VCHS aiming to hire coaches

Vandebilt Catholic is getting closer to naming a new volleyball and girls’ basketball head coach.

Terriers’ athletic director Laury Dupont confirmed to the Tri-Parish Times this Friday that the school is actively pursuing new coaches for the vacancies within the school.

Dupont said filling each position is the “No. 1 priority” of the school’s athletic department as summer approaches.

“That’s what we’re focusing on right now,” Dupont said. “We won’t say names, but we are interviewing people in both of those positions. It’s our No. 1 priority right now to get quality people to fill both of those teaching positions.”

Dupont said hiring a new coach into the program is more difficult than people realize.

He said that in addition to hiring two new coaches, the Terriers’ administration also has to find qualified teachers with the hires.

“It’s not just the coaching part,” Dupont said. “We have a lot of really good coaches that are interested. A lot of times things don’t work out because of the money, but a lot of times, it’s because of the teaching position, too. They have to come in and be teachers.”

Dupont said that the school’s volleyball position has been open for longer than girls’ basketball.

He said that the school hopes to have each position filled well before school ends in late May.

The reason for that timeline is so that the new coach can hold try-outs and create a plan of action for the summer.

“We’re trying to get this thing wrapped up well before the middle of May,” Dupont said. “We’ve got to get a new person in here because the new coach has got to have spring training. With volleyball, you have your tryouts before the kids go to the break. With basketball, they have like 10 days toward the end of the year where they can work with the kids. We’ll definitely look to have someone in place by then.”

Once completed, the hires will make the beginning of a new chapter in the school’s rich athletic history.

The 2013-14 girls’ basketball season will be the first since the mid-1980s without 27-year-coach Kathy Luke at the helm.

The Hall of Fame coach is being replaced just months after the Lady Terriers were forced to forfeit their spot in the LHSAA Class 4A State Semifinals for using a player deemed ineligible per transfer rules.

The alleged player’s family fought the LHSAA’s initial ruling in a back-and-forth battle that reached its climax with Vandebilt being ousted from competition less than 30 minutes before their scheduled tip-off in the semifinals.

Sources close to Vandebilt athletics have stated that the school did not support the week-long court battle and would have preferred to accept the LHSAA’s initial forfeiture penalty.

Luke was not named in the lawsuit. But her husband, local attorney Jay Luke, defended the accused player in the proceedings.

Dupont offered no indication whether Luke resigned from her post or was asked to leave.

In addition to the girls’ basketball job, the Lady Terriers will also be replacing volleyball coach Latashia Wise, who spent two seasons running the program.

Prior to coaching volleyball, Wise was an assistant girls’ basketball coach under Luke.

In her two years with the volleyball team, Vandebilt posted two-straight bids to the LHSAA Division III State Semifinals.

Dupont said interviews will continue in the coming days and the school doesn’t have a set timeframe to make the hires besides wanting to have new coaches in place before school lets out.

“We want to get the right person in here before we make a final decision,” he said. “We’re in a hurry, but we’re patient at the same time – we want to get this right.”

VCHS coaches