Clemson's Stephens to UNT

North Texas' 35-day search for a women's basketball coach has concluded. According to a source, Clemson associate head coach Shanice Stephens will be the Mean Green's next coach, only the fifth in the history of a program that began in 1976.

Stephens nudged out Texas A&M associate head coach Vic Schaefer, former UT-Arlington coach Donna Capps and Oklahoma State assistant Kenya Larkin for the job. It wasn't an easy choice; AD Rick Villarreal had to say no to Gary Blair's right-hand man, a coach that put UTA in the NCAA Tournament twice and a Big 12 assistant with a bright future. Tough call.

Critics of Stephens might say Clemson (12-19) didn't have the best season. An Oklahoma native with strong Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth recruiting ties, Stephens for nine years helped build Rice into a strong mid-major program -- success that UNT wants to duplicate if the formula applies.

Was Stephens the best person available? It's uncertain, but less hazy is this: Villarreal didn't have a snowball's chance of hiring a male coach. UNT administrators on the other side of I-35 were looking over his shoulder on this one, and he knew what he had to do.

UNT has called an 11 a.m. press conference on Wednesday to introduce Stephens.

--Troy Phillips

Comments

[Rick McKinney]

My expectations with this hire is the same as the expectations that would have naturally come had a proven Donna Capps gotten the nod: Two NCAA trips within 7 years. Anything less spells huge disappointment for me with the leadership of this university. Sure, the Sunbelt isn't the Southland. But the University of North Texas and the Super Pit isn't UTA and the stage either.

Rick McKinney