ORONO – In Chapel Hill, N.C., Ann Hancock is an assistant coach of one of the nation’s most powerful women’s basketball teams: the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

Hancock didn’t have to look very far on Thursday to find a way to explain why she’s actively seeking the vacant head coaching job at the University of Maine.

“The University of North Carolina is a very popular school for athletics, but I don’t think we’ve ever had this many people at a [women’s basketball] press conference,” the 29-year-old Hancock said, eyeing a sizeable throng and staring down three TV cameras.

Hancock was the third applicant to meet the media in Orono, and the second in two days. James Madison assistant Sharon Versyp visited Orono on Wednesday, while Joanne Boyle came to town last week before removing herself from consideration.

UMaine Director of Athletics Suzanne Tyler, who heads the search committee that is looking for a successor to Joanne Palombo-McCallie, said her panel will meet again on Friday afternoon and discuss what they’ve seen thus far.

Tyler said several other constituent groups will be submitting comment forms that will help in the selection process and help determine the committee’s next move. She said none of the 30 remaining applicants has been removed from consideration, and all have been told they’ll be notified of their status.

“We have other candidates that we might like to see,” Tyler said, while admitting that a landslide of committee approval for either Versyp or Hancock could end the search immediately.

“This week went well, but we’ll have to see,” Tyler said.

Still, Tyler said the chance of a new coach being introduced to the public in the immediate future is unlikely.

“I’m meeting with the team, and I’m meeting with the president over the weekend, so there’s a lot to be done before we are prepared to select and negotiate, and then later, announce [a new coach],” Tyler said.

On Thursday, Hancock made her bid to become that coach, and said her eight years at UNC – which include a national championship in 1994 – have made her eager to assume control of her own program.

“I believe that those experiences have prepared me to be a head coach,” said the Elizabethtown, N.C., native, who played collegiately at Wingate (N.C.) University. “I think I’m ready to take that next step and I think that Maine would be the perfect place for me.”

Hancock said that coaching in North Carolina, where Duke, N.C. State, Wake Forest and numerous pro teams compete for fans, makes the atmosphere in Maine attractive.

“The University of Maine is the only show in town. That’s something that I’m not used to,” she said, pointing out that UMaine actually draws more fans to women’s hoop games than the Tar Heels do.

Hancock said she knows how to win, and pointed out that in her entire athletic career, she’s only been associated with two losing teams.

“The first one was the first year of baseball in the third grade,” Hancock said. “The other one was in 1994-95 [at UNC] when Marion Jones, the fastest woman in the world right now, chose to redshirt so she could train for the Olympics.”

Hancock on other issues:

On Maine’s location at the edge of the basketball map: “It wasn’t a problem for Joanne and the staff that was here before. Remoteness is all relative, I guess. … I recruited a player two years ago where the closest grocery store was 17 miles away. That’s what I consider remote.”

On the difference in recruiting at Maine after convincing some of the nation’s best players to attend UNC: “You may make the initial phone call to the same players and see if they’re interested at all [in Maine]. I think if you can convince somebody to come and take a look at the University of Maine, then you have a legitimate chance.”

On why Maine should hire her: “One of the biggest things is, I want to be at Maine. I really like what I’ve seen so far.”

On goals for UMaine women’s basketball: “Continue the tradition of not just going to the NCAA tournament, but advancing.”