[Nurdyguy]

Since we are all left waiting for next week’s announcement. Heres my no insider prediction of what’s to come. 

Stanford will announce Kate Paye is stepping down. It will be announced in such a way that it appears she did so voluntarily. There will be no reference to any allegations or investigation. This will be done to keep the negative publicity out of the news. 

Stanford will quickly hire Lindy La Roque as the next HC. She will be tasked with saving the program she played for. Tara will be heavily involved in her hiring. Stanford will limit themselves by only looking at female candidates. She will bring most of her staff and some of her players. 1 or 2 current assistants (those were least complicit) could stay on as assistants. The rest of the staff will be gone. 

Anyone else care to venture a prediction?

Can't argue with that prediction! That said, the chance of it coming true isn't very great. One scenario here is that Donahoe has actually been working behind the scenes for quite some time, but it's taking so long because he can't convince anyone to take the job (much like what I believe happened with the football program). This roster has been cratered and as many have posted, it will be tough to bolster through the portal given Stanford's restrictions. The NYT summed up coaching at Stanford (football) with: "“Academic rigor. Difficulty of transfers. Has money,” “But would need a developmental approach and unique style that might take a cycle of older players hitting at the right time.”  It's quite possible that the best coaching candidates (La Roque, Rueck, etc.) might just view the Stanford women's basketball head coach job as career suicide...

I think you nailed it. Until the Stanford Administration is forced to adapt to the new NIL era by embracing upperclassmen and graduate transfers as all the other successful programs do, I see no hope for our success in revenue sports. I agree that most potential coaches recognize that coaching our teams under Stanford's current hostile posture toward the portal is career suicide, and they'll continue to stay away. The few who are enticed to come will not be able to compete without the portal reloads needed in this day and age and will eventually lose their careers. So until we fix that core problem, the rest really won't matter. I'll still cheer for our teams regardless of their records, though. It just won't be as fun.

[Nurdyguy]

Since we are all left waiting for next week’s announcement. Heres my no insider prediction of what’s to come. 

Stanford will announce Kate Paye is stepping down. It will be announced in such a way that it appears she did so voluntarily. There will be no reference to any allegations or investigation. This will be done to keep the negative publicity out of the news. 

Stanford will quickly hire Lindy La Roque as the next HC. She will be tasked with saving the program she played for. Tara will be heavily involved in her hiring. Stanford will limit themselves by only looking at female candidates. She will bring most of her staff and some of her players. 1 or 2 current assistants (those were least complicit) could stay on as assistants. The rest of the staff will be gone. 

Anyone else care to venture a prediction?

Can't argue with that prediction! That said, the chance of it coming true isn't very great. One scenario here is that Donahoe has actually been working behind the scenes for quite some time, but it's taking so long because he can't convince anyone to take the job (much like what I believe happened with the football program). This roster has been cratered and as many have posted, it will be tough to bolster through the portal given Stanford's restrictions. The NYT summed up coaching at Stanford (football) with: "“Academic rigor. Difficulty of transfers. Has money,” “But would need a developmental approach and unique style that might take a cycle of older players hitting at the right time.”  It's quite possible that the best coaching candidates (La Roque, Rueck, etc.) might just view the Stanford women's basketball head coach job as career suicide...

I think you nailed it. Until the Stanford Administration is forced to adapt to the new NIL era by embracing upperclassmen and graduate transfers as all the other successful programs do, I see no hope for our success in revenue sports. I agree that most potential coaches recognize that coaching our teams under Stanford's current hostile posture toward the portal is career suicide, and they'll continue to stay away. The few who are enticed to come will not be able to compete without the portal reloads needed in this day and age and will eventually lose their careers. So until we fix that core problem, the rest really won't matter. I'll still cheer for our teams regardless of their records, though. It just won't be as fun.