HAMDEN - As Roman Owen considered the next step in his basketball coaching career over the past few years, he formulated a mental checklist of attributes a school would ideally possess to entice him to leave a great assistant coaching job to lead a program of his own.
He didn't want to "take over a dumpster fire," because it's difficult in today's college sports landscape to recruit an entirely new roster each season at a losing program.
Conversely, he knew following a coaching legend at a very prominent school would require a lot of extra effort just to step outside of the legend's shadow and establish his own identity for the program.
He was looking for schools whose programs were progressing so he could quickly build a platform that would attract student-athletes on a variety of levels.
In Quinnipiac women's basketball, he believes he's found everything he needs to thrive and make his own mark.
"This place is evolving," Owen said. "They understand what recruiting today looks like. As they were interviewing me, I was interviewing them to find out, ‘Are they serious? Are they really going to give us what we need to do this?' And they are, exponentially."
The Bobcats' success under Tricia Fabbri created a solid foundation, and Owen is confident his success in recruiting during the age of NIL, revenue sharing, and the transfer portal will allow him to build something substantial at Quinnipiac.
Before she retired after 31 years at Quinnipiac, Fabbri was ninth in career victories among active women's basketball coaches who spent their entire career at one school. With a record of 571-363, five conference titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances, she left behind an incredible legacy.
Rather than feeling intimidated following her, Owen feels honored as well as confident that he's in the right place to succeed.
"It is just a different age or time than it would have been following coaches like John Wooden at UCLA or Pat Summitt at Tennessee, because you are not inheriting the same players and the same program with all the same details," Owen said. "I have really tried to study the landscape and identify programs that can have continued success and then asked questions across the country about why they are having success.
"Yes, I am following a legend here, but my former boss at UNLV, Lindy LaRocque, would tell you that pressure is a privilege. It means you are at a place that has opportunity and has the means to be successful. So, I take on that challenge, and I am excited to do it."
During his six years at UNLV, the Lady Rebels were 149-41 with four Mountain West regular season titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances. As the recruiting coordinator, twice he was tasked with signing nine new players to rebuild the roster and maintain the high level of success.
"I love the relationship-building and trying to figure out what a student-athlete is seeking," Owen said. "My job is to help that student-athlete come in as one version of themselves and leave here a better version.
"I enjoy that process of figuring out how I can help people. It is a lot of work and a challenge, but it is exciting to build programs with the people who have the same values and beliefs in terms of what is important to winning."
Both Owen's parents are pastors, and his father is a big-time sports fan. So Owen was carrying around either a football or a basketball from the age of 2, and throughout his childhood he felt like he was always in a church or at a sporting event.
He's learned to combine his faith and his passion for sports through basketball. He became the all-time leading scorer on his college team, Southwestern Christian University, with 2,802 career points.
"I felt early in college that I was meant to make an impact in people's lives, but I didn't know exactly what that was," Owen said. "I was going to a Christian college, I have a bachelor's degree in religion, and I thought at one point I would go into the ministry.
"I also have a master's degree in education, and here I am coaching college basketball. I should have gotten a degree in psychology, because early on in that process, I realized I really wanted to help young people, and I was drawn to staying in basketball."
His goal became to coach high school basketball and teach, but once he started coaching in college, he realized he preferred to do his teaching on the court and not in the classroom.
During his first job as a men's assistant at Oklahoma City University, he impressed an athletic director within his conference with his character, recruiting ability, work ethic and interactions with his players. That AD asked him to become the head women's basketball coach at Mid-America Christian University at age 25.
His passion and success at the NAIA level led Hall of Fame Oklahoma women's coach Sherri Coale to offer him a job as the Sooners' video coordinator so he could experience Division I basketball.
He ran with that opportunity and ultimately became an assistant at Yale (2015-18), Tulsa (2018-19), North Texas (2019-20) and UNLV (2020-26).
Now he feels much better prepared to be a head coach. He loves the responsibility, even if being the guy in charge makes him feel alone at times.
"The weight is on you," Owen said. "It is not a lonely feeling as much as you find yourself alone in your own thoughts, because so many people depend on you. My staff is really my family, people I have known a long time, and I want to get better every day so I can give them my all.
"The same goes for our players. They trust that I am going to help them be successful, and I feel the weight of that a lot, but I am excited to take that on."
Only three players from last year's 27-7 Quinnipiac team - seniors Paige Girardi, Maria Kealy and Ava Sollenne - returned. Girardi, a starter, is the most notable as she averaged 4.2 points and had the second-most assists (88) with a 4-to-1 assist/turnover ratio.
Owen brought in 11 new players and is still trying to figure out who will make the most impact this season He said the Bobcats will feature a fast-paced style like UNLV, averaging 75 to 80 points by playing aggressively, pushing in transition, taking care of the ball and sharing it.
He understands that under Fabbri the Bobcats won 20 or more games in 12 of the last 15 seasons and had at least 25 wins nine times, and he embraces the opportunity to match or improve upon that success.
He won't put a number on how many wins they will have this year, but he expects to be very competitive.
"I respect all and fear no one," Owen said. "I will bring that attitude every day for our team. We are going to compete, and if we work hard and reach our fullest potential, we will have an opportunity to have a lot of success this season."
Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.
This article originally published at Meet Roman Owen, the Quinnipiac women's basketball coach tasked with 'following a legend'.