Good coaching choice in Greenlaw

Acadia has been building up an impressive list of varsity coaches over the past several years: Darren Burns, Jeff Cummins, Joffre Ribout, Dara Ramirez, Les Berry, Findlay MacRae and Christine Stanisich.

Until a couple of months ago, that list included women’s basketball coach Angie McLeod. She resigned after the conclusion of the 2007/ 2008 season.

Now it includes Bev Greenlaw. Considering the time and place, he’s another good choice - with the potential to be a great choice.

I’m not privy to how many qualified women’s basketball coaches there are out there looking for a job or a change in address, but it would be hard to imagine a coach with a much more impressive resume than Greenlaw. He has arguably done it all, from community programs to provincial teams to coaching at the college and university level.

In fact, prior to 2003, the only thing missing from his resume was having coached girls. He remedied that by becoming the D-1 girls’ coach at Horton, where he led the Griffins to back-to-back provincial titles in 2004/ 2005 and 2005/ 2006 as part of a four-year stint.

He takes over an Axewomen squad up-and-down for most of McLeod’s tenure. The team’s seven wins in 2007/ 2008, when Acadia earned a playoff berth for the first time in several years, was its highest win total in at least the last decade.

The Axewomen will miss Jennifer Bishop and Marrla Evans, but they return team MVP Becky Mutch, leading rebounder Brianne Ozimok, veteran point guard Sam Nuttall and 2007/ 2008 AUBC Rookie of the Year (and Horton graduate) Emma Duinker.

With the hiring of Greenlaw, two things are a given: he will get the absolute most he can out of the players he has, and he will do everything within his power to bring in whatever recruits or transfers he needs to make them better.

I would count on him being successful. There are few coaches more familiar with girls’ high school basketball in Atlantic Canada than Greenlaw. He is well-respected, especially among the players he has coached (even briefly), and that just might make the difference for a graduating high school player still undecided on future plans, tipping the scales in favour of Acadia.

I’ve always respected Bev Greenlaw, both as a coach and as a student of the game of basketball. He may be exactly what is needed to turn around Axewomen basketball and shape it into a successful program with a regional - and even national - profile.

The Acadia men’s basketball team made great strides toward long-term respectability this past season, and given the combination of Les Berry and athletic director Brian Heaney, the team’s recent success can be expected to continue.

With Greenlaw as head coach, I can see the Acadia women’s program headed in the same direction. It may not happen this coming year but, from the look of some of the players scheduled to graduate from high school in 2009, it may not take a whole lot longer.