Touched base late last week with a friend who knows a lot about women’s basketball, asking for an opinion about Jennifer Azzi taking the USF job.

The response…”A horrid hire…”

I’ve perused the USF fan message board, where the many of participants seem less than pleased about their struggling team being taken over by a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame with no previous coaching experience.

And here’s what I have to wonder: have you all lost your minds?

Azzi has more basketball experience in her long career — which includes success in college, overseas, in the WNBA and the Olympics — than most coaching candidates. While the coaches who applied for this job built their resumes on the sidelines, she built hers on the court.

You can’t argue that she knows any less about the game, about strategy, or X’s and O’s.

You can argue that she knows less about recruiting.

But listen to Azzi talk for five minutes and you know she’ll do just fine in the living room. And she’ll hire folks to teach her the ins and outs of the recruiting trail. Here’s guessing she picks it up pretty quickly.

She has an incredible and varied amount of basketball experience, she’s played for a myriad of coaches with different styles, she’s charismatic and there’s two things she’s always been — a winner and a leader.

She will be demanding and inspiring. She will teach the USF players the value of hard work and she will lead by example. Here’s betting she’s got them all on the treadmill and she’s out-running them already.

And she will be a dynamic, compelling recruiter who will almost assuredly be able to bring better players to the Hilltop. She will sell USF as a viable basketball destination.

I think the operating question here isn’t whether it was a good move for USF to hire Azzi, but whether it was a good move for Azzi to take the job? Azzi has had a fruitful career as a motivational speaker, ambassador and spokesperson.

USF, meanwhile, has little to lose here. The Lady Dons have been both bad and irrelevant, which is a deadly combination.

Azzi made USF relevant again the moment she stepped in front of the microphone last Friday. Here’s betting she improves USF’s prospects with some of the local high school basketball talent and she improves the players who are already on campus as well.

Maybe the kids she’s recruiting won’t know recognize her name right off the bat. But they know how to use Google and Wikipedia and that will tell them everything they need to know.

Which is that Jennifer Azzi has the resume, the experience and the drive to make them a better team.

Seattle Storm's Ashley Walker

Here’s the list of West Coast players who are signed to WNBA training camp contracts as of Monday, April 26.

Atlanta

• F Jennifer Lacy, Pepperdine
• F Tatum Brown, Arizona

Chicago

• F/C Cathrine Kraayeveld, Oregon
• G Sami Whitcomb, Washington

Indiana

• F/C Ebony Hoffman, USC
• G Briann January, Arizona State
• G Jene Morris, San Diego State
• G Shay Murphy USC

Los Angeles

• G Karina Figueroa, Long Beach State
• G Noelle Quinn, UCLA
• F Tina Thompson, USC

Minnesota

• G Candice Wiggins, Stanford

New York

• F Nicole Powell, Stanford

Phoenix

• F/C Brooke Smith, Stanford
• G/F Sequoia Holmes, UNLV

San Antonio

• C Jayne Appel, Stanford

Seattle

• F Ashley Walker, Cal
• F/C Devanei Hampton, Cal
• F Heather Bowman, Gonzaga

Tulsa

• F Vivian Frieson, Gonzaga

Washington

• G Alexis Gray-Lawson, Cal
• G Nikki Blue, UCLA

• Jennifer Azzi takes the first coaching job of her career at USF. Read it at Fanhouse.com. http://bit.ly/9TJDo3 #
• Jennifer Azzi is the new head coach at USF. Here's my video interview with her from this morning's press announcement. http://bit.ly/cTnbIZ #
• Oregon State athletic director issues a statement about the exodus in the women's program. http://bit.ly/bahkTe #
• Multiple sources indicate that Jennifer Azzi will be announced as the new USF women's basketball coach on Friday. #
• Two more players leaving Oregon State program. Only six still in Corvallis. Read it at LCH. http://bit.ly/bN981v #

I will add to this list if more folks that I’ve reached out to…

USF coach Jennifer Azzi - USF photo/Shawn Calhoun

Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer:

“Who wouldn’t want to be recruited by Jennifer Azzi?

“Jennifer loves the game. No one I’ve ever met is more passionate about basketball than Jennifer and there is something about being back in the gym, working with student-athletes. USF is a challenge and I think she wants a challenge.

“Experience is just one dimension of being a head coach. She brings a lot of other things and she will surround herself with assistants who will bring recruiting experience and those other things. She has her experience as a player, she is a great teacher, a great motivator and she’s very intelligent. She will learn on the job. She’s not afraid of anything, she’s fearless and that’s what I’ve always loved about her.”

Trisha Stevens Lamb, former Stanford teammate:

“With Jennifer Azzi, USF is getting a proven winner and leader with the passion and work ethic to turn USF into a championship contender. Jennifer has the ability to make everyone around her better and working together for the common goal. Through her leadership, the Stanford 1990 Championship Team embodied the true definition of synergy where the combined efforts far surpassed the sum of the individuals.”

