The search for the new UNA women’s basketball head coach and assistant coach has begun, with Terry Fowler and Daniel Presel both officially taking positions at the University of South Alabama.

Fowler and South Alabama made the decision final on Wednesday at a 2 p.m. press conference in Mobile.

“I am so excited to be here,” Fowler said. “Mobile has always been home for me.”

UNA Athletic Director Mark Linder said he received a text message from South Alabama’s athletic director Joel Erdmann saying that USA was pursuing Fowler as their head coach on Thursday, April 11. Linder said he and Fowler spoke the same day.

Fowler said he was in Mobile for the interview on Friday. Linder said he and Fowler had a meeting on Sunday, where Fowler informed Linder that he was leaving

“I don’t think (him leaving) surprised me, but I don’t think Terry went out looking for it either,” Linder said. “So when Joel (Erdmann) reached out and told me, I had a hunch that (Fowler) would be leaving.”

Linder said he has nothing but good feelings toward Fowler and his choice to depart from the university he has been with for seven seasons.

“I wish him the best; he is a good man,” Linder said. “I am going to miss him around the hallways. He is a team player. He always shared his beliefs with me in a very professional way.”

Linder said he is ready to see the program move on to the next step, which involves a young core.

“I am excited; we have a great program right now,” he said. “We have 20 wins from last season, which I think is kind of a benchmark for success in basketball. And we have nine returners and eight of them are freshman or sophomores. Their coach is going to inherit a program that is not completely depleted, so that is good.”

The success of the program is what Linder said makes him think UNA has a great opportunity to find a good coach.

“There is a silver lining to it – whenever you have coaches come and have the opportunity to pursue the Division-I ranks, that is good for them and good for (our) program,” Linder said.

The last five coaches that have left UNA have left for Division-I programs, Linder said.

“They are saying ‘my aspirations are to get to Division-I and be a head coach. North Alabama might be the right fit for me,’” he said. “So it gives us quality candidates because of it.”

The search for the new coach began on Tuesday, April 16, Linder said.

“We are trying to get everything posted, so we can meet all of the state regulations and have it posted for seven days,” Linder said. “We have to put a committee together, and we have already received some resumes.”

As far as recruiting goes, Linder said this is the worst time for a coaching change because the signing period began April 17 for recruits.

“We had one scholarship that was accepted and I think that is still secure,” Linder said. “We had one offer that was out for an official visit last weekend and I believe that we are still in the ballpark with that recruit.”

Integrity and character, the ability to recruit and the history of success are the three core values the UNA athletic department uses to hire coaches, Linder said.

“We will continue to make those a staple in our program,” he said. “We are really fortunate to have some really good head coaches around here.”

Linder said he understands how the business works in college coaching.

“When you hire the right ones, they have the opportunities to move on and we don’t have any hard feelings,” he said.