By: 
The search to find a successor for departed University of Winnipeg women’s basketball coach Tanya McKay is nearing a conclusion and star point guard Kyanna Giles will be among those watching with keen interest.
Giles, who recently helped the Wesmen to an appearance in the U Sports championship game in Kingston, Ont., has a fifth and final year of eligibility remaining and she sounded uncertain about her future Sunday.
“We’ll see,” said Giles. “I don’t even know who else applied or who else could potentially get the job. Having a coaching change is huge because half the people pick universities because of the coach. People don’t like to just play for anybody. So I have to see who the coach is before I decide what I want to do.”
The school’s hiring committee is believed to have whittled a large list of applicants for the job to a short list of three candidates, which believed to include Wesmen assistant coach Alyssa Cox.
Athletic director Dave Crook said a hiring decision was not imminent.
TREVOR HAGAN/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Pictured is Manitoba Bisons’ forward, Allison Balasko, left, who is guarded by Winnipeg Wesmen, Amy Ogidan, left, and Alyssa Grant. The U of W hiring committee is believed to have whittled a large list of applicants for the coach’s job to a short list of three candidates.
“We have to finalize a candidate and then hopefully they accept the contract,” said Crook. “We’ve started the process and we’re just trying to work our way through it.”
Giles said speculation she would would retire is premature.
“The answer depends on who gets a coaching job and if I decide if I want to play or not, to be honest. I’m going to be real, right?” said Giles, noting Cox would be a good choice to head the program. “Because I can’t just play for anybody and I don’t think people understand that concept.”
McKay, a native of Sackville, N.S., stepped down from her position following a 70-48 loss to the Ryerson Rams in the gold-medal game at the national championship on April 3. She accepted the head coaching position at Dalhousie University in Halifax and said she was changing jobs to be closer to her family.
McKay, who began her U of W career in 1986 as a member of the Wesmen women’s team, accepted the head coaching position in 1996 and had only six losing seasons over the next 26 years. She left as the winningest and longest-tenured head coach in program history.
mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @sawa14
Mike Sawatzky
Reporter
Mike has been working on the Free Press sports desk since 2003.
