Sheahon Zenger wants to get it right, even if that means the naming of Kansas University’s next women’s basketball coach might not happen for another fortnight, even longer.

Zenger and his chief lieutenant in the search, senior women’s sports administrator Debbie Van Saun, have confidence that interim head coach Katie O’Connor can keep things running smoothly, including keeping recruits committed, until a decision has been made. A half dozen people from the athletic department and a few trusted donors have had input during the search for the right person, not for a specific profile.

“Anything from BCS head coaches to top assistants to mid-major head coaches to small-college head coaches to junior-college head coaches,” are being considered, Zenger said.

KU’s athletic director won’t be attending the women’s basketball Final Four in Tampa, Florida, where most of the nation’s head coaches and assistants will assemble to network, party and watch the four No. 1 seeds play. That doesn’t mean Zenger won’t have spies he can call for the skinny on candidates.

Zenger said that ideally, he would like to have a coach named by the third week of April, but called that a “soft target,” that could change in either direction.

In some ways, finding the right women’s coach can be a trickier challenge than in the men’s game, where coaches tend to bring their success from one region of the country to another.

For example, in her final 10 seasons at Duke, Gail Goestenkors took the Blue Devils to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 every season, made it to the Elite Eight seven times, the Final Four four times and the title game twice. In five seasons at Texas, Goestenkors had one winning Big 12 record and never finished higher than fourth. Bonnie Henrickson couldn’t duplicate the success she had at Virginia Tech during her 11 seasons in Lawrence.

Playing in the shadow of and same building as such a popular men’s basketball program also brings a wrinkle to the job. Any candidate who might resent the disparity of interest need not apply. A feel for Kansas certainly would be a plus.

College administrators don’t think having a coach armed with a personality that sparks a program largely ignored by the public is an important element. They think winning cures all. They’re wrong about that. Sure, it starts with the winning, but if those victories are followed by boring breakdowns of X’s and O’s, that’s no way to market to the masses.

The job is appealing enough to attract a winner.