Illinois Hires Nancy Fahey

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Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...ng/2017-03-22/whitman-makes-another-hire.html

Illinois has its new women's basketball coach in place.

Athletic director Josh Whitman tweeted out a photo of he and Nancy Fahey, formerly the women's basketball coach at Division III Washington University, earlier this afternoon confirming what Scott Richey of The News-Gazette reported in today's paper.


"It gives me great pride to welcome my friend and former colleague Nancy Fahey to the Fighting Illini family as the new head coach of our women's basketball program," Whitman said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. "With a record highlighted by five national championships, 10 Final Fours, nearly 740 wins and a winning percentage of almost 85 percent, Nancy's Hall of Fame coaching career stands among the most accomplished in the history of women's basketball. What is more compelling to me, however, is her ability to connect with the women on her team, to push them to be better than they ever thought possible, and to help them develop as players, students, and people. Nancy Fahey is a born leader, and she is the among the best basketball coaches I have ever seen. I could not be more excited for her to lead our Fighting Illini program to championship heights."
 

I can't speak for the Illini fans, but if I were one I wouldn't be excited about hiring someone who purposely chose to remain in D-III for 31 years so she could dominate what is essentially glorified HS competition. Yes, she's a HOFer, but she waits until she's 57/58 years old to finally move to legitimate competition? This is strange.
 


Not many DIII coaches get a chance to coach DI, even the great DIII coaches. There's always the question as to whether a DIII coach will enjoy or succeed at the recruiting aspect of a DI job. As a recall, Bo Ryan of Wisconsin made the successful jump from DIII Wisconsin-Platteville. Back in the early 90s, I had the opportunity to interview Nancy Fahey for an article I was writing. She was in St. Paul with her Washington University team for a regional tournament at St. Thomas. I was very impressed with her then...and I think she has a chance to be successful at Illinois. The question of recruiting still looms, but given the problems Bollant had in managing and retaining personnel at Illinois and given the lack of success that Jolette Law had there prior to Bollant, I think the Fahey hire is certainly worth a shot.
 



http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...g/2017-03-24/live-nancy-fahey-introduced.html

The timing, the contract.


Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said there was "unbelievable interest" in this position.

Whitman first reached out to Fahey the day after Washington University's season on March 12.

"I had the chance to talk to her about the job, the program," Whitman said. "I was excited to learn there was mutual interest."

Nancy Fahey has a six-year, $3.3 million contract, pending Board of Trustee approval, that expires on April 30, 2023.

Her total annual compensation increases each year, starting at $500,000 in her first year (that includes base salary and additional compensation), increasing to $520,000 in her second year, $540,000 in her third year, $565,000 in her fourth year, $590,000 in her fifth year and $615,000 in her sixth year.

The contract calls for her to have the use of two automobiles, country club membership, relocation costs and ticket access.

Fahey will have a budget allocation for three assistant coaches up to $500,000 and an allocation of up to $300,000 to four basketball support staff.
 

Not economical, then. I suppose he could end up looking like a genius but, right now, this is baffling, almost like rehiring Grentz.
 

thatjanelpick said:
Not economical, then. I suppose he could end up looking like a genius but, right now, this is baffling, almost like rehiring Grentz.
Click to expand...

Speaking of the last successful Illini coach:

The winningest coach in Illinois women’s basketball history praised the choice of Nancy Fahey by her old school.

Theresa Grentz won 210 games in 12 seasons at Illinois, leading the team to consecutive Sweet 16 appearances in 1997 and ’98.

“I’m just absolulutely, over-the-moon thrilled that Josh (Whtman) hired her,” said Grentz, who just finished her second season as head coach at Lafayette. “Nancy is a wonderful coach, but she is an even better person. I think she will be great for the Illini.”...


...Grentz continues to follow the program that she helped fix.

She had just two losing seasons at Illinois and reached the NCAA tournament five times.

The two coaches who followed Grentz, Jolette Law and Matt Bollant, went a combined 130-187 overall and 59-121 in the Big Ten...

...The coach-AD relatioship will help Fahey at Illinois, Grentz said.

“That’s really, really important,” Grentz said. “I don’t think it’s a job that you can come in and say, ‘Well, this is how they do it on the men’s side. We’re going to do it the exact same way on the women’s side.’ It won’t work. Nancy gets that. She understands the dynamics and the demographics. I think she’ll do very, very well recruiting in the state.

“She’ll get the Chicago piece. But she’ll also understand the importance of picking those excellent players from downstate.”
 

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