Guru Report: Bonvicini's Not Sleeping in Seattle
By Mel Greenberg
The women's basketball coaching revolving door in Division I did much less spinning in the off-season than in recent times.
Unlike several years ago when job changes through retirements, firings, and the domino-effect of filling vacancies caused by those exits shot the number of faces in new places into the 40-60 range, this year's list of switches is a mere 13 based on one of the side charts that are part of The Associated Press women's preseason package of stories for sports department affiliates.
The economy certainly is a cause of that with athletic directors opting to letting a coach near the end of a contract finish out their deal rather than start paying buyouts and additional salaries to new hires.
In some cases, that reluctance to make a move inherently is giving an extra chance this season for coaches who had bad records a year ago to try to turn things around.
Although the number of moves is small, there are significant stories involving the offices that have new names posted on the doors.
Seattle is one such place where Joan Bonvicini, a longtime veteran who had stops at Long Beach State and Arizona State, has returned to active duty after a year's absence.
Her success at Long Beach and in the early years with Arizona has Bonvicini high on the active list in terms of appearances of coaches who guided teams ro eankings in the Associated Press poll.
It still seems like yesterday that the energetic Bonvicini, a former star at Southern Connecticut, was coaching the likes of Cindy Brown and current WNBA Los Angeles Sparks general manager Penny Toler.
From the earliest times, Bonvicini was media-smart and constantly through herself into the extra effort it took to market a program.
A few days ago, she checked in with an email from the Emerald City to friends to give an update on her new scene in the Northwest.
"Just wanted to give you an update of my life in Seattle," Bonvicini wrote.
"I have adjusted very quickly to the Northwest and absolutely love it here. There is so much to do in the this area, and the people at Seattle University have been very welcoming to me.
" The biggest difference between being at a very large University like Long Beach State and the University of Arizona and now at Seattle U is that it is so much more personal. The people at the school and Athletic Department truly care and want you to do well.
"We are basically starting from scratch at building this program…with season ticket sales, speaking engagements, booster clubs, camps, etc. It is all new for the people here.
" Everything is smaller…classroom size, the budgets and my salary. But, this is a very good fit for me right now and life is good again."
Bonvicini finished after giving further updates by offering a positive, but realistic assessment of the job ahead.
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