 Player of the Year)

  • also coached at Western Michigan and Akron among other schools

  • native of Cairo, Ill.

• Jacie Hoyt, Oklahoma State head coach

  • played at Wichita State, under former Wisconsin Badgers head coach Jane Albright, where she started every game her final two seasons and was voted team captain both years as well

  • started her coaching career as a grad assistant at Fort Hays State; then was an assistant coach at Nevada (under Albright again) for three years; then an assistant at K-State for three years

  • became a head coach for the first time in 2017-18 at Kansas City; she won the WAC regular season title in 2019-20 which was the first in program history; named 2020 WAC Coach of the Year; won over half her games and over 60% of conference games in five seasons

  • she has been at Oklahoma State for three years now, compiling a record of 60-34, and will enter the NCAA Tournament (her second in three years at OSU) this year as the No. 17 team (25-6 overall) in the nation; had one player on the All-Big 12 First Team, Third Team, and All-Freshman team this season

  • native of Hoxie, Kansas

• Aaron Johnston, South Dakota State head coach

  • finishing up his 25th season as the Jackrabbits’ head coach; career record of 627-194 (0.764); his team has won 63 straight Summit League games and has gone undefeated in three straight conference seasons; oversaw SDSU’s super successful transition to D1 in 2004-05

  • will be making his 13th NCAA Tournament appearance this March

  • nine-time Summit League Coach of the Year, including the last five in a row

  • has won 12 Summit League Tournament championships (three in a row) and 11 Summit League Regular Season titles (five in a row)

  • won the 2002-03 D2 National Title; won the 2021-22 WNIT Title; made NCAAT Sweet 16 in 2017-18

  • was a grad assistant for the SDSU men’s team before joining the women’s team as an assistant; also coached the SDSU golf team for a season

  • native of Pine Island, Minn.; graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College

  • look, if Johnston hasn’t left for a P4 job by now, he probably never will…but that doesn’t mean you don’t call him and make him say no

• Kayla Karius, UW-Green Bay head coach

  • this year in her first season as UWGB’s head coach she led the Phoenix to a 29-5 record, the Horizon League regular season title, the Horizon League Tournament title, and an NCAA Tournament berth; they are currently on a 22-game winning streak

  • started her coaching career at Sioux Falls as an assistant for one year; spent two seasons as an assistant coach at South Dakota; three seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin, including one as the associate head coach; one year as an assistant at Drake

  • after that she was named head coach at South Dakota, leading them to back-to-back winning seasons and a run in the WNIT last season

  • has been the recruiting coordinator at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Drake

  • played ball at UW-Green Bay; was a member of 2011 Sweet 16 team; 2x First Team All-Horizon League; 2011 Horizon League Co-Player of the Year

  • from Sheboygan, Wis.

• Maria Marchesano, IPFW head coach

  • has been the Mastodons coach since the 2021-22 season

  • 2024-25 Horizon League Coach of the Year

  • made WNIT Super 16 in 2023-24

  • head coach at Mount St. Mary’s (2017-21); won 2021 NEC Coach of the Year; 2021 NEC Regular Season and Tournament champs

  • associate head coach at IUPUI (2016-17)

  • head coach at Walsh (2013-16); 2x GLIAC Tournament Final Four appearances

  • head coach at Urbana (2011-13); 2012 D2 Indepednent Coach of the Year

  • assistant coach at Manchester (2010-12)

  • graduated from Butler where she played four years of basketball and one season of softball; earned her master’s degree in athletics administration from Northcentral University

  • native of Fort Wayne, Ind.

• Molly Miller, Grand Canyon head coach

  • if your school is looking for a new head coach this off-season, Miller is on the shortlist…to be perfectly honest, I don’t think Wisconsin has the budget or the institutional buy-in to get Miller away from GCU, let alone out-bid other P4 schools for her services, but you still make the call

  • 2x D2 WBCA National Coach of the Year

  • 114-37 (0.755) record at GCU and a mind-boggling 180-17 (0.914) at D2 Drury, her alma mater, in Missouri

  • won five conference titles in her six years at Drury and made the D2 Final Four in 2019; her 2020 team was 32-0 but the national tournament was cancelled due to COVID

  • she played four seasons at Drury and ranks 4th all-time in points, 3rd all-time in assists, and 2nd all-time for steals

  • her teams are known for their active, trapping defenses that routinely finishes in the top-five nationally for steals per game

  • from Springfield, Mo.

