Time for Mel Moore to go.

[Masterofreality]

I’ve met Mel Moore. I’ve had lunch with Mel Moore. I Like Mel Moore.
But something is wrong. This is now Year 4 of her tenure and there is no progress. These are her players. This is her scheme and Xavier remains at the Bottom of the Big East. It is not working.
As with Travis Steele. It is a huge jump from being a quality assistant to a Program Chief Executive. Some like Sean Miller can do it, some can’t.
Xavier will lose to VILLANOVA by 40 today. The time has come for a change. Xavier was within a missed layup of going to the Women’s Final 4 under Kevin McGuff and the facilities and support are even better now. Now that Men’s Basketball is on solid ground, it’s time to fix Women’s Basketball.
Good luck Melanie. Hope you land well.

[GoMuskies]

So dramatic...it was only 28. Ouch.

[Masterofreality]

So dramatic...it was only 28. Ouch.

Huge 4th quarter comeback!!’

[X-band '01]

I'm starting to wonder what issues are going on with the program as a whole. Amy Waugh, Brian Neal and Mel Moore have collectively been a disaster since Kevin McGuff left. It's the only sport that hasn't been remotely competitive since Xavier joined the Big East. The only reason Brian Neal even got an extra year was because Chris Mack left and the AD didn't want to do 2 major hires at once.

[bleedXblue]

Good league, great facilities, good school. Too many reasons why this program should be in a much, much different place. Time for a change.

[MADXSTER]

I would say yes to change but not for the sake of change. Do something meaningful. Hire an assistant coach from one of the top programs or something along those lines. Don't just hire and pray.

[HomerCecil]

I watched the Villanova game on TV and the announcers kept talking about Mel Moore getting her own players and system installed, changing the culture, etc., and they were acting as if she is still a brand new coach. Yes, COVID made things difficult, but every other program in America also had to deal with COVID. It should not take five years to get out of the very bottom of the Big East. Providence, Georgetown and Butler are also consistently bad and we can't even beat those teams on a regular basis. Mel also talked a lot last year about her team being young and inexperienced. Well, you're going to be young and inexperienced when you lose four to eight players to transfers on an annual basis and at some point that blame falls on the coaching staff for not being able to retain talent.

I have no inside knowledge but agree it seems like something is off with the program beyond the coaching staff. Yes, the facilities are great, but I am not convinced the program is getting adequate resources otherwise. Look at the schedule -- this year the only nonconference games away from Cintas were at Miami (Ohio) and SIU-Edwardsville. Can you imagine the men's team ever scheduling a nonconference game at a MAC or OVC opponent? (Yes, I remember the men's team had a long home-and-home with Miami, but that was pre-Big East.) No preseason tournament, no holiday trip, nothing. Would you be excited to come to Xavier to play that type of schedule as a recruit? What does that sort of scheduling say about the aspirations of the program?

I understand the men's team is going to be prioritized by the athletic department, but there are enough programs in the country investing in women's basketball that you really can't get by on the cheap anymore. Also, I'm sorry, if Brian Neal really was kept on an additional year just because Greg Christopher didn't want to conduct two coaching searches at once, then what does that say about how this program is viewed and prioritized internally (not to mention, how does it make the AD look if he can't walk and chew gum at the same time)? Marquette managed to hire Megan Duffy and Shaka Smart in the same offseason and it didn't kill the AD. I would be curious to know what the recruiting budget is and how it stacks up compared to other programs. I don't really have any reason to believe it's much beyond the bare minimum.

Oh, and don't look now, but UConn is next on the schedule.

[Masterofreality]

I would say yes to change but not for the sake of change. Do something meaningful. Hire an assistant coach from one of the top programs or something along those lines. Don't just hire and pray.

Word is that an ACC assistant is on the radar.
I have a question. Why not Special Jennings? She currently runs the Monteverde Academy women’s program and is very visible.
She was also a great Xavier player. Bring HER back!

[GoMuskies]

Word is that an ACC assistant is on the radar.


If it's not from Louisville or Notre Dame, don't bother. I knew nothing about Moore when she was hired, but my complaint was that it seemed pretty uncreative to hire an assistant from a middling program like Michigan. At least go take someone from a TOP program.

[Masterofreality]

If it's not from Louisville or Notre Dame, don't bother. I knew nothing about Moore when she was hired, but my complaint was that it seemed pretty uncreative to hire an assistant from a middling program like Michigan. At least go take someone from a TOP program.

You are closer than you think….

[GoMuskies]

You are closer than you think….

I'll go with Stephanie Norman then. She's been on Jeff Walz's bench forever and was college assistant coach of the year in 2020-21. Not sure why she'd wait this long and then take THIS opportunity, but it would at least have the appearance of being a good hire.

[SM#24]

We should try for Chris Mack…he started out coaching girls.

[cinskyline]

I'll go with Stephanie Norman then. She's been on Jeff Walz's bench forever and was college assistant coach of the year in 2020-21. Not sure why she'd wait this long and then take THIS opportunity, but it would at least have the appearance of being a good hire.

I have 2 concerns about Stephanie Norman:

1. No head coaching experience.

2. Assistant for 20 years. Why hasn’t she moved on to be head coach somewhere by now?

Fun fact: Norman was on Melanie Balcomb’s staff at Vanderbilt from 2002-2007.

Unfortunately, it may take someone with head coaching experience that has done rebuilds to turn this mess around.

Special is intriguing for a number of reasons, but I would have a lot of concerns given how things went with Amy Waugh. They have similar assistant coaching resumes.

