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MU coach gets rare glimpse inside

Fantanarosa takes part in mock NCAA selection committee exercise.

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12:14 AM Wednesday, July 20, 2011

By Jay Morrison

Staff Writer

OXFORD — The idea of being holed up in an office for 13 hours on a beautiful Saturday, staring at numbers and staging pretend debates about a hypothetical event might not seem like much fun to most people, but Miami University women’s basketball coach Maria Fantanarosa found it thrilling.

Fantanarosa was one of 18 coaches and eight administrators who were selected to participate in the NCAA’s mock selection exercise in Indianapolis.

“I was invited last year but I had a conflict with the date so I immediately told them to keep me on the list,” Fantanarosa said. “I love the professional enhancement. Anything like this where you can learn what goes on behind the scenes, I’m eager to be a part of.”

Fantanarosa got home from a 10-day recruiting trip Friday night, then got up at 5 a.m. Saturday to drive to Indianapolis, where she and the other participants began going through the process of picking the 33 at-large teams for the NCAA tournament.

Using every stat, report and rankings system available to regular selection committee, the group worked from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. with only a few short breaks.

They took into account travel distances, conference affiliations and everything else the regular selection committee pores over in March.

“It was very interesting and very thought provoking,” Fantanarosa said. “But by the end of that first night, I felt like I couldn’t possibly look at another number.”

But as tired as she was, Fantanrosa was twice as impressed with Sue Donohoe, the NCAA’s vice president of women’s basketball, and Michelle Perry, director of the Division I NCAA women’s basketball championship.

“They took us through everything, but Sue kept it clear and concise,” Fantanrosa said. “She has a great personality and a great staff.”

By the time the group had assembled the 64-team field at noon Sunday, it closely resembled the real bracket that led to Texas A&M claiming its first championship in school history.

“It was really a challenge, but it also was an affirmation we’re doing the right thing with our scheduling,” said Fantanarosa, who noted the Mid-American Conference rarely gets more than one team in the field. “We have to make sure we’re scheduling strong enough games, typically one in the top 25 and three or four in the top 100. And we need to beat someone.

“The whole experience was definitely worthwhile, and I would recommend it to any coach who gets an opportunity to do it,” she continued. “I walked away with a greater appreciation not only of the selection committee, but of the NCAA staff. The future of our game is in good hands with that staff.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

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