More departures for women’s basketball team

Two more have left the Central Michigan women’s basketball team.

Assistant coach Bill Ferrara left CMU last week to become an assistant coach for the Hofstra women’s basketball team.

CMU Athletic Director Dave Heeke confirmed the move over the weekend.

“Bill had the opportunity to become a top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Hofstra and took it,” Heeke said. “Anyone who knows Bill knows he wants to become a head coach one day and this is just a natural step in the process.”

Stephen Gorchov, associate director of athletics communications at Hofstra, would not confirm the signing when reached for comment on Tuesday, but did say an announcement is forthcoming.

On May 18, Ferrara tweeted on the CMU women’s basketball Twitter account: “Thank you CMU for 3 great years. Courtney and I will always cherish our time with all of you. Fire Up Chips!”

Heeke said the interview process for a replacement assistant is set to begin this week.

Ferrara spent three seasons as an assistant at CMU under head coach Sue Guevara. He joined the Chippewas in May 2007 after working as the video coordinator for the Auburn women’s basketball team, where Guevara served as an assistant.

A big proponent of the run-and-gun style of play, Ferrara was put in charge of the offense for the 2008-09 season. That year, CMU finished 18-14 while averaging 78.3 points per game, good for fourth in the nation.

He served as the team’s recruiting coordinator last season and helped land Crystal Bradford (Inkster High School) for the 2011 recruiting class. Bradford is ranked No. 29 in the nation according to espn.com.

“We don’t see it negatively impacting the recruiting process,” Heeke said. “He did have a big impact in that area but with Sue’s reputation as one of the best, we think we’ll be fine.”

Guevara declined to comment until after the search for a replacement is over. Ferrara could not be reached for comment.

Another player leaves

Cheritee Green has also left the CMU women’s basketball team.

The 6-foot-2 sophomore transferred to Saginaw Valley State University following last season.

“The coaching staff is great, the school is great and my teammates were great,” Green said on Monday. “(I know) I did play, but I’m a hard worker and my coaches know I’m a hard worker. I just didn’t want to sit and wait until the end of a game to play.”

Green averaged 8.3 minutes while playing in nine games as a redshirt freshman last season for the Chippewas. She scored two points, grabbed seven rebounds and had two blocks in the team’s 84-75 upset win against Louisville on Dec. 2.

Green said Guevara was very helpful in finding her another place to play, even calling SVSU head coach Shannon Baugh.

“My thing was I wanted to go to another D-1 school, but I didn’t want to sit out another year,” Green said. “I really did enjoy my time at Central Michigan. I appreciate everything they did for me, but I’m ready to play.”

She also considered Wayne State, Grand Valley State, Aquanis and Davenport.

Green’s departure marks the third player to leave the team following the 2009-10 season. Central Michigan Life first reported last month that freshman guards Rachel and Stefanie Mauk, citing unhappiness, decided to leave CMU following the team’s exit from the Mid-American Conference tournament in March.