U of A Names New Coach

[coachebx]

The University of Arizona named Niya Butts former Tennessee player and more recently the "Associate Head Coach" at the University of Kenticky as the new Women's Basketball coach!

[scoutnwhoops]

Congrats to Coach Butts and the Wildcats. Now what the heck is going on in L.A.?

[BballFanaticInMS]

She's one of my favorite Tennessee players of all time. Unfortunately, bad knees kept her from becoming a star. Still, even in her limited playing time she has to be one of the best defenders and athletes Tennessee ever had. I wish her the best!

[ClayKallam]

This is a very bad sign -- and not because of Niya Butts, who may or may not turn out to be a great hire.

It can be safely said, though, that Butts is a cheap hire, and clearly Arizona is not interested in investing in its once quite successful women's basketball program. It could be that Butts is a great choice, but the Arizona administration has made its position on women's basketball pretty clear by going for a young assistant who won't command a large salary.

We can only hope UCLA doesn't follow suit ...

[123Hoopz]

This is a very bad sign -- and not because of Niya Butts, who may or may not turn out to be a great hire.

It can be safely said, though, that Butts is a cheap hire, and clearly Arizona is not interested in investing in its once quite successful women's basketball program. It could be that Butts is a great choice, but the Arizona administration has made its position on women's basketball pretty clear by going for a young assistant who won't command a large salary.

We can only hope UCLA doesn't follow suit ...

You obviously know nothing about Niya Butts as a person or coach. Arizona just got the bargain of the year in hiring her. I believe UK paid Mickie DeMoss the same amount when she came to the school and look what she did for that program.

[ClayKallam]

You completely missed my point ...

Niya Butts may be a great coach, but Arizona is paying her $200,000 a year. Cal pays Joanne Boyle $600,000 a year -- so which program is showing a greater commitment to women's basketball. Does that mean Arizona will be satisfied with one-third the results that Cal gets?

[CamrnCrz1974]

You obviously know nothing about Niya Butts as a person or coach. Arizona just got the bargain of the year in hiring her. I believe UK paid Mickie DeMoss the same amount when she came to the school and look what she did for that program.

The notion that Butts and DeMoss are comparable is a bit much.

When Kentucky hired Mickie DeMoss, the Wildcats got someone who:
- became the first full-time women's basketball coach in the history of Florida
- was an assistant under Joe Ciampi
- was Pat Summitt's top assistant, after spending 18 years in Knoxville.

When DeMoss took the coaching job at Kentucky, she had a grand total of 24 years of coaching experience, including 18 years at the top program in the history of the sport.

Before joining the Kentucky staff in 2003, Butts coached at Michigan State for one year and Tennessee Tech for two seasons. Her experience isn't even close.

[123Hoopz]

The notion that Butts and DeMoss are comparable is a bit much.

When Kentucky hired Mickie DeMoss, the Wildcats got someone who:
- became the first full-time women's basketball coach in the history of Florida
- was an assistant under Joe Ciampi
- was Pat Summitt's top assistant, after spending 18 years in Knoxville.

When DeMoss took the coaching job at Kentucky, she had a grand total of 24 years of coaching experience, including 18 years at the top program in the history of the sport.

Before joining the Kentucky staff in 2003, Butts coached at Michigan State for one year and Tennessee Tech for two seasons. Her experience isn't even close.

DeMoss also failed as a head coach at Florida:rolleyes:. Butts played on two national championship teams.

I look forward to seeing Niya succeed as a head coach.

[likewbb]

The difficulty to me of your logic Clay is that there aren't that many successful coaches who want to move. Wichita State just hired a midmajor coach with one year experience and fired their unsuccessful "long-time name " coach who most recently had coached at Wisconsin. Florida had money and no "successful takers." Also in the discussion is Women versus Men coaches and Africian-American women coaches.

And I'll close with the "risk" Tennessee took way back or the assistant coach from Virginia that Connecticutt hired. UCLA kept a high paid coach who underperformed for all too long

[ClayKallam]

There are plenty of successful mid-major coaches who would love to work at Arizona -- if Arizona was willing to commit to competing with the rest of the Pac-10. BCS jobs are not that plentiful.

Florida's situation was different, in that the Gators were looking for a big-name coach, and they couldn't get one to come. They settled for a very successful mid-major head coach, and I'm pretty sure paid her a lot more than $200,000.

Jane Albright struggled at Wisconsin, and was taken on at Wichita State, where she also struggled. I don't see how that applies to Arizona hiring on the cheap, which is the point I'm trying to make.

And you bring up UCLA, which is what's really scaring me. If UCLA also decides to go cheap, then the school, the Pac-10 and women's basketball will have missed a major opportunity to move the game forward. The fact that Kathy Olivier coached at UCLA for 15 years, for a low salary, and didn't perform, is precisely what I'm talking about: UCLA did not want to commit to women's basketball. Arizona had an opportunity to take a step forward and invest in women's basketball. If Niya Butts is really going to be that good, then pay her $500,000 a year -- make a commitment.

Arizona, however, made it clear it is not that interested in succeeding in women's basketball. Again, if a business pays lower salaries than its competitors, is it likely to produce a better product?

[coachdarkansasraptors]

If I am reading you correct you are more upset with the lack of commitment from Arizona concerning the money they are paying out and not the coach they hired. Is that correct Clay.

[ClayKallam]

Exactly ... Niya Butts may turn out to be the greatest thing since the microwave, in which case all credit to Arizona for finding her. But if she is, they'll have to pay her a lot more than they're paying her now.

[Sam]

I once asked Niya Butts who was the toughest person she ever had to guard. Now, you might have thought she would have mentioned someone like Dominique Canty who torched the Lady Vols a couple of times during Niya's tenure, or perhaps one of her own teammates like Tamika Catchings. But her immediate response, without hesitation, was "I don't think there's anyone that I can't guard." If confidence alone can win games, Arizona should be on the fast track to the final four. I wish Niya and Arizona well.