Wisconsin women’s basketball head coach Lisa Stone filled the departed Denise Ianello’s spot as assistant coach and the Badgers’ primary recruiter with former UC-Santa Barbara assistant Tasha McDowell, the university announced Monday.

McDowell acted as UCSB’s recruiting coordinator for the last three seasons, during which the Gauchos recorded a Sweet 16 appearance two years ago and an NCAA tournament appearance in 2004-05. The berth was Santa Barbara’s ninth-straight NCAA appearance.

“She’s just a tremendous talent,” Stone said. “She’s a proven, successful recruiter. Her impact at Santa Barbara … she was at UCSB, [and] they’ve been in the NCAA tournament. [She is] a Midwestern-grown girl who has Midwestern ties. [She is] just a tremendous addition to our staff, fits in great with our players, fits in great with my current staff and [she and I are] able to hit the ground running without missing a beat.”

Ianello left Wisconsin with her husband Rob to relocate to South Bend, Ind. Rob, formerly the tight ends coach for the Wisconsin football team, took a job at Notre Dame under new head coach Charlie Weis as the team’s receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.

“I respect Denise for her decision,” Stone said. “Everything is positive. There really is no negative to any of this. We wish Denise well in her future endeavors; she plans on having another child in the next year. Her husband Rob is a very talented football coach and happiness is key to them, and they are going to be happy and I’m happy for them.”

McDowell has enjoyed success at nearly every stop in her basketball career. As a senior at St. Ambrose University, she averaged 13.4 points, 5.1 assists and 3.6 steals per game and led her team to a 27-7 record.

“She has Midwestern values,” Stone said. “She has similar roots, and I think that has a lot to do [with] it. As far as ties to the Midwest, her family is here, and that means a lot for her. Her ability to go to California and then connect with the West Coast connections are proven, and all she’ll have to do is basically reintroduce herself to the Midwest, but it won’t take long. The Midwestern people already know her.”

Following college, McDowell worked as an assistant at St. Ambrose before moving on to Bradley and Dayton. During her time in Dayton, the Flyers reached the Women’s NIT postseason tournament.

“She’s just very polished, very sharp, very intelligent, very connected, can recruit all styles of student athletes,” Stone said. “I’m just very impressed with her presentation, her ability to communicate, what she stands for — she’s got very strong morals and standards. She believes what I believe in ways of acquiring success, and I’m real excited about Tasha. It’s a tremendous addition for us.”

McDowell will begin work at Wisconsin May 1 and will enter an interesting situation. The Badgers have already signed players for next season, but this summer will serve as a key recruiting battleground for the 2006-07 season, with a number of camps taking place.

“I think, well, immediately, we will get Tasha introduced to the team and to people,” Stone said. “So she’ll start on May 1. She needs to go back for their banquet, we have our banquet, things of that nature. But we won’t miss a beat. … We’ll have her call our players that are coming next year and we’ll get her on the track of the list that we’re working on.”