I hope this is not true but here is the link:

http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/womhoops/2008/06/sources_george_washingtons_joe.html

Done deal form what I've heard

$ was the main factor as Joe saw what NU did with the women's la program there. Also, academics are top notch and way above GWU

Press conference at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois could come as early as Saturday at 11 A.M.

While I hope it is not true, if it is I wish Joe only the best.  The man has given this school everything you could ask for.  He has the right to go wherever he pleases if he thinks it is a better fit for him and his family.  Sad the athletic department could not keep him though – I hope they fought hard as hell to keep him.

 What I find weird is that the Smith Center is supposedly to be getting a huge face lift – right?  I wonder if Joe knows something we don’t, like the renovations might not be as great as we all hoped.    

According to a post on Northwestern's Rivals board, a search firm was hired which kept the school's candidates secret till now. No additional word there on whether it's a "done deal," just a link back to here.

6/6/2008 5:01:00 PM
Poster: Free Quebec

Maybe he'll pull a Bobby Cremins/Gregg Marshal and change his mind even after a press conference to say it's a done deal once he realizes he'd be nuts to leave the place that has been such a great fit for him. 

(ok, wishful thinking.  doesn't mean he's nuts if he goes).


6/6/2008 7:08:00 PM
Poster: andrew alberg

nothing groundbreaking, but i made a post about the situation with a few quotes from Jack Kvancz at blog.gwhatchet.com


6/6/2008 7:56:00 PM
Poster: ChrisW

Welcome back Andrew...good reporting.  It looks like we're going to lose him if they pony up the money.

Chris


6/6/2008 8:35:00 PM
Poster: njspride

This would be absolutely heartbreaking.


6/7/2008 12:55:00 AM
Poster: Poog

6/7/2008 7:33:00 AM
Poster: Poog

http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/womhoops/

Mel Greenberg's latest column starts to tighten the loop on the likelihood of Joe's departure to Northwestern.  Gives props to Andrew Alberg for his Hatchet reporting and goes into a long rap on the record traffic he is seeing on his site. But I think he fails to realize the power of gwhoops.com in generating interest in his column. Also quotes Lisa C. as definitely having interest in coming home to either Temple or GW.  Who said the off-season was dull?

Mel Greenberg is now reporting a Monday press conference to announce the selection of Joe McKeown as the new women's basketball coach at Northwestern.  Will be interesting to see how he finishes off his coaching staff and what recruiting areas he will try to tap. Much tougher environment and competition in women's basketball than it was when he came to GW but it would appear that the Wildcat situation is similar to the one he first encountered at GW. Can't do anything but wish Joe, Laura, Meghan, Joey, Ally, and Ann the best. Good people. They will all be missed.

Wonder if TJ is having any second thoughts about taking the Radford job? Wonder if Bozeman is feeling better about not getting the GMU job? Wonder if Kvancz is worrying about the quality of the golf game he'll be bringing to the Colonial Invitation now that his summer months won't be as care free as they would otherwise have been? Hope he moves quickly to fill the position and ensure the stability of the program.

It is unfortunate that Coach McKeown leaving is the biggest news from the women's front in terms of overall replies whether in or out of season.  The women have upheld a great standard for a very long time with not nearly enough fanfare and support.  Now that Coach McKeown is leaving, i would only hope that the small but consistent support that the women's program has does not dissipate as the new coach comes in and there is an inevitable transition period. 

Greetings!

As my title might indicate, I am a regular poster from the Northwestern Rivals Board. I discovered this site due to the McKeown coaching rumors.  

I am very ecited to have our new coach, but I wanted to epress support for you GW fans. Coach Joe has built quite a strong program there in Foggy Bottom, and I'm sure you will be fine for many more years.  (I remember you beating us in the NCAAs many years ago, back when we were still good).  I've been especially impressed with the intelligent tone and eloquence of many posts on this board. When most college fan sites request a "send-off" for the coach, it usually involves torches and pitchforks. That is clearly not the case here.   

For our part, NU will do its best to take care of Joe and his family. Don't be surprised if we turn around very quickly....we have some very nice talent on our roster, but lost a lot of players to injury last year.   NU had a strong women's hoops program in the 80s and 90s, and McKeown looks like a guy who can get us back on track.

