The search for Dawn Staley’s successor is over.
According to multiple sources, Connecticut assistant coach Tonya Cardoza will be named Temple’s women’s basketball coach at a media conference in the Fox Gittis room of the Liacouras Center tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Cardoza, a former teammate of Staley’s at the University of Virginia, served under Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma for 14 seasons, five of which were national championship seasons for the Huskies.
The 39-year-old Roxbury, Mass.-native will replace Staley, who accepted the coaching position at the University of South Carolina on May 10.
Over eight years, Staley led the Owls to a 172-80 record, six NCAA Tournament appearances and four Atlantic Ten Conference titles.
At UConn, Cardoza primarily worked with guards, including current WNBA players Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.
She will inherit a squad that lost its top-scoring guard (Ashley Morris), returns only two rising seniors (forwards Shenita Landry and Shanea Cotton) and finished the regular season tied atop the A-10 standings at 12-2 (21-13 overall). The Owls, who received an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, lost to Arizona State in the opening round.
Tyson McCloud can be reached at tyson@temple.edu.
Check out temple-news.com tomorrow for more coverage of Cardoza’s hiring.
(Photos courtesy of uconnhuskies.com and courant.com)
