At the end of a two-week application period for the new women's basketball coaching position, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said Wednesday he has received 40 resumes for the job.
Applicants can still register their resumes until the job is filled, Collins said, but he and his senior staff of Karin Lee, Pat Quinn and Matt Wolfert began reviewing applications Tuesday. Collins was out of town on business Tuesday and said he has looked at "very few applications" as of Wednesday.
"I can't really say what I think about our pool of candidates until I go through all the applications," Collins said. "It's a good number, but we need to see how deep the pool is by going through all the resumes."
The job opening follows Roller's resignation on April 2. Roller, who hadn't been with her team since a 70-55 defeat at the University of Evansville on Dec. 8, was diagnosed with manic depression.
Collins said he didn't know about Roller's medical diagnosis until the day she resigned.
"Tracy was on medical leave so I wasn't privileged to that information," Collins said. "Tracy was a good coach, and she did a good job while she was here."
Collins said it's too early to set a timetable for the search to replace Roller, and he doesn't know when he will begin interviewing candidates for the job.
"We aren't going to rush this decision," Collins said. "We are going to make sure we're thorough and accurate. We're going to check everything so we make the best decision we can."
Lee said she has spoken to the team as a group and is taking "suggestions" from the players. Three players - captains Porchia Green and Kiley Jarrett, along with future senior Dana Moorman - have supported acting head coach Lisa McDonald to be Roller's successor.
Lee said the four-member committee will go through the entire process instead of coming to a quick solution.
Lee said the candidates range in experience from former head coaches to applicants with no head coaching experience. Despite a large volume of candidates in the first two weeks, Lee said, she thought all along there would be an overwhelming interest for the coaching position.
"I think this is one of the best jobs right now in the country," Lee said. "It didn't surprise me at all that people are interested. It depends a lot on timing, and we're looking for a coach during the good time of the year because there are a lot of candidates available."
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