Joe McKeown inherited a 6-25 team when he arrived in Evanston after the 2007–2008 season.
The former women’s basketball coach at George Washington University had appeared in eight-straight NCAA Tournaments before taking on the challenge of changing the culture of women’s basketball at Northwestern and leading the Wildcats back to the postseason.
Last year, the Cats made the program’s first trip to the postseason in 16 years by earning a berth in the WNIT. NU bowed out in the Round of 16 and finished the season 18-15.
Midway through his third year at NU, it’s safe to say McKeown has established the foundation for the Cats to not only reach the Big Dance this season, but also to be consistently competitive in the future.
Despite Sunday’s loss to Purdue, the Wildcats are 3-3 in-conference and boast a 15-5 overall record. In his first women’s basketball bracketology of the year earlier this month, ESPN’s Charlie Creme projects that the Wildcats will earn an eight-seed in the Tournament.
Based on their strength of schedule and record, this week the Cats have the 28th best RPI according to realtimerpi.com. That same website rates NU’s schedule as the 29th most difficult in the country.
The Cats maneuvered into in NCAA Tournament contention during the non-conference slate with an impressive win at home against LSU .
And this past week of conference play, before shooting ice cold in the first half at Purdue, is one of the best stretches so far during the program’s turnaround. The Cats defeated two Big Ten opponents for the first time in a long time.
Ohio State had knocked off NU 19 times in a row dating back to 1999 before the Cats beat the No. 24 Buckeyes on Thursday night.
The signature win over the No. 24 Buckeyes was only the encore to an overtime thriller in which the Cats beat Illinois 69-66 on Sunday. It was the team’s first win against Illinois in the past 21 tries.
McKeown’s reputation as one of the top coaches in women’s basketball has boosted the program’s recruiting prowess. Sophomore Kendall Hackney, the former Miss Ohio Basketball, was an impact freshman, and this season she has emerged as the Cats second scoring option behind center Amy Jaeschke.
Even though Jaeschke is playing in her final season at NU, McKeown will have multiple options to replace the senior’s front court production.
According to ESPN Scouts, two of the top highest rated recruits in 2011 have committed to wear white and purple. Morgan Jones, from Altamonte Spring, Fla., is the 3rd best forward and 9th best player overall in this year’s national recruiting class. Alexandra Cohen, from Bayside, Wisc., is rated as the 7th best center and 60th overall.
But enough with speculating about next year. This year’s squad is poised to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
That’s why at a university where Pat Fitzgerald is the face of the athletics program and Kelly Amonte Hiller has five women’s lacrosse national championship rings, McKeown deserves his time in the spotlight for reviving a women’s basketball program that had been dormant for more than a decade.
[email protected]@u.northwestern.edu