How would you feel about NU and GW getting together for a home-and-home series?

Kvancz confirms McKeown's departure. Sigh.

http://blogs.gwhatchet.com/courtside/2008/06/08/mckeown-takes-northwestern-job/

Oy vey.

It's an understatement to say that Joe will sorely be missed!

He's a good man Charlie B.

I love Joe and I am only going to be a soph. But in reality I hope whoever Jack picks we continue the tradition of GW basketball.

By the way JOE: Blizzard aint gunna work in the Big 10.

I wish the womens basketball teams from Iowa, Minny, Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Mich ST. Michigan, Ohio St., Purdue, Wisconsin ALL THE BEST AGAINST NORTHWESTERN AND HOPE THEY SHOW JOE HE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE.

IF JOE THINKS KIDS ARE GUNNA SUPPORT HIM ON A  WEEKNIGHT VS IOWA, HE CRAZY, THEY IN THE LIBRARY.

WELSH-RYAN ARENA IS A DUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WORSE THAN SMITH

JOE, STILL TIME TO PULL A BILLY DONOVAN. I WILL BE WAITING AT 22 AND G TO BOO YOU IF I SEE YOU IN THE 20052

YOU LED GW NATION IN BELIEVING YOU WERE LOYAL AND YOU WERE NOT. SIMPLE. 19 YEARS DOWN THE DRAIN. I HOPE THIS IS FOR JOEY'S HEALTH AND NOT FOR THE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. A DAMN SHAME

The story hits the mainstream press, nothing we didn't already know.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060801324.html

So why -- even after two solid days of buildup to what turned out to be inevitable -- do I still feel like I've been kicked in the gut?

Losing Joe is more than just losing an outstanding coach for many of us.  It's losing a friend, a standup guy who was virtually always available and was absolutely a staight shooter with the entire GW community.

From what I've learned about Joe in the past few years, I really doubt that money is the key criterion in this case; rather, it's the highly specialized care his son can get at Northwestern and in the Chicago area as well.

And while some coaches would not even blink at urging their recruits to make the switch with them, Joe is too honorable and classy a man to try that ... not to say that if a recruit absolutely wants to join him at Northwestern and initiates the request herself, he might not reject the idea.

One of the above posts -- I think from a Northwestern person -- indicates that the Wildcats already have a solid recruiting class coming in net season, so I'm not worried about us losing one or more of our recruits in any event.

As many have said above, I wish Joe, Laura and the McKeown family noting but the best out there.  It's a huge loss for GWU, in terms of the man even more than the coach.

Don't know if money was it and if so, why we didn't match it.

But Joe McKeown is one heck of a classy guy who brought a tremendous amount of pride and decency to Foggy Bottom with an incredible record. He will be sorely missed, but always well-remembered.

I do not follow the women's game like many of you do but I know enough to take eception with the phrase, "given the need for stability at Foggy Bottom...".  Joe stayed at GW for 19 seasons, a near-eternity in the world of college basketball.  No question that he elevated his teams to the point where GW became a consistent participant in the NCAA's.  He provided a program where recruits regarded GW along the lines of how men's recruits might think of a Gonzaga; namely, amongst the country's top programs not affiliated with a Big 6 conference.  However, the program failed to reach a FInal 4 and only reached the Elite 8 one time during his career at GW.  The net coach, regardless of their current connections to the program, should be hired based on their plan to bring this program to the final 4.  What resources will they need to achieve this, what role will scheduling play, what coaching philosophies will they employ, etc.  If the net coach eactly duplicated Joe's accomplishments, it would be a good thing, no question about it.  However, competing for a national championship would be a great thing.  And if that means bringing in a coach who may stay for far less time (i.e. less stability) but who will lead the GW women to the net level, I'm all for that.

I think that Coach McKeown's accomplishments at GW were outstanding. He took over a program with no real history of accomplishment and consistently lead it to the NCAA's. His players not only graduated, but some were outstanding students (Kenan Cole, Sarah Jo Lawrence, etc). On the women's side, even more than on the men's side, the upper ranks are a virtual monopoly for the BCS conference schools. GW along with ODU was one of the few to crash their private party.

