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Richmond and Xavier both move on from head coaches

By Blake DuDonis

RICHMOND, VA - MARCH 02: Head coach Michael Shafer of the Richmond Spiders looks on during the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic-10 Women's Basketball Tournament against the Dayton Flyers at Richmond Coliseum on March 2, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. The Flyers won 67-58. Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
RICHMOND, VA - MARCH 02: Head coach Michael Shafer of the Richmond Spiders looks on during the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic-10 Women's Basketball Tournament against the Dayton Flyers at Richmond Coliseum on March 2, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. The Flyers won 67-58. Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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The Big East and A-10 will both have at least one new face on the sidelines next season.

Both coaches have had success over the course of their careers, but both Michael Scafer and Brian Neal will have to find new homes to try and reestablish themselves.

Scafer was let go from Richmond after 14 seasons and a 223-214, the second longest tenure and most wins in program history. This season the team finished with a 9-21 record, the fewest wins in a season since 1985-86.

“We would like to thank Michael Shafer for his hard work and dedication to our university and the Spider women’s basketball program during the past 14 years,” Richmond athletic director John Hardt said. “We appreciate everything he and his family had done for our program, and we wish him the best in all of his future endeavors.”

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After 20+ wins in three different seasons, including a career-best 24-10 mark in 2008-09, the team struggled to maintain those levels of success. Currently on a four-season streak of finishing below .500, the program has only one winning season since 2011-12.

As for Neal at Xavier, things never fully got on the right track after he took over for Amy Waugh, a former Musketeer player herself who Neal was an assistant for when he took over.

“Brian took over our team at a challenging time and we have a lot of respect for Brian and his staff in how they ran our program and the stability they brought,” said Greg Christopher, Xavier’s Athletics Director. “Everyone thanks Brian for his efforts and we appreciate his approach to insuring the young women in our program had a positive experience.”

After winning just eight games in his first season as head coach, Neal led Xavier to 18 wins in year two. In the four seasons since, however, the team has gone just 50-70, a far cry from the levels of success the school believes it should be attaining.

“Basketball is important at Xavier. More specifically, Xavier Women’s Basketball has a tradition and history of success. We expect that our Women’s Basketball team can compete for BIG EAST titles and the postseason,” said Christopher.

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