No rush to select new YSU skipper

By John Bassetti

Ron Strollo is waiting to launch his pursuit of a
women’s basketball coach.

YOUNGSTOWN — It’s spring break on campus, but not much of a break for Ron Strollo.

Resumes already have started to come in for the position of new head women’s basketball coach and the Youngstown State University director of athletics is taking it one step at a time.

While the search to replace Tisha Hill is officially in progress, there’s no rush to find a replacement, especially since changes in jobs at other institutions are likely to create openings in the personnel pool.

For now, it’s passive, but in a few weeks it’ll be proactive.

“The timing will be delayed right now,” Strollo said, “because you hope you’re looking for candidates with successful programs.

“A lot of those programs are still in their league tournaments and then will move on to NCAA tournaments. It depends on who the candidates are that are interested in the position and when their seasons end with their current programs.”

Strollo said YSU’s qualifications include eight years at the college level, whether an assistant in a Division I basketball program or head coach of a Div. II program.

“We’re looking at a coach who has called a couple timeouts in his/her career or signed some kids to some scholarships,” Strollo said. “Obviously, when looking at Division I candidates, you’re looking more at someone who has a lot of extensive experience in recruiting.

However, the geographic emphasis will be on regional.

The new coach-process involves following university policy and developing a search committee.

“We’ll try to do research and maybe some recruiting of possible candidates that we’ve had our eye on, maybe, over the past few years,” Strollo said.

The committee will include five to seven people, probably some faculty members and staff and maybe a coach or two.

“It’ll be a diverse group that will look through the many resumes,” Strollo said of the committee that will follow a process similar to that which YSU went through in Hill’s search.

The athletic director believes that a more efficient hiring process has evolved.

“I think we’ve gotten better about doing some research and maybe some recruiting of prospects instead of just sitting back and waiting for people to apply. We’re eyeing some possible prospects out there to see what they’re interested in.”

This will be the third major-sport hiring under Strollo’s leadership. The others were Hill and men’s basketball coach Jerry Slocum.

Strollo was hesitant to throw out names.

“That may influence the search committee and the work that they have in front of them, but I also don’t want to interrupt those programs [of individuals who may be potential candidates],” Strollo said.

The programs he mentioned will probably be going well into March.

“For me to speculate names I don’t think helps the jobs they’re trying to accomplish now.”

One of the most important criteria will be allegiance.

“What’s critical is that this new head coach really wants, not only to be a head coach, but to be a head coach at Youngstown State,” Strollo said. “That’s going to be important to us as we interview candidates and make our determination.”

After five seasons resulting in a won-loss record of 47-96 under Hill, the likelihood of not attracting a quality coach doesn’t faze Strollo in the slightest.

“I talk to people across the state and across the region about our basketball program and it’s looked at very highly. It’s looked at as a very good job — one I don’t think anyone would be nervous about suggesting to a friend to apply for this position.”

As far as speculating on the gender of the new coach, Sports Information Director Trevor Parks implied that either is possible.

“Typically the trend is men, but I don’t think it’s specified,” Parks said. “After due diligence, if the best person who wants to be here is a man, then I wouldn’t be surprised; if a woman will really wants the job, then that will be the choice. It will be an open-minded search.”

bassetti@vindy.com