Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Cindy Blodgett deserves this chance.

The best female basketball player in Maine history has patiently "put in her time" the past three years as an assistant coach for two colleges, Boston University and Brown. She studied the game that she was so good at playing. She kept a low profile.

Now, University of Maine officials say, Blodgett is among four finalists to replace Ann McInerney, whose tenure as head women's basketball coach was a big disappointment.

Under McInerney, the Black Bears compiled a 23-34 record. The women's basketball program, so revered under Joanne Palombo McCallie and Diane Versyp, slipped from being a perennial NCAA playoff contender to being an also-ran.

Worse yet, McInerney was a passenger in the car when an assistant coach was cited for drunken driving. McInerney allegedly gave a false name to police during that traffic stop. McInerney resigned last month.

Maine has four qualified finalists. Along with Blodgett, they include: Betsy Blose, head coach at the University of North Carolina-Asheville; Marsha Frese, former associate head coach at the University of Illinois; and Lindsay Gottlieb, assistant at the University of California. Blose last year took her team to a 21-12 record and the NCAA playoffs.

Blodgett interviewed without fanfare for the position last week. The former Lawrence High star, who led Maine to four NCAA tournament appearances, who led the nation in scoring for two of those years and who played in the WNBA, is approaching this opportunity with the same quiet determination that she displayed on the court.

As good as those other finalists may be, we are struck by the potential of a storybook story line here. Cindy Blodgett is a winner. We can think of no better scenario than for Maine to hire her as its coach, and for one of the state's greatest athletes to lead the Black Bears back into the national prominence.