Either way, it appears that Mel Moore’s time is going to be coming to an end soon. I’m not sure when her contract is up, either this year or next year. I feel for her. She’s done literally everything EXCEPT win.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[X-band '01]

Kevin McGuff was Muffet McGraw's top assistant on the Notre Dame championship team of 2001 - his forte was recruiting (see Harris, Amber and Phillips, Ta'Shia). He was a great regular season coach, yet had a knack for underachieving in the NCAA Tournament.

[bleedXblue]

Kevin McGuff was Muffet McGraw's top assistant on the Notre Dame championship team of 2001 - his forte was recruiting (see Harris, Amber and Phillips, Ta'Shia). He was a great regular season coach, yet had a knack for underachieving in the NCAA Tournament.

Yes, it begins and ends with recruiting.

[Masterofreality]

Down by 31 at half to Geno-less UConn.
Not competitive, and sad.

[GoMuskies]

UConn displayed much 4th quarter mercy.

Reid Ducharme's sister plays for UConn? I did not know that. That is some weird, wild stuff.

[Xville]

UConn displayed much 4th quarter mercy.

Reid Ducharme's sister plays for UConn? I did not know that. That is some weird, wild stuff.

That is really odd, had no idea. They were at the game together. Makes a bit more sense now

[STL_XUfan]

At least we covered?

[smileyy]

Down by 31 at half to Geno-less UConn

Azzi Fudd is still out too. That team could also have Paige Bueckers. UConn shot less than 50% from the floor and still almost doubled X up :( I shudder to think what a good offensive game from UConn would have looked like.

[XUGRAD80]

Final 73-37. C’mon (wo)man!

[HomerCecil]

In addition to superstars Bueckers and Fudd (the latter of whom should be back for the rematch in Storrs) and Geno not being there, starting center Aaliyah Edwards hurt her foot in the first quarter and didn't return. Caroline Ducharme (Reid's sister) is in concussion protocol and didn't play (she averages about 9 ppg). So we got about half of UConn's team.

[muskiefan82]

In addition to superstars Bueckers and Fudd (the latter of whom should be back for the rematch in Storrs) and Geno not being there, starting center Aaliyah Edwards hurt her foot in the first quarter and didn't return. Caroline Ducharme (Reid's sister) is in concussion protocol and didn't play (she averages about 9 ppg). So we got about half of UConn's team.

Which is why they were able to score just over half of what UConn scored.

[Masterofreality]

Kevin McGuff was Muffet McGraw's top assistant on the Notre Dame championship team of 2001 - his forte was recruiting (see Harris, Amber and Phillips, Ta'Shia). He was a great regular season coach, yet had a knack for underachieving in the NCAA Tournament.

They should have gone to a Final 4 except for 2 blown WIDE OPEN LAYUPS under the basket that would have clinched a win vs Purdue.

[GoMuskies]

Perhaps the greatest game Xavier's women ever played was in 1999 at Gampel Pavillion in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Xavier lost by 2 after being up 6 in the final minutes. We're a far cry from those days!

[HomerCecil]

Which is why they were able to score just over half of what UConn scored.

In the postgame presser, Mel said she was pleased X was only outscored 26-21 in the second half. I mean, I get it, what is she supposed to say, but that mostly happened because UConn took its foot off the gas. She also again talked about how young the team is, which has been a consistent line each of the past four years. It's just getting hard to listen to.

[HomerCecil]

Perhaps the greatest game Xavier's women ever played was in 1999 at Gampel Pavillion in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Xavier lost by 2 after being up 6 in the final minutes. We're a far cry from those days!

Remember that game like it was yesterday. I lived in Cincinnati in high school in the late 90s and got hooked by that game. Spent a lot of afternoons at Schmidt Fieldhouse over the next few years watching Mel Balcomb's teams play. Some of the best offense I've ever seen.

[bleedXblue]

Xavier has always been about getting the right players- recruiting. The men's program with its success is at another level. The women's program needs a high level recruiter at the helm.

[X-band '01]

They should have gone to a Final 4 except for 2 blown WIDE OPEN LAYUPS under the basket that would have clinched a win vs Purdue.

That game was against Stanford, not Purdue. Notice how either a men's or women's team always seems to have a catastrophic failure when they're on the verge of playing in San Antonio in the next round (see 2004 Men's Final 4, 2007 Men's Sweet 16, 2010 Women's Final 4)


Perhaps the greatest game Xavier's women ever played was in 1999 at Gampel Pavillion in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Xavier lost by 2 after being up 6 in the final minutes. We're a far cry from those days!

Fortunately a 15-point win against Tennessee in the 2001 Sweet 16 became the benchmark for greatest game in program history.

[HomerCecil]

STORRS, Conn. – The UConn women's basketball game vs. DePaul scheduled for this Sunday, Jan. 8, has been postponed, as announced by the BIG EAST Conference. The Huskies are currently under the conference minimum of seven available scholarship student-athletes.

https://uconnhuskies.com/news/2023/1/6/womens-basketball-uconn-depaul-wbb-game-postponed.aspx

[Masterofreality]

That game was against Stanford, not Purdue. Notice how either a men's or women's team always seems to have a catastrophic failure when they're on the verge of playing in San Antonio in the next round (see 2004 Men's Final 4, 2007 Men's Sweet 16, 2010 Women's Final 4)



Fortunately a 15-point win against Tennessee in the 2001 Sweet 16 became the benchmark for greatest game in program history.

Yup! Thanks for the correction Band!! Sorry.

[Masterofreality]

STORRS, Conn. – The UConn women's basketball game vs. DePaul scheduled for this Sunday, Jan. 8, has been postponed, as announced by the BIG EAST Conference. The Huskies are currently under the conference minimum of seven available scholarship student-athletes.

https://uconnhuskies.com/news/2023/1/6/womens-basketball-uconn-depaul-wbb-game-postponed.aspx

What would have happened if UConn was fully healthy vs us? (YIKES!)

