Daily Briefing — March 25, 2022: Sweet Sixteen, coaching changes, and portal entrees galore

But first: We kicked off the Locked On Women’s Basketball/The Next partnership with our Howard Megdal hosting me and Missy Heidrick previewing the Bridgeport and Wichita regional games, respectively!

Watch List, Friday, March 25

(All times in Eastern, all rankings reflect tournament seeding)

Must-watch

#1 Stanford v. #4 Maryland, 9:30 p.m., ESPN

Good games

#1 South Carolina v. #5 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN

#3 Iowa State v. #10 Creighton, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2

Also watchable

#2 Texas v. #6 Ohio State, 7 p.m., ESPN2

NCAA Roundup

Coaching changes

• Texas A&M: Hired Joni Taylor away from Georgia for a well-above-seven-figure salary, the latter per Brandon Sudge of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. My take: great hire.
• Georgia: Reports surfaced that the Bulldogs had lured away Ole Miss head coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin, though some hours later she posted a reaffirmation of her love of Mississippi, so… not so much! UCF head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson has been linked to the opening.
• Florida State: Future hall-of-fame head coach Sue Semrau retired. Assistant Brooke Wyckoff, who coached the team in 2020 when Semrau took time with her family, should be 1,000-to-1 odds as the successor.
• Illinois: Hired Shauna Green away from Dayton. My take: good hire.
• Mississippi State: Hired Louisville associate head coach Sam Purcell to be its next head coach.
• Oklahoma State: Hired Jacie Hoyt away from Kansas City. My take: surprised they didn’t bring in a bigger name. But read a full analysis from our Big 12 reporter, Missy Heidrick.
• Syracuse: We can pretend Buffalo head coach Felisha Legette-Jack isn’t the Orange’s next lead, but who are we kidding?
• Virginia: Hired Amaka Agugua-Hamilton away from Missouri State. My take: good hire. Our ACC reporter, Mitchell Northam, agrees.
• West Virginia: Legendary head coach Mike Carey retired. Boston College head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee has been linked to the opening.

Transfer portal

In the portal:

• Brinae Alexander, off-ball guard, Vanderbilt
• Sarah Ashlee Barker, wing, Georgia
• Aijha Blackwell, big, Mizzou
• Aja Blount, big wing, Coastal Carolina
• Chrislyn Carr, point guard, Syracuse
• Christianna Carr, wing, Syracuse (no relation to Chrislyn)
• Haley and Hanna Cavinder, point guards, Fresno State
• Bella Cravens, big, Nebraska
• Dalayah Daniels, center, Cal
• KK Deans, point guard, West Virginia
• Makayla Dickens, off-ball guard, Boston College
• Lauren Fields, combo guard, Oklahoma State
• Caitlyn Harper, center, Cal Baptist
• Rita Igbokwe, center, Pitt
• Jordyn Jenkins, big, USC
• Morgan Jones, wing, Florida State
• Akira Levy, point guard, Cincinnati
• Tekia Mack, big, DePaul (formerly Rutgers; did not play this year)
• Tenin Magassa, center, Dayton
• Brynna Maxwell, wing, Utah
• Kadi Sissoko, big, Minnesota
• Tomi Taiwo, off-ball guard, Iowa
• Peanut Tuitele, big, Colorado
• Kourtney Weber, off-ball guard, Florida State
• Savannah Wheeler, combo guard, Marshall
• Five players from Idaho State
• Nine players from Wright State
• Nine players from LIU. It’s a situation worth monitoring.

Out of the portal:

• Alyssa Geary: The big out of Providence committed to Indiana
• Rickea Jackson: The big wing out of Mississippi State committed to Tennessee
• Avery LaBarbera: The point guard out of Holy Cross, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, committed to Wisconsin
• Jasmine Powell: The point guard out of Minnesota committed to Tennessee (a little while ago)