Callan, Thibault Make Big East’s “Chalk Talk” Team

The Big East has put together a compelling  lineup for its first “Chalk Talk,” the town hall meeting it will sponsor the night of the Big East’s semifinals – March 5 – at the XL Center.

According to Danielle Donehew, the associate commissioner of the Big East, a number of major figures from the world of women’s basketball will participate in a 90-minute question and answer with fans who won tickets through a lottery on the Big East’s website.

The event will be moderated by the Big East’s LaChina Robinson, one of the network’s television  analysts.

It will include:

Val Ackerman, Founding President of the WNBA, US Representative to the International Basketball Federation, Adjunct Professor of Columbia University

Renee Brown, Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations, WNBA

Carol Callan, Women’s National Team Director, USA Basketball

Kathy Meehan, NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee, Associate VP for Athletics/SWA, St. John’s University

Carol Stiff, VP Programming & Acquisitions, ESPN

Mike Thibault, Head Coach, Connecticut Sun

“I was very excited that they all said yes to our invitation,” Donehew said Wednesday. “All of them have a heart for the game. I hope it’s something the fans will enjoy and take home something important from.”

On another topic,  Donehew  expressed a sense of relief that the Big East regular-season championship likely will not be decided by a coin flip on Feb. 27.

Notre Dame’s loss to West Virginia essentially eliminated a scenario on course to fruition had UConn defeated the Irish at the XL Center in  the final game.

If Notre Dame and UConn both finished the Big East season 15-1, with their only loss to each other, Big East bylaws would have demanded an immediate coin flip to determine the first seed and the second seed for the tournament.

“We were engaged in a number of conversations, internally and with the schools [about the procedure],’ Donehew said. “But you never want something to go down to a coin flip. I’d much prefer the teams handle the outcome; that they be in control of their own destiny. That’s what we will see now as we approach the end of the season.”

Should UConn and Notre Dame each win out in the conference prior to Feb. 27, the regular-season title will go to the winner.

“It would have only been natural to have the coin flip with both teams present at the XL Center post game,” Donehew said. “But we were still discussing how to do it. But if looks like we won’t have to do it now, so we’ll just put it in the file.

“Am I relieved about [the teams will decide]? Yes.”