Looking at the UConn page for Jamelle Elliott (link below), it seems that she might be a good fit. She is a DC native, has 11 years eperience as an assistant at UConn and has earned a grad degree. That is not to suggest that Coach Bozeman would not also be a good candidate. I think that the program is being left in very good condition and we should be able to hire a quality coach to carry on the tradition of success athletically and academically.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/Wbasketball/Coaching/elliott.html

Though it's never good to lose high profile coaches from your conference like Staley and McKeown, it does allow for new blood to come into prominence. No doubt that GW will maintain its top level commitment, less confident about Temple though they're saying the right things even if their situation and geographic location may be more difficult for someone to succeed who doesn't have WNBA and Olympic championships in their resume.  But the A-10 is far more than a women's conference and the help it needs is first and foremost in the marquee sport -- men's basketball -- and then perhaps in evaluating what schools belong and which do not. And of course, lest anyone forget, how does one get to watch A-10 athletics on the television without some Faberesque double secret code ring and divining rod.  New commissioner will have no shortage of things which were undoubtedly priorities in selecting her for the job. 

Poog, so I'm not supposed to mention anything about not accepting the highest possible goal?  No, the intent isn't to bring in the coach who you think will lead us to the final 4.  Rather, it's to hire the coach who offers the best plan to do so.  There's a difference.

On the men's side, Villanova was once a #8 seed and won a national championship.  I believe Arizona won one as a #5 seed.  Memphis, member of Conference USA, played for the title this year.  On the women's side, someone rightfully mentioned ODU's success and I also seem to recall Louisiana Tech being a national powerhouse at a past point in time.

Given a program like ours that's reached an Elite 8 and several Sweet 16's under Joe, I would think that reaching a final 4 is quite realistic.  It's surprising to find that you don't.   

Yeah, and Immaculata and CCNY won NCAA titles (women's and men's respectively)

Anything is possible and we sniffed a (women's) Final 4 but it is definitely a tough mountain to climb for the non-BCS schools. Times have changed.

Hand it to Northwestern, the 2007-2008 roster on their website already lists Joe as coach. I assume the other names are members of the staff from this year.

Best of luck, Joe. You will be sorely missed.

In a closely related vein, it's good to see 60 posts (including this one) from 24 different posters (I'm assuming Mike G and Mike K are on vacation).  Just wish the women's program had consistently received that level of interest and support over the years.

This news is very depressing for anyone who has followed the Women's program.  Coach McKeown is one of the nicest guys I've ever met.  When I worked for GW during my tenure as an undergrad and grad student, he took the time to get to know me and would take a few minutes to chat whenever we saw each other.  He opened his practices to me, knowing that I was a fan as well as a fellow employee.  His presence on the court will sorely be missed.  I wish nothing but happiness, good luck and success to the McKeown family and hope that our Women's program can continue to thrive without him. 

Thanks for the memories, Joe!

Top Ten Reasons for Coach McKeown's Departure to Northwestern

10)  They've got a fine journalism school up there.

9)  The kids prefer Willie the Wildcat to Big George.

8)  The Big 10 has 11 teams, the A-10 has 14.  They're not perfect, but at least they're closer to 10.

7)  Joe prefers "The EL" to Metro.

6)  You can dress for the cold, but there's only so much clothing you can take off when it's 98 degrees on June 9th.

5)  Evanston is the birthplace of Tinkertoys.

4)  Hobbs tried to force him to play the point.

3)  Prefers "Windy City" to "Foggy Bottom".

2)  Not enough love from GW Hoops in these 19 years.

1)  To coach at one of the finest academic and research universities in the world and home to the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center. 

Best of luck to you, Coach McKeown, and to your entire family.  You will be sorely missed and fondly remembered always.  Thanks for 19 great years!     

