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College basketball coaching carousel: 2024 edition


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6 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

I think Pope is actually a really good coach.  No, he hasn't won anything but I believe he will win at Kentucky.  And will continue to beat our coach.  Will he win up to their expectations?  Probably not.

Continuing to beat RT coached Horns teams in conference games is not a high bar... hell ucf and wvu beat Texas this past season.  

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8 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

I think Pope is actually a really good coach.  No, he hasn't won anything but I do believe he will win at Kentucky.  And will continue to beat our coach.  Will he win up to their expectations?  Probably not.

He lost to the worst OSU team in 20 years, a truly awful squad. He’s not a good coach.

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4 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Continuing to beat RT coached Horns teams in conference games is not a high bar... hell ucf and wvu beat Texas this past season.  

I don't know why everything has to be a slight at RT. 

Pope beat several good teams at home this year and then once again accomplished nothing. Somehow Kentucky hiring Pope (0 NCAA tournament wins in 9 years) turned into a bash RT thread who has won 4 NCAA tournament games in the last 2 years. 

Edited by Rickylovesweed
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45 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

I don't know why everything has to be a slight at RT. 

Pope beat several good teams at home this year and then once again accomplished nothing. Somehow Kentucky hiring Pope (0 NCAA tournament wins in 9 years) turned into a bash RT thread who has won 4 NCAA tournament games in the last 2 years. 

Did you mention RT? He’s ass, my dude. 

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Not sure which thread is best for this, decided to drop in here because of Hurley discussions...

"You've got the wrong type of people around the inner circle of your players, they'll sink your program."

 

Back-to-back March Madness champ Dan Hurley: "We spend a lot of time focusing on the parents" in recruiting

By:  ZACH BARNETT     APR 9, 2024

UConn won its second straight men's basketball national title on Monday night, which cemented Dan Hurley as the Next Big Thing in college coaching. 

His Huskies became the first team since 2006-07 Florida to crowned kings of back-to-back Big Dances, but they did so by acheving a level of dominance no one has ever seen. Look at it this way: UConn will enter next March's Big Dance on a 12-game tournament winning streak. One could subtract 12 points from the Huskies' score in all 12 games... and they'd still have a 12-game tournament winning streak.

Unlike Billy Donovan -- who built those Gators teams around a nucleus of four NBA players and then took the Orlando Magic job months later (only to later change his mind) -- Hurley is here to stay. The son of legendary high school coach Bob Hurley and the brother of legendary Duke point guard-turned-Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley, Dan Hurley appears in the college game to stay. The fervor with which he coaches and the culture within the NBA would mix like peanut butter and gasoline. Here in the college sports, we're going to be hearing from Dan Hurley a ton moving forward.

At 51 years old, he's only been at UConn for six seasons. The 2023 team lost three players to the NBA, then got better. Even more rare, Hurley has built UConn without relying on super-blue-chip recruits or the portal. The team that tore through the 2024 NCAA Tournament had only three transfers on its roster. 

In an interview before the game with CBS This Morning, Hurley explained the key ingredient to the culture-building process in Storrs. It starts in the recruiting process with an evaluation of the parents just as much as the player.

"There's measurable talents you have to have -- the height, the speed, the skill set. But we spend a lot of time really focusing on the parents," Hurley said. "Are they going to be fans of their son or are they going to be parents? Are they going to hold them accountable, have an expectation that when something goes wrong that it's not the coach's fault? That their son's got to work harder, he's got to do more, he's got to earn his role."

When pressed on how he evaluates recruits' parents, Hurley said this:

"Have they played on seven different travel teams? Have they transferred to four or five different high schools? When you talk to the parents in the recruiting process, are they constantly complaining about the coaches after a bad game or are you having a conversation where their son has got to do more, got to play harder, he's got to work on his skills. They tell on themselves. They drop hints. You've got the wrong type of people around the inner circle of your players, they'll sink your program."

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23 minutes ago, usmc0331horn said:

I honestly don't think he does. The game has changed and if he doesn't win he's cooked.

UK basketball has always been over the top and he's been in it. I don't think he will win enough but the relationship with Cal was broken beyond repair and the top coaches didn't want to be part of this circus. 

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1 hour ago, John80 said:

At least Mark Pope knows what he's getting into. Billy Gillespie was overwhelmed in addition to being an abusive drunk.

BG had that glazed over look during his introductory PC, didn’t realize the fishbowl he had entered.  Willing to bet for most of those people yesterday was first time ever stepping into Rupp. 
 

3 hours ago, Chopper said:

Apparently not everyone was fired up.

 

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Disappointed Big Z won’t stick around, by all accounts, sounds like he’d flourish under Pope’s Offense. 

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On 4/15/2024 at 12:25 PM, usmc0331horn said:

I honestly don't think he does. The game has changed and if he doesn't win he's cooked.

I'm thinking the guy who won a natty at UK as a player has a pretty damn good idea of what being the coach at UK is like.

Doesn't mean he'll succeed there, but he knows exactly what he's walking in to.

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5 hours ago, 'stache said:

I mean, it’s a fine hire, but the guy here and what I’ve seen elsewhere act like he’s John Wooden reincarnated, and that UK got “owned” or something. No way UK has any interest in this resume. What am I missing? 
 

