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The Alaska Nanooks are now looking for more than just a women’s assistant basketball coach.

Suddenly, they need to hire a new men’s second-in-command after Adriaan Wakefield unexpectedly resigned last month after just one season in the post.

Wakefield, in a statement sent by e-mail on Monday, cited a “family decision ... for personal reasons” as the cause for stepping down.

“I wish I could be with the team but (my wife and I) made a family decision to move and hopefully it works out well for everyone,” Wakefield said.

Wakefield, 27, married Leila Elshakshir early this summer and the couple soon plans to move to the Seattle area, where Wakefield is from.

“We recruited a great class and I will be excited to watch them when they come down to Seattle to play,” Wakefield said.

Prior to being named the top assistant to new coach Clemon Johnson last June, Wakefield served one season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Nanooks.

Johnson said Monday that he was “devastated” when he learned while on a recruiting trip in the Lower 48 that Wakefield would be leaving.

“All of a sudden, I had a phone call. That caught us off guard,” Johnson said. “After I heard that, my next move was to notify my superior (athletic director Forrest Karr) and then start notifying players.”

None of the seven incoming recruits have changed their mind about playing for the Nanooks in 2008-09, Johnson said.

As for Wakefield’s replacement, the Nanooks plan to post the position “probably early next week,” Karr said Tuesday. The advertisement will be external, meaning anyone can apply, he added.

The Nanooks may not have to look far for Wakefield’s replacement, however.

Johnson said current volunteer assistant Jocquis Sconiers, a former Nanook guard whom Johnson has already given considerable responsibility, is a viable candidate.

“In my eyes, Jocquis is the best candidate for that position, but once again I’ll go through the process. I’ll look and see who is available,” Johnson said. “But yeah, in my eyes Jocquis is (the) No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 (candidate).”

The relatively late notice from Wakefield is not a concern, Johnson said.

“Practice is a month away. We still have time to recover,” he said.

The women’s job, to replace former assistant Laura Gonsalves, is likely to be filled first, and three applications have so far been received, Karr said.

Phone interviews could be conducted as early as Thursday or Friday with a hiring possible shortly thereafter, new women’s head coach Darryl Smith said Monday.

Smith’s initial priority after being hired to replace Lynne Andrew on July 1, however, was trying to fill five available scholarships.

“I needed to be on the road and I needed to sign kids,” Smith said.

In that department, Smith has good news to report: he landed verbal commitments that he expects will soon become official.

“I signed five kids from California within two weeks,” the native of San Jose, Calif., said.

Now Smith will shift his focus to finding his right-hand man — or woman.

“I’m going to hire the best person for the job,” Smith said when asked whether he has a gender preference for the assistant. “If that happens to be a female, that’s advantageous to us.”

Smith is the first male head coach for the Nanooks women’s basketball team since Joe Tremarello from 1990-1994.

Meanwhile, three other former Nanooks coaches have landed new jobs this summer.

• Frank Ostanik, Alaska’s men’s coach for three seasons before resigning amid controversy in May 2007, has landed at Monroe Catholic High School, where he will be the varsity boys basketball coach and athletic director. Ostanik spent the 2007-08 prep season coaching the junior varsity at Eielson High School, his alma mater. He was hired for the new jobs at the rival Class 3A school in May.

Ostanik’s son, Win, attends junior high at the private school located near downtown Fairbanks.

Ostanik replaces Gary Drexler, who spent 17 years at Monroe.

• Rich Mendoza, a former assistant of Ostanik’s, is the new head coach at College of the Redwoods, a junior college program in Eureka, Calif.

Mendoza spent last season as an assistant at San Francisco State after three years with the Nanooks. Before that, he was an assistant at Humboldt State University, located in Arcata, a virtual stone’s throw from College of the Redwoods.

• Al Sokaitis, Ostanik’s predecessor at the Nanooks helm, last month was named head coach of the Anchorage-based expansion Alaska Dream of the American Basketball Association.

Sokaitis resigned in 2004 after eight years leading the Nanooks. He was also among five finalists for the Nanooks’ women’s head coaching position.

Former Nanooks Justin Bourne and Andrew Smith intend to try out for the Dream, the Anchorage Daily News reported Saturday.

Lastly, few people are likely aware that a college basketball coaching legend passed through Fairbanks recently, none other than Bobby Knight.

The controversial former coach, who earned most of his NCAA-men’s record 902 wins at Indiana University, retired Feb. 4 from Texas Tech (his son Pat took over).

Knight, an avid hunter and fisherman, flew to Fairbanks in late July and spent a night here before joining a group of Alaska basketball coaches for a fishing trip south of Fairbanks.

Knight had never been to Fairbanks before but coached teams at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage three times. Despite a rainy visit, Knight reportedly plans to return for more fishing in the future.

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 459-7591.