Down to two to replace Staley as Temple coach
Tonya Cardoza of UConn or Wake Forest's Natasha Adair will likely get the job.
Connecticut assistant Tonya Cardoza and Wake Forest associate head coach Natasha Adair are two finalists to be the next Temple's women's basketball coach. A decision is expected to be announced at the end of the week.
The job has been vacant since May 7, when Dawn Staley departed for the University of South Carolina after a successful eight-year run with the Owls that included six NCAA tournament appearances and four Atlantic Ten titles.
Cardoza would appear to be the frontrunner given her 14 years working for Geno Auriemma, a span that includes all five of the Huskies' NCAA titles.
A former teammate of Staley's at Virginia on two of the Cavaliers' Final Four teams in 1990 and 1991, she is a longtime friend of the ex-Owls coach. Cardoza became immediately interested in Temple when Staley's departure became official.
"If they hire Tonya, I will be thrilled for her, and Temple will be getting a great addition," Staley said.
In addition to her experience at Wake Forest, Adair has also been an assistant at Georgetown.
Former La Salle coach John Miller recently had several informal discussions with athletic director Bill Bradshaw and associate athletic director Kristen Foley, but Miller said he didn't expect to get officially involved unless Temple's search ran into difficulty.
Miller coached the Mount St. Joseph girls' team to a state high school title last season.
The Temple position is one of two major women's jobs open in the Atlantic Ten.
The other is at George Washington, which is expected to name women's assistant Mike Bozeman today.
The Colonials job became open earlier this month when Father Judge graduate Joe McKeown left after 19 seasons for a similar position at Northwestern.
Bozeman, a native of Washington, is the younger brother of Morgan State men's coach Todd Bozeman.
Connecticut assistant Jamelle Elliott, a native of Washington who played for the Huskies, and Vanderbilt assistant Lisa Cermingnano, a former star and assistant at George Washington, were interviewed last week.
Cermingnano also played at Gloucester Catholic in South Jersey.
Bradshaw extended. Temple will sign director of athletics Bill Bradshaw to a new five-year contract today that will keep the veteran athletic administrator at the university through the 2011-12 academic year. The contract is retroactive to July 1, 2007.
Bradshaw's six years at Temple have produced numerous highlights, most notably the announcement on May 17, 2005, that the university would join the Mid-American Conference as a football-only member, plus the hirings of Al Golden and Fran Dunphy as head football and men's basketball coaches, respectively.
Twenty-seven Temple teams have advanced to postseason play during his tenure, with 18 competing in the NCAA tournament. This past scholastic year, six Owls teams - men's and women's basketball, men's gymnastics, fencing, lacrosse and women's tennis - all competed in NCAA tournaments.
Bradshaw also has been responsible for upgrades to Temple's athletic facilities. He supervised the design and construction of the athletic complex on the Ambler campus, featuring fields and amenities for the men's and women's soccer, baseball and softball teams. He has also overseen the football program's move to Lincoln Financial Field as well as the addition of a new football practice field at Edberg-Olson Hall, courtesy of a private fund drive that generated more than $500,000.