By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Even if it wasn't Vince Goo the University of Hawai'i had to replace, the hiring of a new Rainbow Wahine basketball coach would still be of more than average interest now.

It isn't only that Goo was among the most senior and accomplished of UH coaches in his two decades, there is the wider issue of the number of women head coaches of UH programs, which has sometimes lagged over the years.

Of the 14 women's or coed programs the UH athletic department currently lists, five coaches are female. Carmyn James is three of them, handling outdoor track, indoor track and cross country.

Nationally, according to the 2004 Acosta-Carpenter Women in Intercollegiate Sport study, 44.9 percent of the head coaches of women's Division I athletic teams are women, not an especially high number when you consider Title IX has been on the books since 1972. Sixty percent of the Division I women's basketball head coaches are female, according to the same biennial study.

That needs to be food for thought as UH hits the stretch run in its selection process to find a coach. But the goal and, indeed, the overriding responsibility here should be to get the best coach available.

The players deserve it, fans expect it and the continued success of one of the school's most decorated programs demands it.

An advisory committee may shortly recommend three "finalists" to athletic director Herman Frazier, whose job it is to forward a name to Manoa chancellor Peter Englert and the Board of Regents.

Basketball, through its success and exposure, is one of the most visible women's programs UH offers. As such, the head coach has an opportunity to be something of a role model not only for the players, but for youngsters who follow the program.

Many years ago, during another job opening, this space opined that UH needed to make it Job One to hire a woman coach for the vacancy for some of the same reasons.

Several players on the team called to say that while some of them hoped to someday be coaches themselves and certainly favored more opportunities for women, the candidate they wanted most happened to be a man. He was the individual who could bring the most to the program, they said, after giving much thought to the situation.

And, they were right. Both at the moment and over time, a point given perspective by what Goo, volleyball coach Dave Shoji and softball coach Bob Coolen have meant to UH.

Now, with another coach of a women's team to hire, the task here is clear. Be cognizant of what the selection of an accomplished woman could mean for the program, but get the best coach available. Whomever it might be.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.