It’s to Lindsay Gottlieb’s immense credit that I haven’t really spent much time thinking about Joanne Boyle.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m still immensely grateful to Cal’s previous head coach, who revived a deader-than-dead program and eventually led the 2nd best Cal team I’ve followed to the Sweet 16. But two years after she left Cal was in the Final Four.
Meanwhile, Virginia is making their first NCAA tournament appearance in eight seasons and their first under Boyle. After getting a huge raise to head back east, there’s actually been speculation that Virginia would move on after six NCAA-less seasons at a program that once made the tournament 20 years in a row with 3 final four appearances.