ROCKINGHAM — There has been no wow factor so far this summer for Richmond Senior athletic director Kevin Mabe.
Mabe said he has interviewed a handful of candidates for the school’s vacant girls varsity basketball coaching position but none have garnered an offer.
“A couple of them didn’t want to teach, they were upper-level administrators elsewhere and they wanted to come in late October, rent a place and then leave in February,” Mabe said. “That’s not what we’re looking for. We want someone that will be a part of the Richmond County community.”
With a limited pool of resumes, Mabe has discussed the situation with outgoing principal Cory Satterfield about attracting more applicants.
“I have talked to Cory several times to see what else I can do or what things I could have done different,” Mabe said.
Mabe added his search will continue for former coach Nellie Harrington’s replacement until the first day of school. If a permanent coach isn’t in position by Aug. 27, Mabe is confident in having interim coach Vickie DeFrate guide the program for a season.
“We’re still going to look,” Mabe said. “I am comfortable with Vickie as the interim coach. Having the interim tag on her kind of gives me the best of both worlds. If someone comes along and is right for the job, then Vickie will fall back and lead our JV program. If not, then Vickie may be the right person for the job.”
DeFrate, the junior varsity coach for two seasons, was named as the interim coach soon after the school announced Harrington’s departure to lead the players through their summer workouts.
“It’s been going well, we have had a good turnout,” DeFrate said. “We have been working on our fundamentals and getting a lot of scrimmage games in so the girls can play.”
Last year, DeFrate led the JV squad to a 13-5 overall record and an 8-2 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
“We hope it works and we all look like geniuses,” Mabe said. “Vickie has a lot of potential. If she is going to coach the varsity, we are going to help her as much as we can with good assistants and a JV coach.”
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@heartlandpublications.com
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