Aug. 2, 2007

By Charlene Curtis
theACC.com

Have you ever wondered who are all the people dressed in street clothes on the team's bench? Some are coaches. One or two may be injured players. Others are sports medicine staff, often called athletic trainers and team doctors. One person may be the team's strength and conditioning coach. There may be a student manager or two keeping stats and giving out water and towels. One may be the team's equipment manager. But who are the others not dressed in uniforms?

According to NCAA rules and regulations, Division I women's and men's basketball programs are limited to four coaches who "participate (in any manner) in the coaching of the intercollegiate team in practice, games or organized activities directly related to that sport, including any organized staff activity directly related to the sport." So who are the other people who occupy space in the women's basketball office and on the team bench?

Those in the collegiate basketball arena fondly call these people DOBOs, i.e. Directors of Basketball Operations. The DOBO position is relatively new to collegiate athletics. Most programs had some type of administrative assistant, secretary, or graduate assistant who handled the non-coaching administrative-type duties. The Director of Basketball Operations position was created as a result of the demands and expectations of Division I basketball.

Let's meet five of the ACC's Directors of Basketball Operations

Miami's Rachel Sander does pretty much anything and everything for the women's basketball program.

Rachel Sander, Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Miami, is a graduate of the Hurricane Rowing Team. She served as an administrative assistant for the Rowing program prior to becoming the DOBO for Coach Katie Meier's program. Kanetra Queen, whose official title is Assistant Athletics Director for Basketball Operations at Clemson University, was a four-year letter winner on the Clemson Lady Tiger basketball team. She has both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson. Robin Pate has been with the N. C. State women's program for over 15 years and has served in a variety of roles. He was a student manager as an undergraduate, a graduate assistant coach while attending graduate school and an assistant coach. He is the beginning his 10th season as Director of Basketball Operations. Like Pate, Jill Jameson of Virginia Tech has served her program in a variety of roles. Jameson was a graduate assistant coach at Virginia Tech before serving two years as an assistant coach. She also coached seven more years at the college level before returning to the Hokies as Director of Basketball Operations in 2004. New to the ACC this season is Rhet Wierzba of the University of Maryland. Wierzba's background includes a short career as a professional basketball player in Mexico and Canada, one year as an assistant coach while completing his graduate studies, and two seasons as the Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Evansville before joining the Maryland staff in May.

What are their roles and responsibilities?

Here Clemson's Kanetra Queen is serving as the emcee of the team's annual banquet.

"My role is to simply allow coaches to coach and recruit." That's how Clemson's Queen describes her responsibility to the Lady Tigers program. DOBO responsibilities include a variety of administrative tasks such as arranging team travel, scheduling practices at home and on the road, assisting opponents with travel arrangements and practice times, and organizing and running very popular summer camps.

In the past, these responsibilities were filled by the coaching staff. Now, coaches are able to "shift their focus to recruiting, player development, and game coaching," says Maryland's Wierzba.

Jameson says she has the "best of both worlds." As a former coach, Jameson says she enjoys her involvement with the team. She enjoys organizing and planning and believes she is still "a difference maker" in the Hokies program even though she is not on the court actually coaching the team. Jameson gets her "basketball fix" in the summer organizing and running the summer camps.

Rhet Wierzba joins Maryland's staff this season.

" Miami's Sander brings her experiences as a Miami student-athlete to the relatively new Miami staff. She says the Director of Basketball Operations role is "dependent on the head coach's view of the position." When asked to define her responsibilities, Sander replied, "anything and everything" that helps make the program run smoothly including serving as the liaison to the team's academic advisor, alumni office, and marketing department. She also coordinates community service activities for the team members.

Queen echoes Sander's sentiments about her value as a former player for her university. Queen "knows the challenges (academic, athletic, and cultural) of being a student-athlete." She explains, "I know the environment. I understand the temptations and the opportunities that the student-athlete faces. And I see myself as a role model."

Jill Jameson views her role at Virginia Tech as the "good cop."

DOBOs often serve a role that goes undetected by the casual observer. Jameson describes it as the "good cop" role. Queen calls it "having a finger on the pulse of the players and being a resource for the players outside of practices."

So, whether it is arranging charter flights, buses, hotels and meals for team travel, supervising team managers, double-checking study hall attendance, speaking to booster club members and alumni, or organizing and running summer camps, Directors of Basketball Operations perform an important role for ACC women's basketball programs. They may work behind the scenes, but in reality DOBOs ensure that the day-to-day operations of a basketball program are performed seamlessly - like a well-executed fast break.

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Charlene Curtis is a women's basketball analyst for Fox Sports Net and ESPNU. She is a former head coach at Wake Forest, Temple, and Radford and was an assistant at Virginia, Georgetown, and Connecticut. She also served as an assistant with the WNBA's Charlotte Sting and several USA Basketball Teams. When not analyzing the game, Curtis can be found instructing future collegiate players on the hardwood.

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