After five seasons at the helm, women's basketball coach Pat Knapp will not return in 2010. His contract expired and will not be renewed, Penn Athletics announced last Thursday.
"We are disappointed that we did not attain the levels of success we anticipated," Athletics director Steve Bilsky said in a press release. "We thank Pat for his efforts, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors."
Knapp had previously coached for 18 years at Georgetown, where he did not deal with the same academic, recruiting and scheduling issues faced by a non-scholarship Ivy League program.
Including this season, Knapp compiled a 48-90 record - 28-42 in the Ivy League - leaving his final winning percentage at .348 overall and an even .400 in the Ancient Eight.
Knapp inherited the coaching job from Kelly Greenberg in 2004 directly after an Ivy League championship season but was unable to lead a Penn team to higher than fourth place in the standings.
Besides the team's disappointing winning percentage, there were possible signs of friction between the coach and some of his players over the past year.
Whether due to frustration with the team's on-court performance or other behind-the-scenes issues, forwards Maggie Burgess and Amy Donovan and center Carolyn Miller all quit the team after last season "to pursue other interests."
And following an 83-52 loss to Lehigh in the 2008-2009 season opener, sophomore guard Kim Adams - who was second on the team in scoring and was an Ivy League All-Rookie team selection as a freshman - left the team as well, citing personal reasons.
According to the press release, the search for Knapp's replacement next year is already underway.
