Starkey’s first assistant was Division II head coach

New women’s coach Todd Starkey announced what seems to be his top assistant on Friday.

The new assistant, the first announced by Starkey, is Pat Mashuda, who had been head coach at Division II Chowan University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Mashed is someone Starkey has known for 20 years, according to a story from Mashuda’s hometown newspaper.

“It’s a friendship that’s grown over the last nine to ten years and he’s certainly one of my best friends and someone I trust and believe in,” Mashed said in an interview in the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald . “He’s one of the few people I would leave to go work for.”

Mashuda had a 154-176 record in 12 seasons at Chowan. During his time there, the team moved from Division III to Division II. Mashuda’s 2015-16 team was the first in the school’s history to win 20 games and made the NCAA Division II tournament. He coached eight all-conference selections, three freshmen of the year and six conference all-freshman team members.

Mashuda was an assistant at Duquesne in Pittsburgh before he went to Chowan.

The KSU announcement is at http://www.kentstatesports.com/news/2016/5/13/womens-basketball-announces-assistant-coach-patrick-mashuda.aspx.

The Tennessee story is at http://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/2016/05/12/mashuda-leaving-chowan/.

New jobs for O’Banion and 2 of her assistants

Former KSU coach Danny O’Banion landed back at the job she came from — associate head coach at Memphis. She had worked with the coach there since her time at Minnesota.

Geoff Lanier, O’Banion’s top assistant, was hired as an assistant coach at Cincinnati.

Krista Beechy, director of basketball operations, has become an assistant at Furman.

As far as I can tell, Kylene Spiegel and Keith Gwynn, O’Banion’s other assistants, haven’t landed anywhere yet.

O’Banion’s contract wasn’t renewed after she went 21-98 in four years at Kent.

No apparent roster changes

The roster on KSU’s website is still the same as it was at the end of the season. There were no seniors on the 2015-16 team. O’Banion had only one incoming freshman, second-team all-state guard Ali Poole of Carrollton High School.

There were 14 scholarship players at the end of last season. The NCAA maximum is 15.

A 2013-14 walk-on, rising senior Lacy Miller, earned a scholarship last season. She played only three minutes, and I don’t know whether the scholarship was a one-year deal. A 2015-16 walk-on, point guard Paige Salisbury, made 12 starts and played more minutes than five scholarship players.

All scholarships are officially year to year, so Starkey will be making some decisions on that front.

Changes on the website can trail reality at this time of season. The roster listing, for example, still includes O’Banion and her staff, and Starkey is the only coach listed in the “coaches” tab on the site. But I haven’t seen any rumblings on Twitter indicating anyone is leaving, and team members are pretty active on social media.

Teams can practice on a limited basis when summer school starts in June. We’ll have a clear idea of the roster then.

I hope to have lunch with Starkey in the next few weeks and will post updates if possible.