[STL_XUfan]

At this point I am tempted to drop Mark Schlabach a hot tip that I have coach McGuff on a wire tap offering a recruit $100k…

[HomerCecil]

Yeah, I'm not sure what's happened since November, but it's been an ugly stretch. 0-9 in the Big East and here are the halftime deficits for each game:

Creighton -3
Seton Hall -7
at Georgetown -13
Butler -15
Villanova -25
UConn -31
at St. John's -7
at Providence -12
DePaul -27

[bleedXblue]

Thats hot garbage

We have great facilities and are in a great conference

I think its time

[MADXSTER]

Maybe they could get Patrick Ewing.




And then again, maybe not.

[Masterofreality]

Down by 23 at the half vs Villanova after only scoring 16 first half points.
We have seemingly begun the Mailing it In part of the season.
Yeeeesh!

[Masterofreality]

Update. Score doubled.

Nova 57
Xavier 28.

If this was Biden’s Administration they would spin it that the score inflation lessened in the 3rd Quarter.

[GoMuskies]

Didn't lose by 40!

[Masterofreality]

Didn't lose by 40!

Just….a doubled score. NBD

[xupuck10]

I'll fully admit that I don't follow the team too closely, but feel like we should have made a bigger effort to keep Mike Neighbors back when McGuff went to Washington.

[HomerCecil]

I'll fully admit that I don't follow the team too closely, but feel like we should have made a bigger effort to keep Mike Neighbors back when McGuff went to Washington.

Chose the option with the cheaper price tag and have been paying for it ever since.

[HomerCecil]

Luckily I was too busy celebrating the men's win at UConn to really notice, but the women dropped a 64-40 decision at Marquette last night. In league games, Xavier is averaging 49.5 points per game while shooting 32.5 percent from the field. They have a -11.0 rebounding margin in league play, too.

https://bigeastconf_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/sports/w-baskbl/2022-2023/confonly.htm

I don't want to really pile on with negativity so I'm not sure what else there is to post this season.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Luckily I was too busy celebrating the men's win at UConn to really notice, but the women dropped a 64-40 decision at Marquette last night. In league games, Xavier is averaging 49.5 points per game while shooting 32.5 percent from the field. They have a -11.0 rebounding margin in league play, too.

https://bigeastconf_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/sports/w-baskbl/2022-2023/confonly.htm

I don't want to really pile on with negativity so I'm not sure what else there is to post this season.

Are we sure Moore and Steele aren't related?

[Masterofreality]

Special Jennings from Cleveland, Cleveland Central Catholic and former Xavier point guard, is Head Womens Coach at Monteverde Academy.
Monteverde is 22-1 and ranked 3rd in the Country in HS Girls Basketball.
I say bring her back home to Xavier and Ohio.
It’s time.

[xu_fan]

I’ve not commented in years but would check back occasionally to see any activity on this board for Xavier WBB and there rarely was. I was so happy to see this topic. I like watching Mel coach and she seems like a fantastic person, but you can’t be this bad in your fourth year and keep your job. We might have the best facilities in the Big East so I can’t understand how we can’t get high quality recruits to come here. Even more than the men recruiting is critical in WBB as the gap in talent is still pretty large. I wish her nothing but future success wherever she lands but Xavier needs to move on this offseason.

[HomerCecil]

I agree, xu_fan.

Despite the struggles, they had a competitive game against Providence yesterday, losing 50-48 at home. Tuesday against Georgetown at Cintas might be the best chance for a win the rest of the way along with a February trip to Butler.

[GoMuskies]

45 point loss at DePaul today. Ouch. If Moore is not going to win again, at least she had the good sense to get her last Xavier win against UC!

[X-band '01]

A roadie at Butler may be the only thing standing between Xavier and an 0-20 record in conference play.

[Masterofreality]

After last night’s home loss by 21 to St. John’s, 0-20 looks like it’s gonna happen.
Nothing like being on the same wall as Patrick Ewing.

[bleedXblue]

And you saw this coming. Should have moved on a year ago

[GoMuskies]

At least the scholarship players are getting a free education!

Last game of the season is at UConn. Yikes.

[Masterofreality]

At least the scholarship players are getting a free education!.

Welp, at least we have Equity!!!

[HomerCecil]

If you look at stats for Big East games only, no one on the team is averaging even 10 points per game. I don't know that I've ever seen that before. I hope Fernanda Ovalle sticks around -- she seems to have some good talent for a freshman.

[Masterofreality]

Nobody really cares, unfortunately, but the only chance for the women to avoid getting skunked in the Big East is beating Butler at Butler on Tuesday night.
Otherwise.
“Hi! Is Owen there?
Owen Who?
Owen Twenty”
:-(

[cinskyline]

Looks like 0-20 is gonna happen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[drudy23]

I have watched zero seconds of Xavier women's basketball in my life, but how can you not get fired if you go 0-20? Well, unless you're Patrick Ewing.

I'm guessing the coach wasn't on The Dream Team?

[HomerCecil]

I have watched zero seconds of Xavier women's basketball in my life, but how can you not get fired if you go 0-20? Well, unless you're Patrick Ewing.

I'm guessing the coach wasn't on The Dream Team?

Ah, but Ewing only went 0-19. The canceled game against Xavier could have saved Travis Steele's job! ;-)

The women's last home game is Saturday against Marquette (18-9, 11-7), and then they finish at UConn. A win in either seems highly unlikely.

Teams currently winless in conference play:
Xavier (0-18)
Dartmouth (0-12 Ivy)
Saint Peter's (0-17 MAAC, 0-26 overall!)
Bradley (0-16 MVC)
Arizona State (0-16 Pac 12)
Mississippi Valley State (0-15 SWAC)

[GoMuskies]

Do we really need to spend the money on airfare and hotel rooms for the trip to UConn? Is actually playing that game attractive to anyone other than the UConn walkons and their parents?

