Carly Thibault-Dudonis had just gotten home on Wednesday night. She became head coach of the Fairfield University basketball team in April, and on this night her team had beaten Fordham on the road, in overtime, to improve to 3-3.
She was Lindsay Whalen's associate head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator at Minnesota before leaving for Fairfield.
"It wasn't something that was necessarily on my radar,'' she said. "I loved my time in Minnesota and loved working for Lindsay and wasn't necessarily looking to be a head coach all that quickly. I love what we were doing and what we were building. But this checked a lot of boxes.''
Thibault-Dudonis excelled at recruiting for Mississippi State, which went to two Final Fours during her time there, and at Minnesota, where Whalen's freshmen represent the highest-ranking recruiting class in program history.
Her career will be worth tracking. She also is the ideal person to speak with this week about some of the most important stories in women's sports:
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