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/northwestern/cs-080609-northwestern-women-basketball-mckeown,1,5333367.story

Chicago Tribune article repeats some quotes from Joe at his NU press conference and suggests that "He hopes to have a coaching staff, which will likely include some members of his George Washington staff, in place this week."  Since TJ already has a job and Dancause has moved on, that would seem to mean that Bozeman and/or Jaques will be accompanying Joe to Evanston. Given the ties Mike's young family has in the D.C. area and the fact that he is presumably a legitimate candidate to replace Joe, it would certainly suggest that Ali will be leaving GW if the Tribune has it right. Of course, that's the same paper that applauded President Dewey on election night 60 years ago.  So not only do we have to wait to find out who is named the new women's coach, but we also have to sweat out whether any of the incoming recruits will seek releases from their LOI's with GW.  I like what Staley did at South Carolina in releasing their incoming freshmen but I'd hate to see the GW women's basketball team further decimated by player defections. We were already going to struggle trying to settle on a new backcourt.  Even more reason for Kvancz to move quickly in finding the right candidate.  Could it be that the Mel Greenberg of gwhoops.com will follow the eample of hockey's Barry Melrose and return to the bench?

As I posted earlier, I think Joe's too classy a guy to stick it to GW by trying to lure the ladies we've signed into defecting to Evanston.  And again, the eception(s) could be a player or players who choose to initiate the contact with Joe and ask him to take them along.  (Hard to read too much into the one post by an NU fan, but he say thay have a solid corps of players; don't know if that includes recruits or not.)  But unless there's some unspoken problem between Joe and Jack, I'd really be surprised if we lose our recruits.

By the way, someone made an oblique reference about 50 posts earlier this thread to TJ having left.  I was out of town for two weeks last month; what did I miss, and where'd she go?

http://nusports.cstv.com/view.gal?id=29551

I will always love Joe, but I'm sorry this just plain looks wrong. I thought he would always remain in Buff and Blue.

http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/womhoops/

More blogging from Greenberg on the GW (and Temple) situations.  Too bad we don't have such coverage down here. The more names he tosses out -- though Lisa Cermignano is always in the mi -- the more it's a reminder that GW could go in many different ways in selecting a successor. It just won't come with much scrutiny besides here.

I haven't noticed anybody saying this in so many words, but Joe seems to me to have been the best GW coach of all time. (Yep, I have factored in Reinhart.) And Alumnus is right on--if it's the best decision for him and his family, Good Luck to him: he deserves our thanks and support.

I understand Joe has a great wife and family, too. It's nice to see a man who is a success like that. He's an inspiration to us all.

Vingait, I enjoyed the Top 10 list.  Any and all attempts at humor are welcome.

come on NJS- you outta know the motto by now-

If we never write about it- it simply never happened

http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2008/05/19/Sports/Mckeown.Leaves.Gw.Basketball.After.19.Years-3379610.shtml

Here's the full direct link. Nice story...good reaction comments from Sarah-Jo.

Why Mentz, are you calling Joe a liar?  This is precisely the type of thing that I made a point of commenting on; namely, how coaches and athletes will often say something to the press that turns out to be false, either consciously or in retrospect.  (This dates back to JR needlessly and erroneously telling anyone who would listen that he'd be returning to GW for his senior season.)  I'm left to wonder why you haven't heard from the hypocritical Ziik by now.  I guess that sort of "treatment" is reserved for yours truly.

I agree with Mentz, this would seem to be a crushing blow for GW.  As far as the quotes from McKeown, I'm sure he believed it when he said them - those kind of publications do have a VERY long lead time.  Like most things that honorable people say, they're true until they're not true.  Lots of people may love their jobs and have no plans or intentions to leave them and that all changes when a recruiter calls about some other job that might represent a better deal for you.

At a school like GW, we have teams not programs.  Few of our succesful teams would continue on unaffected if the coach suddenly left.  All of those great women players didn't come to play for GW they came to play for Joe.  Just like most if not all of the men's players came to play for Hobbs not GW.  If Hobbs left for whatever reason we'd probably be looking at a complete makeover there as well.

Newsflash folks, I'm a very sarcastic person.  Sorry to assume that this was pretty well-known by now.  Mentz did nothing wrong nor did I mean to infer in any way that he did.  I didn't write Why Mentz are you calling Joe a liar, I wrote Why Mentz, (COMMA), are you calling Joe a liar (sarcastic tone)?  It was a tongue-in-cheek remark.  And my point is that Mentz's discovery was simply an eample of coaches or athletes either saying one thing but meaning another, or saying one thing only to have circumstances quickly change to the point where the original comment is a contradiction.  When I had pointed this very thing out after Pinnock repeatedly said that he was staying at GW for his senior year only to subsequently leave school early, this was interpreted by Ziik as my calling JR a liar, an attack that he repeatedly made towards me. So naturally, I was just wondering why Ziik isn't making the same accusatory remarks towards Mentzinger, given that we have awfully similar circumstances.