[HomerCecil]

It's UConn's Senior Night, and they have a couple seniors who are fringe first-round WNBA draft picks. They're actually "only" 16-2 in the league, the first time they've lost more than one conference game in more than a decade, and they haven't scored 70 points in any of their past five games. So this is not a vintage UConn team. But yeah, shouldn't matter.

[xupuck10]

It's UConn's Senior Night, and they have a couple seniors who are fringe first-round WNBA draft picks. They're actually "only" 16-2 in the league, the first time they've lost more than one conference game in more than a decade, and they haven't scored 70 points in any of their past five games. So this is not a vintage UConn team. But yeah, shouldn't matter.

So hammer UConn over 70?

[Masterofreality]

With Xavier’s loss today at home and a trip to UConn upcoming. 0-20 is assured.
Wow. How this program has fallen.

[bjf123]

I was at the Butler County Steak Fry where she was introduced as the new head coach. Seemed very impressive. Clearly, it hasn’t worked out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[xu82]

With Xavier’s loss today at home and a trip to UConn upcoming. 0-20 is assured.
Wow. How this program has fallen.

Oh, my! I had no idea it was THAT bad. I hope it’s not too expensive to correct this.

[drudy23]

I was at the Butler County Steak Fry where she was introduced as the new head coach. Seemed very impressive. Clearly, it hasn’t worked out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Basketball success comes on the basketball court. Anyone can talk a good game. "Winning the press conference" is a made up media thing.

[STL_XUfan]

By all accounts Mel is a great person, but it simply isn’t working. We have the facilities and budget to compete, 0-20 is not and should not be acceptable.

[HomerCecil]

Is anyone really sure the women’s team DOES have a budget to compete, or are we just assuming it does? I agree Mel needs to go but she’s also the third consecutive coach to completely bomb. At some point the problem may extend outside of the WBB program. The new video about the Cintas Center renovations doesn’t even include a passing B-roll or photo of the women’s program. It’s almost like the athletic department wants to pretend the team doesn’t exist.

[Masterofreality]

Is anyone really sure the women’s team DOES have a budget to compete, or are we just assuming it does? I agree Mel needs to go but she’s also the third consecutive coach to completely bomb. At some point the problem may extend outside of the WBB program. The new video about the Cintas Center renovations doesn’t even include a passing B-roll or photo of the women’s program. It’s almost like the athletic department wants to pretend the team doesn’t exist.

Yes. It has the budget. Mel can recruit nationwide. There is clearly a problem up top.

[HomerCecil]

Um. Don't look now, but Xavier is on a 13-0 run in Storrs to take a 22-20 lead in the second quarter. Game is on CBS Sports Network.

[STL_XUfan]

Where has this been all year?

[Xville]

Not to worry, the real team came back at the end of the second qtr to effectively end the game.

[HomerCecil]

Hey, I’ll take a 60-51 loss to UConn any day. First single-digit loss since January.

[Masterofreality]

Did UConn even play any regulars??
The perfect season is complete!! 0fer 20

[smileyy]

Did UConn even play any regulars??

They're pretty decimated by injuries this year :(

[HomerCecil]

Xavier's net ranking jumped from 224 to 214 after last night's game. UConn's dropped from 2 to 5.

[X-band '01]

Seton Hall's coach looked more like a coach at the end of the game that just went 0-21 in the Big East.

[Masterofreality]

Xavier Women lose to 7 seed Seton Hall 84-58.
7-23 overall record, 0-21 Big East Record.
Time for Mel to “Step Down” before she is pushed.

[Cornbread1190]

We are still seeing the damage from the Brian Neal experiment. This is going to take some time to repair and recover.
If anyone needs to go. Start with Greg Christopher! He’s the one that let this ship sink.
This thread should be titled Time for Greg to go!

[GoMuskies]

We are still seeing the damage from the Brian Neal experiment. This is going to take some time to repair and recover.
If anyone needs to go. Start with Greg Christopher! He’s the one that let this ship sink.
This thread should be titled Time for Greg to go!

I honestly think Greg's seat was getting warm. Then he fired Steele and hired Miller, and his seat cooled off with a quickness. Greg has obviously done a horrifically terrible, historically awful job managing the women's basketball program, but he's not getting fired as long as men's basketball is going strong.

[noteggs]

I honestly think Greg's seat was getting warm. Then he fired Steele and hired Miller, and his seat cooled off with a quickness. Greg has obviously done a horrifically terrible, historically awful job managing the women's basketball program, but he's not getting fired as long as men's basketball is going strong.

Agree 100%

GC has been a mystery to me. Some good-great hires and others not so much (we can’t discount other sports like last year’s men’s soccer coach with a great hire). Guess you can say this is typical with a small private school.

Definitely put on his big pants on last year with mens program. Felt at the time, Mel was a good hire vs others. Of course, I was wrong…as usual.

[HomerCecil]

I honestly think Greg's seat was getting warm. Then he fired Steele and hired Miller, and his seat cooled off with a quickness. Greg has obviously done a horrifically terrible, historically awful job managing the women's basketball program, but he's not getting fired as long as men's basketball is going strong.

This is probably true, and he is extremely lucky. The men’s program is in good shape because arguably the best coach it’s ever had made it pretty obvious he would be interested in coming back. It was the definition of a no-brainer.

If you take Miller out of the equation, there isn’t much evidence that we should expect a basketball coach hired by this AD to do well.

I certainly hope I’m wrong, this program should be in the NCAA tournament on a regular basis, and people would be interested.

