Bibbs out, Mebane in for Hampton women
Hampton University women's basketball will have a new look this season, but a very familiar face. It was officially announced on September 22 that Walter Mebane will take over as interim head coach for HU women's basketball after the resignation of long-time and legendary head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. Bibbs resigned from her position in early September. 
After having one of the more memorable runs in recent memory over the last two
seasons, gaining back-to-back Mid Eastern Athletic
Conference. Tournament titles (2002-03, 03-04), winning
an outright MEAC regular season championship (2002-03) and sharing the title with
Delaware State University (2003-04), the 20-year veteran head coach
[Bibbs] has decided to call it quits.
"I have really enjoyed my time at Hampton [University]," explains Bibbs. "It was a great place to work, and I can't thank Dr. William Harvey (President at HU) for all of his support towards our program. I want everyone to know that it was just time to leave, and for me to join my family back home in Louisiana. It was a great run, though, and I am really going to miss it."
Bibbs leaves HU after placing herself third
all-time for wins amongst women's basketball coaches.
She leaves HU with a school record of 127-83 over a span
of seven years. Her overall coaching record stands at
371-207, stretching out to an even 20 years of head
coaching experience on the collegiate level.
Prior to joining the women's basketball program, Mebane joined the coaching staff at HU with the men's program as an administrative assistant in 1995. He then joined the women's basketball program as an assistant coach under Carolyn Guton in 1996. He, later, rejoined the women's basketball coaching staff under Bibbs with a permanent position in 1998.
Mebane, a 1987 graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, now becomes the eighth head coach in women's basketball at HU stretching back to the inception of the program in 1975.
"He will be able to relate to the ladies, the recruits we have brought in and the ladies we still have," admits Bibbs. "He will do a great job."
© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.