PANAMA CITY — Roonie Scovel will serve as interim women’s basketball coach at Gulf Coast, the school announced on Monday.
The move comes five days after former GC coach Vernette Skeete accepted an assistant position at Marquette University. Her decision left two of the school’s five athletic teams without a head coach, as softball is still in the process of finding its new leader.
Scovel, who spent 16 seasons at GC until 2012, begins her latest post on Wednesday and will guide the operations of the program amid the search for a permanent replacement. Current GC assistant coach Austin Mefford also is on staff to aid Scovel.
GC Athletic Director Gregg Wolfe said he hopes to advertise for a new women’s coach by next week. He said Scovel, who spent 2013-14 at Walton Middle School, has free rein in her return to the school.
“She has the green light. She will be able to sign kids. We have three spots left,” Wolfe said. “We want to keep this stabilized to keep from losing recruits.
“In most instances I would have no interest in allowing an interim coach to sign players, but if coach Scovel says they’re good enough to come here then we’re signing them.”
Scovel led GC to eight state titles and three national championships. She was 461-60 at GC in a run that also included 13 Panhandle Conference titles.
She stepped down in Feb. 2012 and the court was named in her honor during a ceremony in July that same year. She stayed at GC for one year as coordinator of orientation and advising before returning to the public school system at Walton Middle School where she coached the girls basketball team.
The move to Walton brought the NJCAA Hall of Famer back to her coaching roots when she led Paxton and Laurel Hill. Scovel told the DeFuniak Herald in Sept. 2013 that college coaching was a 24-hour job and she wanted to live in a place with “less travel and not have the constant pressure.”
That said, Wolfe didn’t deny he wouldn’t mind having the talk to bring Scovel back to GC on a regular basis.
“Don’t think that I wouldn’t,” he said. “But I haven’t had any conversation other than she’ll be reporting for duty at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.”
Softball coach search
GC has been without a head softball coach since the Board of Trustees approved a recommendation for non-renewal of Susan Painter’s contract on May 8. Painter has since been charged with grand theft stemming from alleged stealing from players and the school and is due in court on Aug. 5.
Wolfe said the softball position is expected to be officially advertised starting on Thursday. It will be posted for 10 days and he hopes to conduct interviews and decide on a new coach by June 23.
He said he has received 11 informal inquires. He said three of those were candidates he’d like to include in the process. Two of the three have experience as Division I assistants.
The turmoil surrounding the program hasn’t deterred incoming recruits, however. Wolfe said six players signed by Painter have indicated a desire to still attend in the fall.
The starting salary for the new softball coach will be listed at around $50,000. The new hire also can earn a maximum 10-percent increase based on experience.