[Masterofreality]

It’s hard for me to blame GC for this issue much. And bringing up Neal is a cop out. He’s been gone for 4 years.
When Mel was hired, I asked my Bball Hall of Fame Coach Cousin what she thought of her. She thought highly of Mel from her knowledge and interactions. Obviously, there could have been no pre knowledge of Mel’s recruiting skills, but Mel does have a seemingly winning personality and I have seen that in my personal interactions with her.
I really hate to have had to start this thread, because Mel is a fine person with a great family, but these results cannot be accepted. Her total record is 24-81. Big East record 8- 61.
Time for a new day.

[94GRAD]

We are still seeing the damage from the Brian Neal experiment. This is going to take some time to repair and recover.
If anyone needs to go. Start with Greg Christopher! He’s the one that let this ship sink.
This thread should be titled Time for Greg to go!

You want to fire the AD because of a swing and a miss on womens basketball? Please let me know how he did on the recent hires of Men and Women's golf, Men and Women"s soccer, Baseball, Lacross, and Swimming. I'll hang up and listen.

[Masterofreality]

You want to fire the AD because of a swing and a miss on womens basketball? Please let me know how he did on the recent hires of Men and Women's golf, Men and Women"s soccer, Baseball, Lacross, and Swimming. I'll hang up and listen.

All of those are Pretty, Pretty, Pretty good.

[HomerCecil]

You want to fire the AD because of a swing and a miss on womens basketball? Please let me know how he did on the recent hires of Men and Women's golf, Men and Women"s soccer, Baseball, Lacross, and Swimming. I'll hang up and listen.

I'll bite, with the caveat that I wasn't the one who said GC should be fired (and I would never realistically think an AD should be fired for a single sport's performance outside of football or men's basketball, and even then only at certain schools where a single sport is under the microscope).

I'm an adult fan of X with family who are alums and who, as a kid, lived at the Gardens, Schmidt and then Cintas going to men's and women's games back in the late 90s to the late 2000s. I don’t think I’ve even been to Cincinnati in five years, but I live on the East coast and have been to the BET and to several men’s away games I can get to pretty easily. I'm not connected to the university, don't know anyone there and don't really follow sports outside of basketball. It's great that the other programs are doing well. My only point has been that there is no evidence to think that this AD is going to hire a good basketball coach, especially on the women's side (and I also think Sean Miller is the main reason Sean Miller is our basketball coach and has the program in good standing, not GC, and I'll die on that hill, too).

I'm a bit lost as to why no one seems to think GC should shoulder any blame for where this program sits. It's oversimplifying to say he had "a swing and a miss on a women's basketball coach" for several reasons. First and foremost because he's hired and overseen two here who have had no success, and each of whom were allowed to stay too long.

Greg became AD at the end of March 2013. Here is what's happened with this program since:
Nov. 7, 2013 (https://goxavier.com/news/2013/11/7/Brian_Neal_Named_Xavier_WBB_Head_Coach): GC names Brian Neal head coach. He had been interim coach for all of a month after the Waugh debacle.

It was a gamble to hand the reins over to someone with his experience level considering the program still had considerable cache in the WBB world after the success of Balcomb and McGuff. Were things good? Absolutely not. But you could remember when they were and it seemed possible this was a bump in the road. Guess we’ll ride with this guy, who was an assistant coach in the A10, as the head coach as the team moves to the Big East. What could go wrong?

2013-14: 8-23, 3-15 Big East. BET: 56-37 loss as 9 seed against 8-seed Georgetown (11-20).

2014-15: 18-15, 8-10 Big East. BET: 70-67 win as 7 seed against 10-seed Georgetown (4-27), 87-53 loss to No. 2 DePaul in the program's only appearance in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals. Ever. WBI: 57-56 win against William & Mary in first round, 69-49 loss to Niagara at home in round 2. Modest success, sure, but maybe we're turning a corner?

2015-16: 17-13, 8-10 Big East. BET: First-round loss, 48-47, as 8 seed against 9-seed Butler (10-20).

2016-17: 12-18, 4-14 Big East. BET: First-round loss, 68-66, as 7 seed against 10-seed Butler (6-24).

2017-18: 10-20, 3-15 Big East. BET: First-round loss, 66-42, as 10 seed against 7-seed Seton Hall (16-14). (But hey, let's give him another year. It's unrealistic to expect an AD to hire two basketball coaches in the same offseason, even though I know just off the top of my head that Butler and Marquette have done it in the past five years. Let's ignore the problem with the women's program.)

2018-19: 11-19, 2-16 Big East. BET: First-round loss, 70-62, to 7-seed Providence (17-14).

April 5, 2019 (https://goxavier.com/news/2019/4/5/melanie-moore-named-xavier-head-womens-basketball-coach.aspx): Mel Moore named head coach. She had been an assistant at Michigan for seven years, including serving as associate head coach in her last season there. Wolverines went to three NCAA tournaments and four NITs in her seven years. They made the second round of the tournament in all three appearances. This is also when UConn rejoins the Big East, expanding the league to 11 teams.

2019-20: 3-27, 2-16 Big East. BET: First-round loss as the 10 seed, 64-56 (OT) to 7-seed Villanova (18-12). Everyone knew this season would be a wash, especially since the previous coach's slide extended a year longer than it should have.

2020-21: 5-10, 2-8 Big East. BET: First-round loss as the 10 seed, 65-57, to 7-seed St. John's (8-14).

2021-22: 9-21, 4-16 Big East. BET: First-round loss as the 10 seed, 76-69, to 7-seed St. John's (12-18).

2022-23: 7-23, 0-20 Big East. BET: First-round loss as the 11 seed, 84-58, to 6-seed Seton Hall (18-13).

