Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

Welcome to 2008 everyone. But before moving on, the final vote and release of the 2007 portion of the season was completed hours before the ball fell in Times Square in New York signaling a turn of the page in the annual calendar,

And with it, some milestones were reached or about to be reached affecting the database compilations. Here's a look.

First, the ninth week of the season was also poll No. 545 dating back to the first ranking in November of 1976.

The re-entry of Arkansas for the first time since about a year ago enabled first-year Razaborbacks coach Tom Collen to join the exclusive three-team group consisting of coaches who have had three different teams in the rankings.

Collen's entry grows the group to nine -- including five active head coaches -- led by Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer, who has 365 appearances with Cheyney, Iowa, and Rutgers.

Stringer, overall, is fourth on the all-time list behind Tennessee's Pat Summitt, who at 531, has missed just 14 weeks of ranking appearances. Georgia's Andy Landers follows at 423, and retired Texas coach Jody Conradt at 395. Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, who gained her 700th win on Friday, is fifth at 339, having recently moved past departed Penn State coach Rene Portland, whose total is 336.

Returning to the three-team group, Jim Foster is behind Stringer in the No. 2 slot with appearances at 283 from stints at St. Joseph's, Vanderbilt, and Ohio State. If the Buckeyes don't suffer any upsets this week to become imperiled, Foster will tie former coach Nancy Darsch in total poll appearances at Ohio State at 85. VanDerveer appeared 27 times with the Buckeyes before moving West.

Rutgers assistant Marianne Stanley is third in the group with a bit of an asterisk tacked on to her overall 183. She had 141 at Old Dominion and 24 at Southern Cal, while her 18 at Stanford occurred in 1995-96 when she ran the Cardinal with Amy Tucker while VanDerveer was coaching the gold-medal winning United States Olympians.

Gary Blair is next at 180 with a combination of Stephen F. Austin (79), Arkansas (67), and Texas A&M (34). Oddly, with Collen's entry, Arkansas factors in two different coaches' totals.

Lin Dunn, the new head coach of the Indiana Fever, is next 133 from Miami (2), Mississippi (1), and Purdue (130). Retired Don Perrelli made the group courtesy of Southern Connecticut (30), St. John's (1), and Northwestern (52) for 73,

Mississippi State's Sharon Fanning is next at 54, ahead of Collen, courtesy of Tennessee-Chattanooga (4), Kentucky (4), and Mississippi State (46). And Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow, who prides herself to this day of being the first member, now drops to ninth at 24 off Florida (2), Kentucky (21), and Oral Roberts (1).

In other notes, Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, who will bring his No. 1-ranked Huskies to Villanova Thursday night, will hit his 300th appearance next week. He is currently ninth on the all-time list and sixth on the active list.

Tennessee, the leader in every category, has made its 400th all-time appearance in the Top five. Maryland is three Top 5 appearances away from taking sole posession of seventh place for total appearances this decade. Texas (29) and Notre Dame (28) are ahead of the Terrapins.

Connecticut (107) could soon pass Duke (110) to move into second in the decade top five total behind Tennessee (137).

Joe McKeown could reach 100 at George Washington next week. His overall, counting New Mexico State, is 105,which tied him at 18th on the active list with Melanie Balcomb, whose Vanderbilt team slipped out this week. DePaul's Doug Bruno (95) could soon move past Boston College's Cathy Inglese (98), Wichita State's Jane Albright (96 -- achieved at Northern Illinois and Wisconsin), and Iowa State's Bill Fennelly (96).

-- Mel