South Carolina women’s basketball: Who will replace Fred Chmiel?
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On Monday former Gamecock assistant Fred Chmiel was introduced as the new head coach at Bowling Green, leaving Dawn Staley with an important staff position to fill.
During Staley’s tenure, she has had a remarkably consistent staff. This is just the fourth change to her staff in 15 seasons.
Lisa Boyer has been on the staff the entire time. Jolette Law replaced Nikki McCray for the 2017-18 season. Chmiel arrived in 2015-16, replacing Darius Taylor, who replaced Carla McGhee in 2010-11.
Taylor left to get married (his wife is Texas A&M coach Joni Taylor). He has worked as a WNBA assistant coach, interim head coach, and is currently an executive with the Connecticut Sun.
McCray left to be the head coach at Old Dominion. After a successful run, she took over at Mississippi State but resigned after one season because of health concerns. After time off, McCray is currently an assistant at Rutgers.
Chmiel had been associated with Staley off and on for almost 20 years. They first crossed paths in 2005 when Staley played for the Charlotte Sting and Chmiel was an assistant coach. Staley later hired him as one of her assistants at Temple.
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Chmiel did not join Staley’s initial staff at South Carolina, but they reunited following the Gamecocks’ first Final Four in 2015.
Chmiel worked with the Gamecocks’ post players. He was responsible for tutoring A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston, who each became national players of the year.
One reason Staley has been able to keep her staff together is money: the Gamecock assistants are very well paid. Boyer makes $400,000 annually and Law makes $295,000. Chmiel made $300,000 annually at South Carolina and reportedly took a pay cut at Bowling Green. His new salary is $260,000 with built-in bonuses.
That puts Staley in a good position to hire Chmiel’s replacement. So who might Staley try to hire? Names are hard to come by (Duke assistant Winston Gandy’s name has been floated), but we can build a profile.
We can expect Staley to swing big. That’s what she did when she lured Law away from Tennessee in 2017. Expect an accomplished assistant, not someone wet behind the ears.
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Staley has typically had one male assistant on staff, but that’s not necessarily a requirement. What is a requirement is experience working with posts, recruiting at a high level, and someone who knows defense.
Also look for someone with ties to Staley or South Carolina. For example, part of the pitch to Law was a chance to return to her home state.
It’s tempting to look at former players to fill the position. Ashley Bruner, Khadijah Sessions, Asia Dozier, Valerie Nainima, Lindsey Spann, and others have all entered the coaching ranks. However, none of the former players look like a fit. They lack the experience or focal area the Gamecocks are looking for.
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