One thing on this particular season: While I don't think anyone would have predicted 0-21 against the Big East, this team was predicted to be bad by the league media and coaches. They were picked to finish last, behind a Butler team that went 1-27--I'll repeat it again--1-27! last year. Five conference wins this year would have been a minor miracle and still would have put them in last place. There were no signs of progress coming into the season (unless you count going 2-16 against the league last year outside of 0-20 Butler), and yet we kept this staff intact. Speaking of Butler, they went 6-14 under a new coach this year and are a year ahead of us in terms of rebuilding. Providence and Georgetown, the other annual bottom-dwellers, are also improved this year, making the problem here more glaring.

Xavier women's basketball during GC's tenure:
100-189 (.346) overall, 36-140 (.204) Big East record. One appearance in the Big East quarterfinals and nine first-day exits. 0 NCAA tournaments, 0 NITs (the women's still has a 64-team field) and 1 WBI bid. One win out of every three games played, and one win in every five league games played.

I probably just totally wasted a half hour looking all of that up. But I just can't really sit here and agree that Mel and Brian are the only reasons this program has cratered the past decade. When outside of Sean Miller, your basketball hires are Neal, Moore and Travis Steele, there is reason for some skepticism. Now (presumably) he will hire a third women's coach. Will the third time be the charm, or will it be strike three?

[94GRAD]

He definitely shoulders some of the responsibility for the demise of the women's team. With that said, he should get kudos for the recent hires in the Olympic sports that have been home runs.

[Masterofreality]

Time to cut bait. Step up and hire Special Jennings. And pay her what she is worth.

[SM#24]

Time to cut bait. Step up and hire Special Jennings. And pay her what she is worth.

Why Special ? Because she’s from X and Cleveland ?
Why wouldn’t we go after a rising mid-major head coach ? Or the lead assistant, ready to be head at an elite program ?

I understand that she’s at Montverde, but that’s a pretty big jump to D1 at the high (?) major level.

[STL_XUfan]

Time to cut bait. Step up and hire Special Jennings. And pay her what she is worth.
I never thought I would agree with MOR on anything, but this 100%. Just need her to bring along the recruits she is turning out

[X-band '01]

Why Special ? Because she’s from X and Cleveland ?
Why wouldn’t we go after a rising mid-major head coach ? Or the lead assistant, ready to be head at an elite program ?

I understand that she’s at Montverde, but that’s a pretty big jump to D1 at the high (?) major level.

I think Mel Moore was the top assistant at Michigan - only it was a middling Michigan program. When Xavier hired Kevin McGuff, he was the top assistant on
a Notre Dame team that won their first national title the year prior. Clearly hiring a D3 coach (Brian Neal) turned out to be a big no-no.

What is baffling is that Greg Christopher did have a good women's program at Bowling Green; women's hoops is the only program in the Big East that isn't remotely competitive.

[Masterofreality]

Why Special ? Because she’s from X and Cleveland ?
Why wouldn’t we go after a rising mid-major head coach ? Or the lead assistant, ready to be head at an elite program ?

I understand that she’s at Montverde, but that’s a pretty big jump to D1 at the high (?) major level.

Special is an alum and just had a 21-1 season at Monteverde and one of the top teams in the country. She was a Point guard, knows the game, relates to players and has been successful as a leader. Sounds an awful lot like a men’s coach we know. Plus she has been recruited to assist in the USA women’s Basketball program. The fact that she’s from Cleveland is irrelevant and, to me, a cheap shot at my recommendation. That lady has proven her worth.
If someone is a leader, she’s a leader. Period.

[SM#24]

Special is an alum and just had a 21-1 season at Monteverde and one of the top teams in the country. She was a Point guard, knows the game, relates to players and has been successful as a leader. Sounds an awful lot like a men’s coach we know. Plus she has been recruited to assist in the USA women’s Basketball program. The fact that she’s from Cleveland is irrelevant and, to me, a cheap shot at my recommendation. That lady has proven her worth.
If someone is a leader, she’s a leader. Period.

Yes, hire her, but as an assistant.
Wright St., Augusta, Flagler, UIC, high school does not scream head coach at a high major conference program where you are competing against multiple tournament level teams.
This would be a hire that says we don’t take women’s basketball seriously. If the men’s team hired someone with this background, alum or no, everyone would go batshit.

[Masterofreality]

Yes, hire her, but as an assistant.
Wright St., Augusta, Flagler, UIC, high school does not scream head coach at a high major conference program where you are competing against multiple tournament level teams.
This would be a hire that says we don’t take women’s basketball seriously. If the men’s team hired someone with this background, alum or no, everyone would go batshit.

She’s not going anywhere as an Assistant. How much more does she have to prove? We’ve gone the current college Assistant route and it’s failed miserably.
This program is at the absolute bottom. What have we got to further lose?

[HomerCecil]

It would be a risk for sure, but I didn't realize Fernanda Ovalle, who is probably the best player on this year's team and made the Big East all-freshman team, came from Montverde. A coach who could also bring some players in right away would be ideal.

Also, I know we're all assuming a change is happening but if we don't hear anything this week...

[SM#24]

I am not anti-Special. I'm actually quite impressed with her. I just think it's a huge risk to make her the head coach.
To MOR's question, what further do we have to lose ? Years more of losing potentially.
I would think with her background, the next steps would be a head job at a mid-low major or a top assistant job at a high major. I'm putting us in the latter category. Certainly we could pay her an assistant salary that is much better than anything she has had to date. She hasn't been in the high major environment yet as a coach. She's still young (young 30s).

Yes, we've gone the assistant route and it has worked...see McGuff (and also has not worked...see Moore).

I just think that perhaps there are female versions of Oats, Otzelberger, Musselman, etc. out there. Why not go after them ?

