For the first time in Greg Byrne's tenure as the Alabama Athletic Director, he'll be looking for a new women's basketball coach.
Kristy Curry spent the past 13 seasons as the Tide's coach before stunningly leaving the program on Tuesday to take the head coaching job at USF, just one day after Alabama was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the 2nd Round by Louisville.
Curry did tremendous work in Tuscaloosa and will be remembered fondly for what she did for the program. Alabama was in rough shape when Curry arrived, and despite limited resources, she leaves the Crimson Tide in a much, much better place than she found it.
With some talent on the roster, highlighted by impressive freshman Ace Austin, this job should attract some strong candidates.
Let's take a look at a few realistic options Byrne would be smart to target.
Greg Byrne should have these Kristy Curry replacements at the top of his list
5. Roman Tubner, Tennessee (Assistant)
Tubner has never been a head coach, but he's a longtime assistant and spent three years on Kristy Curry's Alabama staff before leaving to take a job with Tennessee.
The biggest thing Tubner has going for him is that he's a known high-level recruiter with deep ties to the state of Alabama. Byrne will have bigger names with head coaching experience on his list, but Tubner is an up-and-comer who could end up being a better option than all the others down the road.
4. Madonna Thompson, Shelton State
This is a name you'll hear tossed around a lot, and there is significant community support in Tuscaloosa for Byrne to go right down the road and hire the legendary Shelton State head coach.
Thompson hasn't coached above the JUCO ranks, but her 83% winning percentage and 750+ wins speak for themselves. She is a former Alabama player and was a member of the 1994 Final Four team. She has significant ties to the program and the community and is a proven, consistent winner.
Be all that as it may, Thompson still feels like a bit of a long shot for the job with her lack of experience at this level.
3. Megan Duffy, Virginia Tech
If Byrne wants to go the Curry route and land a sitting power conference coach with a proven ability to win, he could do worse than Virginia Tech's Megan Duffy.
Duffy is a former Notre Dame and WNBA player and has had success at multiple stops as a head coach. Duffy went 44-20 in two seasons at Miami (OH) before moving on to Marquette, where she won 70% of her games while leading the Eagles to three NCAA Tournament appearances in four chances.
She's gone 42-22 in two seasons at Virginia Tech and just led the Hokies to the NCAA Tournament this year and a four-win improvement from year one to year two.
2. Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Fairfield
The only evidence of a basketball search we have under Byrne's leadership is the 2019 search that landed Nate Oats for the men's team. He went into the mid-major ranks to do so, landing Oats from Buffalo. Why mess with success?
One of the most successful mid-major coaches out there right now is Fairfield's Carly Thibault-DuDonis. In four seasons on the bench at Fairfield, Thibault-DuDonis has led the school to a 102-27 record, including three consecutive MAAC Championships and NCAA Tournament berths.
Fairfield is a ridiculous 58-2 in conference play over the last three seasons. It's only a matter of time before the 34-year-old gets a bigger job, and it would be a forward-thinking move by Byrne to go after her now.
1. Chanda Rigby, Troy
Similar to Thompson, Chanda Rigby had a tremendous amount of success at the JUCO level before parlaying that into the Troy head coaching job, where she has continued to find success.
Rigby has been the Trojans' head coach since 2012 and has led the program to 10 20+ win seasons and three berths into the NCAA Tournament. Since 2015, Rigby has never led Troy to a lower than fourth-place finish in the Sun Belt.
She has a proven track record and has significant ties to the state and the entire Southeast region.