Washington Merry-Go-Round

By Mel Greenberg
SECAUCUS, N.J. _ Draft eve in the WNBA is certainly becoming more entertaining than in earlier years with wheeling and dealing occuring right up to the last minute and beyond.
Meanwhile, even before the Charlotte Sting makes the first choice shortly after noon today and new president Donna Orender will perform her first major public act in announcing the first round picks, attention has been shifted to the nation's capital where mayhem is occurring in again in the Mystics organization.

If it's a new season, it's time for a new coach, an almost annual occurrence, this switch caused by Michael Adams' decision to become an assistant men's coach at the nearby University of Maryland.

Give Adams credit. He's the first coach to outlast former Mystics all-star Chamique Holdsclaw, who was traded last month to the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Washington Post reported Linda Hargrove, who was elevated to general manager in the offseason, as a possibility to succeed Adams for whom she was an assistant before her promotion.

She was head coach of the former WNBA Portland Fire and also coached in the defunct American Basketball League.

Hargrove said she and Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt are compiling a list of names.

An aside: When you have the best collegiate talent in the nation for next season, you can take a timeout from two major recruiting hotbeds that will be occurring elsewhere this weekend.

Here's a name, however, which just might drop in out of nowhere to many people.

Former Auburn coach Joe Ciampi, now retired, has expressed interest in becoming a candidate for an Eastern Conference team, if an opening has occurred. He will also be inducted in June as part of the 2005 class to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.

Ciampi, a native of upstate Pennsylvania, has done consulting work for the Mystics and he might be the right fit in Washington.

Other names out there in the assistants pool are Houston's Kevin Cook, San Antonio's Brian Agler, as well as former New York head coach Richie Adubato, who has been mentioned as a possibility for the new team in Chicago next season.

As for which way Charlotte might go, Temple coach Dawn Staley, who plays for the Sting, thought Sting coach Trudi Lacey might pick Janelle McCarville, the all-American post player at Minnesota. She acknowledged earlier this week, that Tan White, a talented Mississippi State guard, might be the No. 1 choice instead.

Whatever, we'll be back late this afternoon with all the color from the tent.

-- Mel