SEATTLE — Earlier this week, just a few days after being named the ninth women’s basketball coach in University of Washington history, Kevin McGuff stretched out in his new office and let out a sigh. In the midst of a busy move that temporarily left a six-month pregnant wife and four kids in Cincin
nati, McGuff took a welcome break from his non-stop schedule to ponder a question about where he sees the UW program five years from now.
All he had to do was lift one finger.
McGuff pointed to his right, toward an office down the hallway where men’s basketball coach Lorenzo Romar spends most days. McGuff talked about how he hopes to mirror Romar’s exciting brand of basketball, to create a similar energy at home games and to find the right fit in terms of players who can keep a program in the hunt for conference titles year in and year out.
But for all his praise of Romar and the Huskies, McGuff does bring one asterisk when it comes to his newfound UW fandom.
“At least two times a year, I’ve got to root against you,” McGuff said.
While coaching at Xavier University in Cincinnati, McGuff formed a tight bond with men’s coach Sean Miller that has held strong since Miller took a job at Arizona two years ago. And now that Miller has won a Pac-10 title in his second season, McGuff has another role model in his new challenge.
But he knows it won’t be easy.
“If the female version of Derrick Williams calls,” McGuff said, referring to Arizona’s star player, “that would accelerate the process.”
Much like the task that awaited Miller upon his arrival at Arizona two years ago, McGuff is trying to bring a once-proud program back to national prominence. The Huskies haven’t been to an NCAA tournament since 2006 and are coming off their fourth consecutive sub-.500 season, marking one of the worst four-year runs in the history of a proud program that used to boast Top 25 rankings and large home crowds.
It’s a much different situation than the one McGuff left at Xavier, where he led the Musketeers to a 29-3 record and a top-five ranking. He is the winningest coach in XU history, having gone 214-73 over nine seasons and taking his team to the past five NCAA tournaments.
“I really enjoyed it at Xavier; it was a great job and the kids were great,” said McGuff, whose $4.75 million salary over 10 years almost triples what former UW coach Tia Jackson made yearly. “But I’ve had that itch here the last few years to take the lessons I learned at Xavier and the system I put in and apply it somewhere new.”
In order to take on his latest challenge, McGuff has had to sacrifice more than wins, losses and national rankings. He’s currently living in a hotel room near Hec Edmundson Pavilion while his pregnant wife, Latitia, stays back in Cincinnati getting their four older children through the school year. Letitia McGuff is also responsible for finding a Seattle-area home and new schools, via the Internet, while her husband settles into his new office, fills out his coaching staff and watches film of the returning UW players.
One thing McGuff is trying hard not to do is make any preconceived generalizations about his new players. He’s promising to give the returning Huskies a clean slate, which is just fine with star Kristi Kingma.
“I think it’s awesome that he’s implementing a clean slate,” said Kingma, a Mill Creek native who will be a senior next season. “It brings out the best in everyone. We’re all on an even playing field. I’m excited because it gets everyone focused. It makes us want to work that much harder.”
Kingma, who admitted being upset by Jackson’s departure, didn’t know what to expect when McGuff was hired 10 days ago.
“When you lose someone great, someone you spent the last three years with, you start to become uneasy,” she said. “You’re like: ‘Who are they going to bring in? Will they like me?’ But after meeting (McGuff), what’s not to like? He’s a great guy, and I like his confidence.”
UW athletic director Scott Woodward didn’t know much about McGuff, either, when he flew out to Cincinnati to meet with him shortly after Xavier got knocked out in the second round of the NCAA tournament last month. McGuff’s won-loss record attracted Woodward, who had never previously met him.
“I hit it off with him from moment one,” Woodward said. “I really liked the guy in the first five minutes of the interview.”
At the initial meeting, Woodward had to do most of the selling. Woodward’s drive to build a winner, the history of UW’s success both on the court and in terms of attendance, and the “itch” to take on a new challenge helped lead McGuff to accept the job.
The Huskies’ new coach isn’t making any promises about how quickly he can turn things around, but he doesn’t have to look far to find his visions for the near future of UW women’s basketball. Whether it’s Romar or Arizona’s Miller, McGuff can find inspiration for his latest rebuilding project.
“We’re in a league that I think is much better than people think, so the climb is going to be difficult,” he said. “But I certainly think that we have the resources and the players that give us a chance to start climbing.”
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