[94GRAD]

https://twitter.com/AdamJBaum/status/1632786037079707648

[HomerCecil]

Here is the university release:

https://goxavier.com/news/2023/3/6/womens-basketball-moore-tenure-wraps-up-for-xavier-womens-basketball.aspx

[GoMuskies]

I guess that's good news. It's a start.

[Masterofreality]

“ Xavier University parts ways with women's basketball coach Melanie Moore”
-Adam Baum

[HomerCecil]

I will say that I have never heard anyone ever say one negative thing about Melanie as a person. I hope she does well in whatever she chooses to do next. I'm sure this has been taxing for her and her family.

[Masterofreality]

I will say that I have never heard anyone ever say one negative thing about Melanie as a person. I hope she does well in whatever she chooses to do next. I'm sure this has been taxing for her and her family.

100% agree. Best of luck to her!

[HomerCecil]

There is a decent chance our friends in Clifton will also be looking for a new coach. UC went 2-14 for last in the AAC and are heading to the Big 12 next season. They have their opening round conference tournament game today.

[GoMuskies]

They lost to Xavier. They should be firing their coach.

[paulxu]

Mack's got experience coaching young women. Bring him back and watch heads explode. I'll buy a ticket for that movie.

[Masterofreality]

They lost to Xavier. They should be firing their coach.

Hire Mel Moore! They like to poach Xavier coaches like Scott Googins!

[IM4X]

I will say that I have never heard anyone ever say one negative thing about Melanie as a person. I hope she does well in whatever she chooses to do next. I'm sure this has been taxing for her and her family.

The same was pretty much true about Travis Steele and Patrick Ewing. I will always route for nice people. If only being a good person went hand and hand with being a good coach.

[Lamont Sanford]

Hire Mel Moore! They like to poach Xavier coaches like Scott Googins!

And Eric Toth!

[HomerCecil]

https://gobearcats.com/news/2023/3/7/womens-basketball-uc-athletics-announces-womens-basketball-change-in-leadership.aspx

Will be interesting to see if we are competing for candidates. Both are rebuilding jobs in good conferences, albeit with different geographic footprints. it has always been strange to me that these two women's programs have been bad for so long.

[IM4X]

X has to be the more coveted Job. They’re in a better conference

They should be able to land a coach who is a proven winner This time. They had a pretty good one several coaches ago. No reason they can’t do it again- especially since they are in the BE now.

[HomerCecil]

Providence and Georgetown have also let their women's basketball coaches go, so the bottom of the league (aside from Butler, who made a switch last year) will be getting a facelift.

[HomerCecil]

Not that it's a surprise, but zero media coverage of the coaching search aside from a press release with a quote from GC in the Enquirer.

A name to keep an eye on is Robyn Fralick at Bowling Green. BG is 29-6 and hosting the third round of the WNIT on Thursday. She spent 10 years at Division II Ashland, including three years as head coach. She went 104-3 overall and won a national championship and was national runner-up one of the other years.

Bowling Green was a power in the 2000s, going 258-92 with an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance under Curt Miller from 2001-2012. Miller left to become the coach at Indiana (and is now coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks). Greg Christopher hired Miller's replacement, assistant coach Jennifer Roos, who went 24-11 and 30-5 in her first two seasons before going 38-81 over the next four years and getting fired at the end of the 2018 season.

Fralick replaced Roos and has proceeded to go 9-21 (2-16 MAC), 10-21 (3-15), 21-8 (14-4, WNIT bid), 17-16 (10-10), and 29-6, 14-4 (and counting) in the MAC this season. She graduated from Davidson in 2004, so despite having eight years of head coaching experience, she's only around 40 years old.

BG actually has a former Musketeer on its team. Morgan Sharps was one of seven players who left Xavier after the 2019-20 season. She was averaging 11 points per game this year but hasn't played since January, so I assume she's injured.

Fralick has also been mentioned for a job opening at Michigan State, which obviously is a bigger job than Xavier. But there are some connections that would make her an attractive pick. Beyond speculating about her, I have no clue who else could be in the mix, and a lot of that probably depends on what kind of financial commitment the department can make to the program (the facilities are great, but let's be honest, they're there for the men's team, and you can't get by on that alone anymore).

BG could still be playing for another week or 10 days depending on how far they go in the WNIT. I have no idea when to expect a coaching announcement -- could be in five minutes, could be in several weeks.

https://bgsufalcons.com/staff-directory/robyn-fralick/591

[Masterofreality]

Just hire Special Jennings and be done with it!

[Masterofreality]

It’s Final Four week. And kids are now starting to enter the Transfer Portal.
What is Greg Christopher going to do?
C’mon man!

[GoMuskies]

Can't hire Dawn Staley until next week.

[STL_XUfan]

Can't hire Dawn Staley until next week.
I have an irrational hatred of Dawn stemming back to her time at Temple. I think I could get over it if she won Xavier a national championship.

[HomerCecil]

Bowling Green is still playing, but there are rumors that Fralick is a focus of Michigan State, who is also looking for a new coach. MSU is not a total disaster of a program and is in a better conference, so if they're interested in her and she wants to jump, it's more likely to be to MSU than to here. No idea what to think or when we'll hear anything--since GC announced Moore's departure so quickly after the season ended I thought he might move quickly to fill the job.

UC hired a coach earlier this week, Katrina Merriweather from Memphis. She was only at Memphis for two years (going 2-0 against Xavier) but turned them around fairly quickly. She was at Wright State before that, taking them to the tournament and getting a win as a 14 seed, which is almost unheard of on the women's side. She has been successful but also has baggage: One of her Memphis players was charged with assault last week after sucker-punching a Bowling Green player in the handshake line postgame (BG beat Memphis, ending their season; Merriweather left for UC the next day).

Who knows.

