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Alcorn narrows coaching search to three
Published Friday, June 27, 2008
LORMAN — Alcorn State’s women’s basketball program may have a new head coach before long.
According to Athletic Director Dr. Darren Hamilton, they have their field of candidates narrowed to three; Tonya Edwards, Cathy Parson and Josette Barton.
Hamilton said each candidate could bring something different to Alcorn State.
Aside from coaching and being a mentor to the players, Hamilton said he wants a coach who can connect with the community and fans.
“What we need is someone who can go into a room and work a room. We need to develop a fan base,” Hamilton said.
All three candidates were on campus Thursday to do in-person interviews.
Tonya Edwards
Edwards has had success on the high school and collegiate level. The Flint, Mich. native won two state championships at Northwestern High School in ’83 and ’84. While attending the University of Tennessee, Edwards won two national championships in ’87 and ’89 and was named the Most Valuable Performer of the NCAA Tournament in ’87.
Edwards extended her collegiate and high school playing success into a professional career, playing with various teams in Europe before returning stateside and playing in the American Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball Association.
Edwards has also had coaching success, winning a state championship at her alma mater Northwestern Community High School in ’93 with a 28-0 record. She was also named the 1993 “High School Coach of he Year” in Michigan.
Most recently, Edwards was an assistant coach at the University of Detroit Mercy.
“She brings a level of energy. She knows what it takes to win,” Hamilton said.
Although she’s had a very successful playing and coaching career, there are several questions about her.
“Has she been able to work in a situation with very minimal resources, would she be able to sustain herself and provide the stamina to develop a program,” Hamilton said.
“She definitely knows what it takes to win, however.”
Cathy Parson
Parson was most recently the head women’s basketball coach at Howard University, where she compiled a record of 96-127 in eight seasons, including a 4-26 record last season.
Parson enjoyed success early at Howard, coaching the Lady Bison to two regular season Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships, and was named the MEAC coach of the year twice.
Prior to being at Howard, Parson was an associate head coach at Richmond, an interim head coach for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, Christopher Newport University.
While at CNU Parson compiled a 183-83 record, won two Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference coach of the year awards and coached Karen Barefoot — the only player in NCAA history (male or female) to score over 2,000 points and collect over 1,000 assists.
During her collegiate playing days, Parson was the first female athlete to receive a scholarship at West Virginia University, and was the first female athlete inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame.
“She’s won at the college level and knows what it takes to win,” Hamilton said of Parson.
Hamilton has several questions regarding Parson’s qualifications — sustaining success and recruiting quality athletes. Hamilton mentioned Parson’s declining success at Howard after her first two seasons as reason for concern.
Josette Barton
Barton is currently the head coach at Provine High School, where her team went 12-8 last season.
“She’s known for turning around programs immediately in a short period of time,” Hamilton said. “She has a knack for graduating athletes and she’s been able to coach athletes that she hasn’t recruited (at Provine) and also showed the ability to raise money (at Tougaloo College).
“She’s a young and ambitious individual.”
In her first year at the school, Barton transformed a team that had only won seven games the year before to being one game away from qualifying for the state playoffs.
Prior to coaching at Provine, Barton was the head women’s basketball coach at Tougaloo and also coached at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Barton graduated from Alcorn State in ’99.
What’s next?
Following the interviews, Hamilton will grade each potential coach on a list of 13 characteristics and attributes in areas such as coaching experience and recruiting ability. Each category ranges in score from zero to three, with a possible max-score of 39.
After he compiles an evaluation of each candidate, Hamilton will make a recommendation to Alcorn State President, Dr. George Ross. Hamilton said he expects a final decision to be reached by early next week.
Comments
Posted by tigerram (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 3:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wish Ms. Barton would stop lying to everyone. This is the third time she has lied about Provine's record before she got there. The team's record was 14-9 and they were one game away from qualifying from the state playoffs. They were put out in the play-in game at South Panola. This year's team was put out in the play-in game at Murrah. The exact same place. Not one of her seniors this year received a basketball scholarship to a four-year university. One received a track scholarship and the other a scholarship to a community college in Alabama. Last year Brittany Johnson one of only two seniors on the team was accepted to the University of Southern Mississippi, the other received offers which she did not accept.
