UCI’s Adams resigns

Bryce Alderton

Mark Adams has resigned from his post as UC Irvine’s women’s

basketball coach, it was confirmed Tuesday by Athletic Director Bob

Chichester.

“[Chichester and I] weren’t pleased with the direction things were

going and I agreed to resign,” said Adams, who met with Chichester

Monday and whose resignation was effective immediately.

The two also had discussions at the end of last season and during

the fall about the direction of the program, Chichester said.

Adams was in his eighth year with the team, which fell to 0-8

after a 54-48 loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the Big West

Conference opener Tuesday night.

“We were in a situation where we weren’t seeing improvement at a

competitive level,” Chichester said. “Our goal is to have our women’s

basketball team be as competitive as possible.”

Assistant Molly Tuter was named interim coach for the remainder of

the season.

Despite the early-season struggles, Adams said the team played

better than its record indicates.

“We were ahead in every single home game with substantial leads

late in the half, but we could never hang on,” said Adams, a

44-year-old Tustin resident. “I’m disappointed in myself as much as

anything else. These are good kids who can play.

“[Losing] was causing undue stress and just with my family ... I

was looking out for all of that. [Resigning] was the best thing to do

at this point.”

UCI went 86-115 in Adams’ seven-plus years at the helm.

“[The record] isn’t the consistency I wanted,” Adams said. “I felt

like I had [the UCI administration’s] support, but I couldn’t get it

done.”

Adams neither confirmed or denied whether he would like to return

to coaching.

“I need to take some time and think about where I am going to go,”

he said.

Tuter, in her fifth season on the ‘Eaters’ staff, is a 1998

graduate of Arizona State. She served two years as an assistant coach

at UCLA (1998-2000) before coming to UCI.