St. Mary’s coach Paul Thomas:

“Welcome to the West Coast Conference. I think all the WCC coaches are working hard to become a multiple-bid league.  Jennifer, having very strong Bay Area basketball ties will help our league become better.  She brings “name” recognition and an attitude about winning.”

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, Azzi’s former US teammate:

“San Francisco has gotten a star in the hiring of Jennifer Azzi…Jennifer is a great X’s and O’s person who knows basketball….She’s a proven winner and tireless worker and I have no doubt that her San Francisco team will reflect her desire and attitude to win. Although this is her first collegiate job, she is a basketball life with a vast playing resume and she will draw upon her life experiences to teach and inspire her team.”

Ted Leland, former Stanford athletic director:

“Jennifer was not only a great student-athlete, but she’s an even better person. This is a great appointment for USF, but an even better appointment for all the women’s basketball student-athletes who will benefit from observing Jennifer as a role model.”

USF men’s basketball coach Rex Walters

“Jennifer has had such great success on the basketball floor at every level, I am excited for the young ladies that will get to play for her. These student athletes are going to get a great example of what it truly takes to be a success both on and off the basketball court.”

Jennifer Azzi was introduced as the USF’s new women’s basketball coach today. This is my video interview with her. Thanks very much to old friend Vern Glenn — KRON’s sports anchor extraordinare — for talking me into letting him hold the camera so I could concentrate on asking the questions.

Oregon State athletic director Bob De Carolis issued a statement Wednesday about the state of the women’s basketball program, following a week in which four players left the program.

Beavers head coach LaVonda Wagner, reached by LCH Wednesday morning by email, said she had ‘no comment’ on the departures. Wagner has three years left on her current contract.

De Carolis said the program will undergo a review, as all programs do after the season ends.

But this isn’t an ordinary season. The Beavers are down to five scholarship players on the roster. Fourteen players have left the Oregon State program since Wagner took over as head coach five years ago. She is 68-85.

This is De Carolis’ statement:

“We have received inquiries recently about the OSU Women’s Basketball program, based on concerns about the transfer requests from several players.

When students transfer out of programs, you are always concerned. Sometimes the concern is for the student and the challenges he or she is personally facing. Sometimes it is for the program itself.  But as you can imagine, each student who is faced with this major decision to stay or transfer is feeling pressures from many areas.  You can never make assumptions or jump to conclusions without further inspection.  At the end of the year, all teams undergo a review and I want to assure you that we are in that process right now with regard to women’s basketball.  I do want to assure all fans, students, faculty, staff, boosters and friends, that I am aware of your concerns and I am examining the status of the program and the welfare of our students.”

The University of San Francisco will announce its new hire as the women’s basketball coach on Friday morning at 11 a.m. and multiple sources indicate that former Stanford All-American and Olympian Jennifer Azzi is the Dons new head coach.

Azzi, 41, is the choice over former USC coach Mark Trakh. Both candidates were interviewed this week by USF athletic director Debi Gore-Mann.

Azzi is still perhaps the most famous name in Bay Area women’s basketball history, leading Stanford to its first NCAA title in 1990. She was also a member of the 1996 Olympic team and has played professionally over season and in both the American Basketball League and the WNBA. She is a member of the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

She has never been a college basketball coach. But what she lacks in coaching experience, she will more than make up for with her vast experience on the court, her legendary work-ethic, her name-recognition to recruits and a long list of leadership and motivational qualities. Azzi knows how to compete and she knows how to win.

Now she needs to inspire some talent to come to the Hilltop, where the program has not posted a winning season since 2001-2002.

Reserve guard Kassandra McCalister became the fourth player to leave the Oregon State program in the last week.

McCalister follows leading scorer Talisa Rhea, leading rebounder Kirsten Tilleman and reserve Kate Lanz out the door in Corvallis. Beavers coach LaVonda Wagner was reached by email on Wednesday morning and declined to comment on the exodus of players from her program.

Wagner has five players remaining on her active roster with two recruits scheduled to join the team next fall.

Candice Wiggins made good use of her time in Greece this season.

Candice Wiggins - Athinaikos photo

Wiggins, the former Stanford All-American, was named EuroBasket’s EuroCup Player of the Year.

She was also named the Guard of the Year and the Import of the Year.

Wiggins is preparing for her third WNBA season with the Minnesota Lynx and has laid a strong foundation with a stellar overseas effort. She averaged 15.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in EuroCup Games. She shot .439 from the floor and .375 from the 3-point line. She had three games of more than 25 points in 16 games.

In the Greek League, she averaged 14.1 points and hit 46.3 percent of 3-point attempts and led Athinaikos to an undefeated record and the league title.

LaVonda Wagner’s roster at Oregon State is down to six.

Sophomore Kirsten Tilleman announced Tuesday that she is leaving the Beavers program.

Tilleman was the team’s leading rebounder and No. 3 scorer.

The Montana native is the third place to leave the Oregon State program in the last week, following Talisa Rhea and Kate Lanz out the door.