Bonvicini candidate for coach of the year

UA head coach Joan Bonvicini Arizona Daily Wildcat

Bonvicini, who won the award in 1981 while coaching at Long Beach State, has Arizona a half-game out of second place (9-3) in the Pacific 10 Conference and has guided them to a 19-4 overall record, both all-time highs for Arizona at this point in the seas on.

"I'm real surprised. I'm honored to be nominated, but right now I'm just worrying about our team," Bonvicini said.

With only one senior on the team and two freshmen in the starting lineup, Bonvicini has led the Wildcats into prime position for the school's first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament and first-ever vote into the AP Top 25 .

"I'm not surprised at all," Oregon head coach Jody Runge said. "Arizona is a great team and Joan's got them on the right track."

UCLA head coach Kathy Olivier, who has known Bonvicini for over 12 years, knew that it was only a matter of time.

"I was upset last year when they didn't make the tournament," she said. "Joan has done a wonderful job with that program. If they don't get in this year, something's wrong."

In all 12 statistical categories the conference keeps track of, Arizona is among the top five teams in every one.

"Joan does a great job," said UA assistant coach Denise Dove who has worked with Bonvicini for five years. "The trust she has in her staff, she gives us a lot of responsibility and backs us up all the way.

"She's such a well-known coach. It was just a matter of time before she was nominated here. It's well deserving."

Along with Bonvicini, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer was named to the 10-member list.

Bonvicini has an 89-76 coaching record in her six seasons at UA. She's one of the nation's winningest active coaches with a 414-147 record over her 18-year coaching career.

"I'm happy that Joan is on the list," VanDerveer said. "She's been doing a fine job. Her program is really growing. I thought that after our first meeting her team was a Top 25 caliber team."

Since her arrival in 1991, Bonvicini has literally turned the program upside down. Attendance records have tripled, the team played in its first post-season tournament last season and brought home the National Women's Invitation Tournament Championship tr ophy.

Her intense, vocal coaching style is setting the standard for up-and-coming coaches.

"She's the main reason I started here," Dove said. "I wanted to work for a coach that takes a great deal of pride. It takes special players and coaches to work with her. She has a lot of intensity and tenacity."

Her first true recruiting class in 1992 was ranked seventh in the nation by the Blue Star Report.

Freshman Lisa Griffith, of Portland, Ore., came to Arizona primarily for Bonvicini's style.

"It's an up-tempo game here, which I like," Griffith said. "She expects a lot from us and that is what you want your coach to do. It's worth the work because you know she's going to lead to greater places."

Bonvicini has been part of election committees for the U.S. Olympic Festival, World Championships, Pan American Games, World University Games and the Olympics. She served as the president of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in 1988.

Last summer she coached a group of Pac-10 players in Japan, and in October she was inducted into the Long Beach State Hall of Fame.