The only coach to publicly express interest in the vacant LSU women’s basketball coaching position may also be the first coach to interview for the job.
Former University of Mississippi and WNBA Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor will meet early this week with LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman and Associate Athletic Director Judy Southard to discuss the opening.
Bertman confirmed this past week that Chancellor would interview for the job, but he said he expected several other candidates to also interview for the open position.
Chancellor coached 19 seasons at Mississippi, ranking 19th in NCAA career-winning percentage, winning 74 percent of his games with a 439-154 record.
He then turned to professional basketball in 1997, becoming the inaugural coach of the Houston Comets, winning the WNBA’s first four league championships before stepping down from his position earlier this year.
Chancellor has been the only candidate to express interest in the LSU position, calling it one of the best jobs any coach could ask for.
“I have been in contact and will be [in Baton Rouge] sometime in the near future to talk about their situation with their people,” Chancellor told ESPN News this weekend. “Any unemployed coach out there will want to take a look at their team because they have so many talented players.”
Chancellor will be 64 before the upcoming season gets underway, and many assumed his resignation from the Comets was an unofficial retirement, but Chancellor has said multiple times recently that he is not finished coaching even though he will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September.
“It looks like I’m going to be getting back into college coaching,” Chancellor told the Houston Chronicle on March 15. “Right now I’m interested in talking to a number of people about a number of jobs.”
Bertman and Southard were not able to be reached Monday regarding when Chancellor’s interview will take place.
One candidate that has been scratched off the market is Baylor University coach Kim Mulkey. Mulkey ended any speculation this past week when she signed a 10-year contract extension, placing her among the highest paid college coaches in the NCAA.
“I will be at Baylor as long as they want me here,” she said.
—–Contact Casey Gisclair [email protected]