By JOSH GOFF
UCA SPORTS INFORMATION

Though he searched the nation for the ideal candidate

to complete his women's basketball coaching staff at the University of Central Arkansas, Matt Daniel needed look no farther than his own office suite.

It was there he found Caronica Randle, the former Sugar Bear star who remained around the program as a student worker while finishing her degree requirements after exhausting her eligibility following the 2006-07 season.

"I took quite a bit of time and talked to a lot of different people," Daniel said. "But after searching high and low and visiting with a number of people, I just kept coming back to Caronica. The way she carries herself has been phenomenal to me. She's as professional a young person I've been around in a long time. I'm not afraid to put her on the phone, on the road recruiting or anything else."

Randle, a Forrest City native, will make the switch to coaching following a sterling playing career in which she was a two-time All-America honorable mention, a three-time first team all-conference selection and was the Player of the Year in the Gulf South Conference in 2005-06. She helped lead the Sugar Bears to a Division II national semifinal appearance in 2005 as a sophomore, and two years later guided the Sugar Bears to a second-place finish in the Southland Conference East Division while leading the league in scoring in the school's first year in Division I.

Randle rounds out a staff that includes Tiffany Phillips, who had been with the Sugar Bears for the previous two seasons, and Adrianne Davie, a former standout player at Central Arkansas Christian and Arkansas State.

"I feel like we've assembled a young and energetic staff and that was important to me," said Daniel, the senior member of the staff at 32 years old. "I do things with a lot of energy and I feel like this staff can help relay that to the player personnel we have in place. When I was coming out looking to get a coaching job, somebody had to take a chance on me, and that's what I'm doing with these staff members - and I feel great about it. I feel like they all bring different things to the table in different ways and they'll all be great assets to our program."

"I feel like we have a lot of outgoing personalities and all of us have clicked really well," Randle said. "You can talk to coach Daniel on any level - he's a coach that cares about the players and getting to really know more about them. I think we'll all do great together.

"Of course coach Phillips and I already had good chemistry from the last couple of years, and it's been good getting to know coach Davie. She's cool and really nice - even if she did beat our butts in basketball when we played them at ASU a couple years ago."

 

More Stories from Josh Goff:     · Georgia coach new assistant for UCA women's soccer - 07/16/08     · Former Bears headed north for pro careers - 06/04/08     · Randle returns to UCA as new assistant - 05/08/08     · Former ASU standout joins Sugar Bear staff - 04/12/08     · Marvel wanting to go out with win in finale - 03/08/08

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