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Women’s basketball to conduct “mock” selection exercise

By Rick Nixon
NCAA.org

Head women’s basketball coaches from 19 Division I institutions and two Women’s Basketball Coaches Association administrators will participate in a “mock” selection exercise hosted by the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and members of the NCAA staff Friday and Saturday in Indianapolis.

Fans can follow the exercise via a Cover It Live blog on www.NCAA.org Friday and Saturday. Both blog sessions beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern time, and accounts of the exercise will also be provided on the women’s basketball championship Facebook and Twitter pages.

The exercise will give participants an interactive role in the selection, seeding and bracketing process that the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee goes through annually.

“Mock” selection attendees will have access to all the tools available to the committee. They will follow the same process for selecting and seeding the teams and apply the same principles and procedures the committee uses when it “builds” the championship bracket.

The Division I women’s basketball staff will conduct the session, with members of the women’s basketball committee providing assistance and insight into the process.

Those scheduled to attend the event are:

• Karen Aston, Charlotte
• Kim Barnes-Arico, St. John’s (New York)
• Agnus Berenato, Pittsburgh
• Tony Bozzella, Iona
• Debra Clark, Norfolk State
• Beth Couture, Butler
• Jim Flanery, Creighton
• Susan Robinson-Fruchtl, Saint Francis (Pennsylvania)
• Bill Gibbons, Holy Cross
• Bonnie Henrickson, Kansas
• Lori Jones, Southeastern Louisiana
• Laurie Kelly, Northern Arizona
• Paul Nixon, Columbia
• Raegan Pebley, Utah State
• Sue Semrau, Florida State
• Sandy Simpson, UC Davis
• Denise Taylor, Jackson State
• Charli Turner Thorne, Arizona State
• Julie Wilhoit, Loyola Marymount
• Beth Bass, WBCA chief executive officer
• Betty Jaynes, WBCA consultant

 “The exercise provides a great hands-on opportunity for coaches and media from across the country to learn more about the selection, seeding and bracketing process,” said Jane Meyer, chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and senior associate director of athletics at Iowa. “We have made a concerted effort to provide this opportunity for coaches from all 31 conferences to participate in the exercise over the years, and after this weekend we will be extremely close to achieving that goal.”

Both the Division I women’s and men's basketball staffs began conducting mock selections with national print and electronic media members in 2007 to clarify the process that the respective 10-person basketball committees experience each March when the championship brackets are constructed and announced. This is the second time the “mock” attendees will consist entirely of coaches and WBCA administrators.

Rick Nixon is the Associate Director of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship