Cincinnati Basketball: Is It Time To Replace UC’s Women’s Head Basketball Coach Jamelle Elliott?

On Friday March 4th the Cincinnati Bearcats’ women’s basketball team wrapped up their 2015-16 season with a 70-61 loss to the eight seed East Carolina Pirates in the AAC Tournament and finishing with a 8-22 record. In the last seven years UC has only advanced out of the first round of their conference tournament three times and gone to a postseason non-conference tournament once. They’ve also compiled a 78-135 record (36.6%) during that time.

The common theme over those seven years has been head coach Jamelle Elliott. A former UConn player and assistant coach, I was hopeful she would bring some of Geno Auriemma’s magic to the Bearcats. At the time bringing her in made sense. If Cincinnati wanted to elevate it’s women’s hoops program like they had in football and on the men’s side, why not go after someone on the staff of one of the most successful teams in college basketball? It’s the same mindset that forces Nick Saban to replace his coordinators and assistant coaches practically every year.

Now, I understand women’s basketball isn’t as popular of a sport as football or men’s basketball at Cincinnati. The same goes for most schools outside of UConn, Notre Dame, or Baylor and in some cases baseball, lacrosse, or soccer can rank ahead of it.

I mean, this past season UC only averaged 651 per home game. As for myself, I sure as heck don’t devote as much time or resources to the program as I probably should. In six years of blogging about the Bearcats, I think I’ve written all of four posts related to women’s basketball. The one linked above and these three.

Despite all of that, should athletic director Mike Bohn really accept a 36.6% winning percentage from his women’s basketball program? It doesn’t generate as much money or interest as men’s hoops or football but shouldn’t he expect something better than single digit win seasons?

Three years ago, then-UC AD Whit Babcock replaced rather popular and seemingly untouchable baseball coach Brian Cleary (45% win rate) with Indiana assistant Ty Neal, who hit the reset button on the program. Since then Cincinnati baseball has made notable strides in recruiting, performance, and fan appreciation. A team whose roster is 85% freshmen and sophomores took #5 LSU to extra innings in early February and beat #18 Coastal Carolina 10-7 on Friday.

Should Mike Bohn make the same bold move with Jamelle Elliott, giving a new coach the chance to rebuild UC women’s basketball? The evidence in front of us suggests it might be that time.

Plus, in the grander scheme of things, when you’re talking about making a case for membership in the Big 12 or ACC, having well-rounded, successful athletics programs is very important. Take Louisville for example. While the Cards print money and have made several renovations to their facilities, their success isn’t limited to just football and men’s basketball.

Sure, the Cardinals’ football program regularly makes bowl games and finishes near the top of the ACC Atlantic standings. Before that, Louisville was an annual contender for Big East and AAC championships. The men’s basketball team is also consistently ranked in the top 25 but so too is their women’s program. Not only that but Louisville has very solid baseball and soccer teams, who are currently ranked 4th and 24th in the country respectively.

So when the ACC was looking to add new members, the Cards were a no-brainer.

My only hesitation with replacing Elliott is that I’m not certain of the constraints she is working under. The outdated Fifth Third Arena hurts her and Mick Cronin alike but I also don’t know what her budget truly is. It’s certainly not as much as football or men’s hoops but in relation to the rest of the American Athletic Conference, does it rank fifth out of 11 schools? Seventh? Near last like her year-to-year conference record? If that’s the case a new coach might not make much more of an impact.

Regardless, it’s pretty clear something needs to change with Cincinnati women’s hoops and Bohn should start taking a closer look at the program. Should Elliott be a part of its short or long term future? Well that’s why UC’s paying Bohn the big bucks.