• Carrie Moore, Harvard head coach

  • started her coaching career as the operations director at Princeton for two seasons; followed that with a five year stint at Creighton as an assistant coach; then she was back at Princeton for four years as an assistant; next up was two years at UNC; finally one year at Michigan; and now she has coached three seasons as the Harvard head coach

  • made it to the WNIT Great 8 in her first year in charge of the Crimson and her 36 wins through her first two seasons was the most over that time period in school history

  • her overall record at Harvard is 58-28 (0.674) and they play Princeton on Friday in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals; she beat Big Ten squads Indiana and Northwestern on the road this year too

  • played at Western Michigan; school’s all-time leading scorer; led the nation in scoring (25.4 ppg) as a senior in 2006-07 and was named MAC Player of the Year too

  • signed free agent contracts with the Phoenix Mercury and Chicago Sky of the WNBA and played professionally in Poland for one year

  • from Lathrup Village, Mich.

• Tamara Moore, Dallas Mavericks scout

  • elected to the UW Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017

  • Honorable Mention All-American (2001, 2002); First Team All-Big Ten (2001, 2002); 2001 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year; WNIT All-Tournament Team (1999); WNIT MVP (1999)

  • she is first in Wisconsin history in assists and steals

  • drafted 15th overall in the 2002 WNBA Draft by Miami Sol; played for six seasons; also played six more season in Israel and France

  • coached the men’s team at Mesabi Range College, a junior college in northern Minnesota, for a couple of years

  • coached the Edison High School girls team in Minneapolis for two years

  • coached AAU ball in the Twin Cities for five years

  • coached the Boston Celtics NBA Summer League team for one year

  • from Minneapolis, Minn.

  • while I was writing this post, Moore posted (and later deleted) on Twitter that she had applied for the Wisconsin head coaching job…so we’ll see

• Dawn Plitzuweit, Minnesota head coach

  • finished her second season with the Gophers this year

  • ended season as WNIT runner-up in 2023-24

  • one year as the head coach at West Virginia

  • six seasons as the head coach at South Dakota; 3x Summit League Coach of the Year; 3x regular season AND tournament champs; 2022 Sweet 16 berth; 2021-22 Kay Yow National Coach of the Year

  • head coach at Northern Kentucky (2012-16) and Grand Valley State (2002-07); 2005-06 D2 National Coach of the Year

  • assistant coach at Michigan (2007-12), Green Bay (1998-02), Wisconsin (1997-98), and Michigan Tech (1995-97)

  • career record in 17 years as head coach: 405-168 (0.707)

  • played at Michigan Tech; 2x GLIAC Player of the Year; 4x all-conference and 3x all-defensive team member; 2x Honorable Mention All-American (1994, 1995)

  • native of West Bend, Wis.

• Allison Pohlman, Drake head coach

  • has been the head coach at Drake for four seasons now

  • she has been on Drake’s staff since 2007 and was named associate head coach in 2014; she was also the recruiting coordinator under the previous head coach

  • this year’s MVC Tournament starts on Mar. 13 and Pohlman’s Bulldogs are two-time defending champs; she also won the MVC regular season title in 2023-24; they made the Round of 16 in the WNIT during her first season (2021-22)

  • before joining the Drake staff she was an assistant coach at Northern Iowa for seven years

  • she played at UNI for four years and was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team in 1997 and made All-MVC First Team and The Valley All-Defensive Team for her final three seasons and won Defensive Player of the Year in 2000.

  • she was inducted into the UNI Hall of Fame in 2011

  • native of Wellsburg, Iowa

• Aaron Roussell, Richmond head coach

  • he is finishing up his sixth season as the head coach at Richmond; made WNIT in 2022-23; won A-10 Regular Season Title and A-10 Tournament Title (first in program history) and named A-10 Coach of the Year in 2023-24; won A-10 Regular Season Title again in 2024-25 and was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the second straight year

  • head coach at Bucknell (2012-19); 2x Patriot League Coach of the Year; four postseason (two NCAA, two WNIT) appearances; won three regular season titles and two Patriot League Tournament titles

  • head coach at University of Chicago (2004-12); named UAA Coach of the Year three times; made the NCAAT four times, reaching three Sweet 16s and one Elite 8; left UChicago as the winningest coach in program history

  • grad assistant at Minnesota State from 2002-04

  • first coaching stint was at Breck (Minn.) High School in 2001-02

  • graduated from Iowa and got his master’s degree from Minnesota State

• Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield head coach

  • finished up her third season with the Stags this year and has a 73-21 (0.777) record overall; 39-1 in conference over the last two seasons

  • has won back-to-back MAAC Regular Season titles and her team will play in the MAAC Tournament Final on Saturday to try and win their second straight NCAA Tournament bid

  • 2023-24 MAAC Coach of the Year; 2023-24 Kay Yow National Coach of the Year; 2023-24 ECAC Coach of the Year

  • coached at Minnesota for four years and was in charge of recruiting

  • was at Mississippi State for two years (both years made the national championship game) as an assistant

  • assistant coach at Eastern Michigan for two years; began her coaching career as the Director of Recruiting Operations at Florida State for the 2013-14 season

  • grew up in Connecticut; played at Monmouth; her father is Mike Thibault, 3x WNBA Coach of the Year, and her brother is Eric Thibault, the current head coach of the Washington Mystics