Heather Lyke is making progress in trying to hire a new head coach for the Pitt women’s basketball program.
Since Lyke decided to move on from Lance White on March 3, he has spoken to several candidates, a source close to the program said. Pittsburgh Sports Today that at least some of the coaches interviewed by Lyke made it to the second round.
UMass head coach Tory Verdi, Toledo head coach Tricia Cullop and George Washington head coach Caroline McCombs have interviewed Pitt once and will receive interviews once Pitt advances to the second round. Another person who has interviewed for the job is Marquette head coach Megan Duffy, but it’s unclear if she will talk to Lyke.
Verdi has been the head coach at UMass since 2016 and has 25 years of experience as a collegiate and professional coach. Verdi coached teams have advanced to postseason play 16 of the last 21 seasons since 2001-02. Prior to his time at UMass, Verdi was the head coach at Eastern Michigan, where he worked with Lyke.
Cullop, 51, has been the head coach of Toledo since 2008. Before this, he was the head coach of Evansville for eight seasons. His overall record as a head coach is 419-268 (.610). Cullop won three MAC championships at Toledo, made the NCAA Tournament once and made the WNIT eight times, including winning it in 2011.
McCombs became the head coach at George Washington in April 2021. Prior to that, McCombs was at the helm of the program at Stony Brook, where he led the Seawolves to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. In seven years at Stony Brook , McCombs won 130 games. Before becoming a head coach, McCombs was an assistant coach, including at Pitt from 2005-10.
Duffy, 38, has been the head coach at Marquette since 2019 and before that, he spent two seasons as the head coach at Miami, Ohio, where he went 44-20 overall and 25-11 in league game. Since taking over at Marquette, Duffy has the best winning percentage of any coach in program history, going 87-36 overall and 53-23 in Big East play. In November 2021, Duffy was named as one of the 40 Under 40 rising stars in women’s basketball.
Despite interviewing these candidates, our source tells us that a decision on White’s replacement is not considered imminent. Lyke may want to see who else can be used as teams lose in the NCAA tournament.
The Pitt program had just finished its eighth straight losing season and Lyke made the decision to start over after White’s teams went 42-99 overall and 11-75 in conference play. during his tenure.
