While an experienced coaching resume, collegiate playing background and strong local ties were some of the characteristics Trinity High School was looking for in its next girls' basketball coach, athletic director Ed Dalton said finding someone who would commit themselves to the Hillers' program was the top priority in selecting the proper candidate.

Trinity believes they didn't have to compromise anything when they hired Jackie Kotchman.

"Our No. 1 thing now is our girls need some stability," Dalton said. "It was important we found someone who wants to be here for a while. We do have a pretty good run of talent coming up right now.

"[Kotchman] has a great history here. She was a great player here, and she's been involved in our youth league for a long time. She played at Ohio U and has collegiate coaching experience. She's kind of got the whole package."

Kotchman, the former Jackie Bonus, played for Trinity in the late 1970s and early '80s. She went on to a stellar career at Ohio University and, with her ex-husband, Rob Phillips, started the women's basketball program at Waynesburg University.

Perhaps most important to Trinity, however, were her more recent ties to the school and Hillers' basketball program. Kotchman has two daughters enrolled in the district (one, Ally Phillips, will be a senior on the team; the other will be in fifth grade) and for more than a decade has been involved in youth developmental basketball programs at Trinity.

"I think whether or not I had kids in the program, I would be committed to the program," Kotchman said. "It is my alma mater. I know how strong Trinity was when I played. We were Quad-A back then, too, and playing against Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon and we were always competitive. I would just like to see Trinity girls' basketball get back to that point again and stay there.

"The instability with coaching, any team that goes through that kind of turnover is going to suffer. I definitely am looking forward to being there over the long term."

There has been a coaching change during each of the past three offseasons at Trinity. Jim Webb had coached the team for seven years but resigned for family reasons after the 2006-07 campaign. His replacement, Becky Siembak, coached for only one season, and Webb was brought back on an interim basis for last season.

Kotchman said being the head coach of the varsity team means she's in charge of the entirety of Trinity girls' basketball throughout the district. "I look at it as a whole program, K through 12."

Kotchman studied coaching while at Ohio U, and one of her primary mentors was men's basketball coach Danny Nee. Nee went on to coach at Nebraska, Robert Morris and Duquesne.

"He was a big John Wooden fan," Kotchman said. "My philosophy has always been how important fundamentals are. I think as kids get older, some coaches get away from fundamentals.

"We need to be stronger, improve our conditioning and fitness and pretty much have to work on everything. It's a great group of girls at Trinity who are really committed to getting better. They work hard. We have 6:30 a.m. open gyms ... I think if you show up at that time, you're pretty committed."

Kotchman said a realistic goal for her initial season is for the Hillers to be at least .500 or better in Section 4-AAAA play.

That won't be easy. Dalton called the Hillers' section "probably the toughest girls' basketball section in the state," and he might have a point.

The section contains Mt. Lebanon, which just completed a 31-0 PIAA championship season, Bethel Park, which went 21-3, and Baldwin, which went undefeated in games against non-section teams and was knocked out of the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs by Mt. Lebanon.

Trinity likely won't have to contend with that gauntlet for long. Dalton said the program is expected to drop to Class AAA for the next PIAA enrollment cycle and appears as if it will remain at that level for years to come.

"Once that happens, our coach will get pretty smart," Dalton quipped.

Kotchman admitted the team would have a better chance of success in Class AAA but wasn't willing to concede that it couldn't be a winner if it happens to stay in Class AAAA.

"If we do move to Triple-A, we can make an immediate impact in one of those sections -- and even have a chance at a section title," Kotchman said. "It's going to be a little tougher in Quad. But if we stay in Quad, all that means is we'll have to work to get better."