After advertising Ball State University's women's basketball team's job opening online during the past two weeks, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said the interviewing process will begin Tuesday.
The vacancy was created when former coach Tracy Roller resigned April 2. Roller, the program's all-time wins leader, posted a 118-73 record in seven seasons, but missed the entire Mid-American Conference portion of last season.
Collins said he and his senior staff will begin viewing applications Tuesday and move toward making a decision on who will be the next coach. Collins refused to comment on how many applications he's seen because the application period is not yet finished but said he's had a "good response."
"We hope we have a deep and diverse pool of candidates," Collins said. "Once we have all the applications, we will conclude our search as efficiently as possible."
Collins said it's too early in the searching process to be able to accurately predict when he will make a hiring decision.
One of the candidates who will be considered is acting head coach Lisa McDonald, Collins said.
McDonald, who served on Roller's coaching staff the past seven years before taking over the team mid-season and leading the Cardinals to a 11-5 record, said she hasn't had any discussions with Collins about becoming the new head coach. McDonald had led team workouts through the end of last week, but NCAA regulations keep her from organizing practices starting this week because of the end of the semester.
"It's been a really positive month," McDonald said. "We've all benefited in different ways, and we've been able to get [the players] on the court quite a bit. Now we're just trying to get everybody ready for finals so we can close the year out strong academically."
Captains Kiley Jarrett and Porchia Green, along with future senior Dana Moorman, endorsed McDonald to be Collins' hire. Roller also said the day she resigned she thought McDonald was the best candidate for the job.
Even though McDonald admitted the coaching search is in the back of her mind, she said her primary concern at the present is her team.
"Sometimes you forget how important the spring and summer can be," McDonald said. "We have been focused on the fact that our drive for the MAC Championship starts right now."
If she isn't the next coach, McDonald said, she didn't know what her future with the Cardinals' program would be.
"It's like I said, right now I'm just focusing on the team and trying to be prepared for whatever comes next," McDonald said.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
