[ WAHINE BASKETBALL ]
Wahine hoops assistants
ready to clean out officesWith no word on a coach
to succeed Vince Goo, the three
are unsure of their futures
Unless they hear otherwise, Hawaii women's basketball assistant coaches Da Houl, Serenda Valdez and Gavin Petersen assume today is their last day on the job. They haven't been officially dismissed, but all three have spent the past few days clearing out their offices.
It is the final day of their contracts, and head coach Vince Goo has retired. Houl applied to be his replacement, but has heard little from athletic director Herman Frazier since a preliminary phone interview more than a month ago.
"We spoke again on June 25; nothing's happened since then," Houl said yesterday afternoon. "I have some options; I need to consider them."
She declined further comment.
All three met with Frazier in the spring after Goo announced his retirement. All want to remain at UH in some capacity, but they understand jobs of any type on campus are hard to come by.
After today, Goo will be the only one on staff still under contract. His retirement doesn't officially begin until Aug. 16.
Houl, former UNLV coach Jim Bolla and a third applicant are believed to be the finalists to replace Goo. UH spokeswoman Lois Manin said an offer was made last week but that the new coach probably won't be named within the next few days. Also, a new head coach will have to be approved by the Board of Regents.
The preliminary interviews were completed in May. Frazier said he is being deliberate in the hiring, partly because he wants to avoid paying two staffs at the same time.
Petersen said he has an offer to be an assistant for former UH assistant Jon Newlee at Idaho State.
"I'm just waiting to see if there's some contact here," Petersen said. "I prefer to stay here. I'm born and raised here, and living here is my dream. But it's also my dream to continue to coach. I'm still waiting it out. We're taking (today) like it's the last day. We're cleaning out, basically."
Valdez declined to speak for the record, except to say she and the other assistants have told the players to accept and support whoever their new coaches turn out to be.
Other UH coaches contracts end today, most notably that of baseball coach Mike Trapasso. His initial three-year deal ends today. A new multi-year contract is expected to be approved in August with no snags.
UH Athletics
uhathletics.hawaii.edu