In other words, my criticism is towards Ziik, not Mentzinger.

Hey ziik,

So what do the several of us who bought your "In Joe We Trust? polo shirts do now?  I'm too long in the tooth to wait 25 or 30 years in the vain hope they'll become collectors' items.

Of course, we could always get a buff-colored marker, insert a caret before the "Joe" and add the new coach's first name, but that sounds like a forlorn conclusion to me.

On the other hand, it was worth it just to see the pleasure on Joe's face whenever he saw one of us wearing the shirt.  As he said, "We can all use a little divine intervention."

Mailvan -- You must be my age, enjoying my lame attempt at a  Letterman Top Ten list from the 80's.

Does anyone disagree that the ONLY reason Joe is going to NU is to get the best education and support for his son and family?  NU's incumbent coach won 25 games over her four years.  They went 1-17 in the Big 10 last year, 5 -23 in total.  They've been to the NCAAs 7 times as a program, and not since the 90's.  Joe's been to the NCAA's 17 times in the last 20 years.  If it was only about winning, or money, or anything else, Joe could have gotten a better job than this Northwestern job.  He DESERVES a better job.  There's going to be a ton of work to do to rebuild this program, especially to be competitive in the Big 10, and he's not as young as he used to be.  But there are two ecellent University teaching programs for autistic students that I know of; one at Northwestern, the other at Temple.  Joe may have chosen the one that would have provided the least amount of agida to GW and it's fans and to Joe as well.  I have to tip my hat to him and wish him the best.

Vingait, I once submitted a letter that Dave read on Viewer Mail.  Yes, those are actual letters from actual viewers.

Joe deserves the shirt as much now as he did before, ELJ. I can't see why you wouldn't continue to wear it in memory of him and the good times.

Criticizing me for not criticizing Mentzinger? Mailvan, you must really be missing Blue Seats.

Last update on Greenberg's site a few days ago simply referred to the three already named candidates (Elliott, Cermignano, Bozeman) being interviewed or about to be interviewed.

http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/womhoops/

Still can't link in herve's preferred style but this will at least get you there.

http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/womhoops/

Nothing really new but the Guru continues to birddog the GW and Temple search for new women's coaches.  One interesting thought came to mind while reading this --- wonder if Temple is waiting to see what GW does before making its move. Coach McKeown was reported to have talked up Mike for the Owls vacancy before his own coaching plans changed. Could Temple be waiting to see if GW hires Cermignano or Elliott and then pounce on Bozeman if we do? Since Lisa had been previously mentioned by Greenberg as a possibility for Temple, could it also be that their AD would select her if GW goes with Bozeman or Elliott?  Both candidates would make ecellent choices at either place but one would assume that their first preference would be GW due to their familiarity with the place and the presence of a rabid fan outlet like gwhoops.com.  Then again, all this fanciful ruminating may not give Temple enough credit for wanting their new coach to have them as their first choice. Since UConn assistants Elliott and Cardoza indicated that they wouldn't compete for the same jobs against each other, only Elliott would seem not to fit into this lazy afternoon musing. But at least the identity of GW's new women's coach will be known long before we ever find out if Bengt-Ake Gustafsson's kid will be an impact player for the Caps. Won't make the same prediction about finding out Temple's coach but if they go with former LaSalle coach John Miller, I'm willing to predict that Temple will return to their pre-Staley location in the bottom half of the A-10.

http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/womhoops/

The Guru is now suggesting that Assistant Coach Mike Bozeman is "emerging" as the likely successor to Coach McKeown.  Maybe if Mike is seen eating a Philly cheesesteak, Greenberg will be a tad more enthusiastic and positive about the choice. If true, whatever disappointment some may feel about the unsuccessful candidates should be tempered by the epectation that Bozeman will do a terrific job. No reason to fear a dropoff in the women's program. Besides, GW would be able to resurrect, with an obvious new namesake, those Mike Jarvis lookalike contests from days of yore.