I really don't understand why Ms. Barton's attempts to receive merit on the basis of untruths about turning around a program which she really did not. She really needs to lean on what she actually did for the programs in the places where she has been. Which brings me to ask why there is no mention of her stints at Raymond High School and Yazoo City High School. Now that is worth looking into.
Posted by prittyblack (anonymous) on June 27, 2008 at 5:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tigerram is sooo correct!! The AD fails to mention the questionable firings from ALL of Ms. Barton's previous positions? Trust me, her reputation continues to follow her wherever she goes. Ms. Barton has NEVER coached on the Division I level, like the other candidates. She did a brief stint at UMES as an ASSISTANT and didn't even last one year there. In addition, This AD is quick to point out what he perceives to be flaws in the other two candidates, yet tries to build up the qualities of Ms. Barton. Pretty fishy to someone, like myself, who is trained in picking up bulls--t comments. It is real clear to me who the AD's choice is......My guess is that this Hamilton guy is one of Ms. Barton's "fans" (or victims) who has promised her the job. Why else would she still be a finalist with her reputation AND NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE ON THE DIVISION I LEVEL? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!! Take my advice Mr. AD, it's real obvious what you're doing. If you're serious about winning, competing in the SWAC and continuing the great tradition set by the previous coach, you will hire the most qualified, not who makes you..........God help you if you fall into that trap!
Posted by prittyblack (anonymous) on June 28, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just wanted to add one more comment: We see how the AD is setting the stage to hire Ms. Barton: In addition to all of the subliminal comments he's made regarding this hire, he has also stated that he is searching for someone with Mississippi ties. If that is so, then why did the other two candidates even make the final three? We are positive that there were other candidates in the pool who had Mississippi ties! Out of the final three candidates, only one has Mississippi ties! HELLO! Ms. Barton is that one! We would just like the AD to know, that we know EXACTLY what's going on. We know that there is some type of "arrangment" between he and the intended appointee. We also know Ms. Barton's M.O. and we know of his lack of (should we dare say) self control? A word of caution to you sir: When you make a deal with the devil, you will definitely get burned. You can count on it!
Posted by chuckydaone (anonymous) on June 28, 2008 at 6:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The combined accomplishments of the three finalist pale in comparison to those of Walker in terms of victories and championships. Through her committee work, Walker is also the reason SWAC women have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Neither of the three candidates mentioned can be considered an upgrade for the program based on their records. It is a sad day for Lady Brave fans when a national search produces such a weak group of finalist to replace an icon.
Posted by prittyblack (anonymous) on June 29, 2008 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY WITH YOU CHUCKYDAONE!! Isn't that sad?!!! Just know that the reason the group is so weak, is because the AD has planned it that way, so that Ms. Barton has a better chance at securing the job (which, I no doubt believe she already has). That's what happens when the man making the decisions is thinking with something else and performs a FAKE national search; instead of using his professional expertise in the field of athletics and doing a REAL search. Alcorn and the SWAC owe Coach Walker an enormous debt of gratitude! Noone will ever come close to doing what Coach Walker has done for women's basketball! Unfortunately, I can almost guarantee that Ms. Barton will be named the new coach. However, she will never measure up to even 1/80th of Coach Shirley Walker! Well, Mr. AD, please be aware that there is someone (more than one) out there who knows the REAL DEAL about your arrangement. I sure hope the tape doesn't get out!
Posted by tigerram (anonymous) on June 30, 2008 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You know, prittyblack, your thoughts could be correct. Honestly, I didn't think much of it until I heard that she was telling people two weeks ago (a few days before the search committee was scheduled to go through all the applications) that she was a finalist for the job. When I heard this, I thought she was just being her (fronting). Thinking back now, I find that quite odd. How did she know she would be a finalist?
Posted by chuckydaone (anonymous) on June 30, 2008 at 11:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Barton is out of the loop. True or not, word has circulated the the AD may have compromised himself very early in the process. People started to hear that it was Barton before the committee was announced and as result some started a campaign against her.
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