[Muskie]

UC just hired former player, Katrina Merriweather. Still no action X's front.

[HomerCecil]

Mel Moore returns to Michigan:
https://mgoblue.com/news/2023/3/30/womens-basketball-moore-returns-to-ann-arbor-as-assistant-coach.aspx

[Masterofreality]

Glad she landed at a comfortable place.
She is a good egg, just not a good Head Coach

[94GRAD]

Glad she landed at a comfortable place.
She is a good egg, just not a good Head Coach

Why didn't you just stop with the compliment? No need for the back-handed comment.

[Masterofreality]

Why didn't you just stop with the compliment? No need for the back-handed comment.

Her record speaks for itself in four years, B.
I’d be a lousy Head Coach too

[Final4]

I’d be a lousy Head Coach too


But didn't he state in another thread that he had something like 600 wins during his coaching career which would serve as proof of his superior basketball knowledge.........what a freaking tool.

[Masterofreality]

Monteverde Academy. National Champs Back 2 Back.

Time to hire Special Jennings Greg.

[HomerCecil]

Would hope/assume we'll hear some news this week.

[GoMuskies]

Would hope/assume we'll hear some news this week.

Now that Dawn Staley is available and Caitlin Clark can enter the transfer portal...

[Xville]

Now that Dawn Staley is available and Caitlin Clark can enter the transfer portal...

F Staley. That piece of shit can go to hell. She hates anyone that doesn’t think, look and act like her

[GoMuskies]

Oh, she's awful, but if she was on Xavier's sideline and winning 30 games a year, I could probably stomach her!

[HomerCecil]

F Staley. That piece of shit can go to hell. She hates anyone that doesn’t think, look and act like her

If you could go back to circa 2005 to see the glowing compliments Staley gave to Tara Boothe and those Xavier teams when she was at Temple, I'm not sure you'd say that. When I (white male, for what it's worth) was an intern as a sports writer, she gave me an hour of her day and was the most gracious high-level coach I ever interviewed.

It's easy to paint people as truly awful or truly great when neither is usually the case at all.

[Xville]

Oh, she's awful, but if she was on Xavier's sideline and winning 30 games a year, I could probably stomach her!

Fair… If there is a choice, I’d rather build a team that wiped the floor with her every chance we got. She’s a terrible human and terrible representative of college basketball.

[Xville]

If you could go back to circa 2005 to see the glowing compliments Staley gave to Tara Boothe and those Xavier teams when she was at Temple, I'm not sure you'd say that. When I (white male, for what it's worth) was an intern as a sports writer, she gave me an hour of her day and was the most gracious high-level coach I ever interviewed.

It's easy to paint people as truly awful or truly great when neither is usually the case at all.

People change. Maybe at one time she was a decent human being, now all she is is a curmudgeon reverse racist that blames everything on everyone and doesn’t take responsibility for anything. Numerous examples just over the last couple of years:

Volleyball fiasco
“ Bar fight” in her mind is the same thing as calling her players monkeys or thugs apparently
Dust up with former Mizzou ad showing her hypocritical self as it relates to volleyball incident


She can go to hell.

[HomerCecil]

People change. Maybe at one time she was a decent human being, now all she is is a curmudgeon reverse racist that blames everything on everyone and doesn’t take responsibility for anything. Numerous examples just over the last couple of years:

Volleyball fiasco
“ Bar fight” in her mind is the same thing as calling her players monkeys or thugs apparently
Dust up with former Mizzou ad showing her hypocritical self as it relates to volleyball incident


She can go to hell.

Flag bearer at the 2004 Olympics (as voted by her peers, by the way)
Naismith Award winner as a player and as a coach
Three-time Olympic gold medalist as a player; Olympic gold medal as a coach
Two-time NCAA champion as a coach

Figures this conversation would get more message board traction than anything the women's team has done in the past decade.

[GoMuskies]

Figures this conversation would get more message board traction than anything the women's team has done in the past decade.

That's probably a good fact for the women's team. Because that wouldn't be a very pleasant conversation, unfortunately.

New chapter starts this week perhaps!

[HomerCecil]

That's probably a good fact for the women's team. Because that wouldn't be a very pleasant conversation, unfortunately.

New chapter starts this week perhaps!

Agreed. Keep hoping we can start a new thread -- Mel Moore is not only gone, she's already started a new job!

[smileyy]

Staley lost me last year when she talked about South Carolina being "ordained by God" to win the national championship...like UConn and the other teams didn't play hard enough or something?

Also, Kim Mulkey is a terrible human being.

[HomerCecil]

Mulkey's choice of outlandish clothing for the tournament served as a PR distraction/sideshow. I am also not a fan of hers, but she's a hell of a coach.

Pittsburgh and Georgetown are the only other remaining Power 5/Big East jobs open. West Virginia and Michigan state filled in the past few days (with the aforementioned Fralich going to MSU).

[X-band '01]

I just hope Christopher wasn't waiting until the last second because he was hoping to hire another D2/D3 coach.

[STL_XUfan]

We got a voicemail from the ticket office saying there was a change coming concerning Women's season tickets. Does anyone know what it is?

[HomerCecil]

I just hope Christopher wasn't waiting until the last second because he was hoping to hire another D2/D3 coach.

I mean it seems likely it’s either that or he swung and missed on some other options.

[94GRAD]

I mean it seems likely it’s either that or he swung and missed on some other options.

Mel wasn't hired until 4/5

[HomerCecil]

Mel wasn't hired until 4/5

It just would be good to get a coach in sooner rather than later. This team has been without a coach for a month, and could definitely use some transfer portal additions (which wasn't a thing four years ago), which isn't happening until someone is leading the team.

[X-band '01]

Mercifully we can at least put this thread to bed.