IMG_3297.png

Young has been on the short list for NBA head coaching positions (Brooklyn, Charlotte, Utah) and there are reports he was offered Brooklyn but turned it down (didn't think it was a good fit/situation). He's the highest paid assistant in the NBA. Players, like Durant and Booker, love him and were supportive of him becoming head coach in Phoenix. 

Pope in 9 years at Utah Valley University and BYU has made it to the tournament twice and had zero wins (lost to lower seeds). He never won the WCC conference or tournament while at BYU. 

Young has a better resume than Pope. Nobody thinks Young is Wooden, but this is a home run hire for BYU and beyond what we have been able to hire in the past, hence the surprise and celebration. 

You have to be a Kentucky fan to not think it's a funny that BYU got a better coach than Kentucky.

 

 

 

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50 minutes ago, Crockett said:

Young has been on the short list for NBA head coaching positions (Brooklyn, Charlotte, Utah) and there are reports he was offered Brooklyn but turned it down (didn't think it was a good fit/situation). He's the highest paid assistant in the NBA. Players, like Durant and Booker, love him and were supportive of him becoming head coach in Phoenix. 

Pope in 9 years at Utah Valley University and BYU has made it to the tournament twice and had zero wins (lost to lower seeds). He never won the WCC conference or tournament while at BYU. 

Young has a better resume than Pope. Nobody thinks Young is Wooden, but this is a home run hire for BYU and beyond what we have been able to hire in the past, hence the surprise and celebration. 

You have to be a Kentucky fan to not think it's a funny that BYU got a better coach than Kentucky.

 

 

 

While Young seems impressive based on what you said, he has practically no college coaching or recruiting experience, and none in the past 18 years.

Tons of great college coaches have been poor fits in the NBA, and the inverse can also be true. I don't think it's a bad hire by any means, but it's also not a sure thing. It's more likely that BYU Basketball remains mildly successful, as they usually are.  

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7 hours ago, MuellerHorn said:

While Young seems impressive based on what you said, he has practically no college coaching or recruiting experience, and none in the past 18 years.

Tons of great college coaches have been poor fits in the NBA, and the inverse can also be true. I don't think it's a bad hire by any means, but it's also not a sure thing. It's more likely that BYU Basketball remains mildly successful, as they usually are.  

This, it’s a good hire, but far from a sure thing.  Pretending they “beat” UK in this thing is so aggy.

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It's fair to wait and see whether Young succeeds at the college level. He's known for player development. Hoping he can recruit well on a pitch of I know what it takes in the NBA and I can help you get there. If he fills out his staff with good recruiters it can be a nice combo. We'll see -- it's fair. 

This does signal a major shift in BYU's approach though. We've always been do more with less and paying below market value. Pope was estimated to be in the 1.5-2 mil salary range, which is near the bottom of the Big 12. We've never hired a coach like this before and never paid this kind of money. It's always been a gamble on a younger up and comer from a smaller school. Pulling someone from the NBA is a big deal for us. It's a sign that we really want to compete at the highest level and different than the mindset we've had before. Danny Ainge and Ryan Smith played big roles in helping to pull this off. 

@'stache, I'm just having a little fun with it. You don't have to be the fun police. 🚓

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23 minutes ago, Crockett said:

It's fair to wait and see whether Young succeeds at the college level. He's known for player development. Hoping he can recruit well on a pitch of I know what it takes in the NBA and I can help you get there. If he fills out his staff with good recruiters it can be a nice combo. We'll see -- it's fair. 

This does signal a major shift in BYU's approach though. We've always been do more with less and paying below market value. Pope was estimated to be in the 1.5-2 mil salary range, which is near the bottom of the Big 12. We've never hired a coach like this before and never paid this kind of money. It's always been a gamble on a younger up and comer from a smaller school. Pulling someone from the NBA is a big deal for us. It's a sign that we really want to compete at the highest level and different than the mindset we've had before. Danny Ainge and Ryan Smith played big roles in helping to pull this off. 

@'stache, I'm just having a little fun with it. You don't have to be the fun police. 🚓

This is all fair. To be clear, my assumption is that Young "succeeds" at least at the historical level that BYU tends to. BYU Basketball seems to have a general floor of "make the tournament" success - although, this has been a tougher assumption the past 10 years. They're in a harder league now with a brand new and unproven coach, so we'll see.

I do agree that this is a more inspiring hire than Kentucky's - from a general program prestige POV.

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22 hours ago, 'stache said:

I mean, it’s a fine hire, but the guy here and what I’ve seen elsewhere act like he’s John Wooden reincarnated, and that UK got “owned” or something. No way UK has any interest in this resume. What am I missing? 
 

If every social media post shared here isn't a bit, I'm also confused.

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5 hours ago, MuellerHorn said:

This is all fair. To be clear, my assumption is that Young "succeeds" at least at the historical level that BYU tends to. BYU Basketball seems to have a general floor of "make the tournament" success - although, this has been a tougher assumption the past 10 years. They're in a harder league now with a brand new and unproven coach, so we'll see.

I do agree that this is a more inspiring hire than Kentucky's - from a general program prestige POV.

It helps when the average age of your players is 27

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