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College basketball coaching carousel: 2024 edition


Machinator

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11 hours ago, Machinator said:

I honestly don't know why they have a basketball program if they're not willing to pay $4m or whatever to keep Buzz Williams. This whole thing basically says "we want to have a basketball program but we want the wins to be practically free". 

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Just now, SwanderedTalent said:

I honestly don't know why they have a basketball program if they're not willing to pay $4m or whatever to keep Buzz Williams. This whole thing basically says "we want to have a basketball program but we want the wins to be practically free". 

They're still paying $2.2M/year for Mike Young. I think Buzz was getting $2.6M. It makes no sense at all.

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On 4/4/2019 at 1:00 PM, Sbbruin said:

Yes, UCLA has certainly fallen behind Kentucky (although we've beaten them a few times in the last few years), Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, and a couple of others when it comes to consistent success.  I put a lot of that on Guerrero.  He has made numerous bad hires, and fired the one coach who had success (I was soundly against Howland's firing).  Expectations may be unreasonable, but if they don't exist, then the pressure to succeed at the highest level isn't there.  Texas isn't going to be satisfied with a New Year's 6 bowl appearance.  UCLA is not going to be satisfied with a S16 or E8 appearance.  

Is the ghost of J. Wooden roaming the halls scaring coaches from taking the position ?  Or is the ghost of J. Wooden keeping the admin. from setting realistic expectations of it's potential hires ?  

When Shaka turned down the offer while at VCU I was bit surprised.  They had to be offering a better salary package, and a deeper/easier/more fertile recruiting potential.

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2 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Or is the ghost of J. Wooden keeping the admin. from setting realistic expectations of it's potential hires ?  

The ghost of Wooden is misinforming UCLA of what the appropriate expectations for its coaching searches are. UCLA thinks a lot more highly of itself as a destination job than coaches seem to. Similar to Notre Dame, I think-- when was the last time either of them had even arguably the best coach in their sport? One of the three best? 

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2 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

The ghost of Wooden is misinforming UCLA of what the appropriate expectations for its coaching searches are. UCLA thinks a lot more highly of itself as a destination job than coaches seem to. Similar to Notre Dame, I think-- when was the last time either of them had even arguably the best coach in their sport? One of the three best? 

Well ND does maintain it's academic requirements across the boards, if you believe what they've been saying for years (the reason why Lou Holtz left). So ya gotta be a 3.5 student and Catholic.  That's tougher to get than just yer average 2.0 GPA, and any denomination or not will do.

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26 minutes ago, Machinator said:

They're still paying $2.2M/year for Mike Young. I think Buzz was getting $2.6M. It makes no sense at all.

And we are probably going to pay a Mike Young equivalent $3.2M or more in a year or two...If VT wants to stay under $3M, then they are smart to pay the next guy something closer to his experience rather than just saying the VT coach gets $2.6M+ because that what VT pays for its coach.

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8 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Well ND does maintain it's academic requirements across the boards, if you believe what they've been saying for years (the reason why Lou Holtz left). So ya gotta be a 3.5 student and Catholic.  That's tougher to get than just yer average 2.0 GPA, and any denomination or not will do.

it's not a precise analogy but I think fits-- both programs have extremely proud histories, arguably the best in their respective sports, but that doesn't translate into any real advantage in hiring

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46 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I honestly don't know why they have a basketball program if they're not willing to pay $4m or whatever to keep Buzz Williams. This whole thing basically says "we want to have a basketball program but we want the wins to be practically free". 

Is it about pay, or is VT just not a good job?

Prior to Buzz taking them to 3 straight NCAAT, they'd been to one this millennium.    They'd been to 2 NCAAT in 30 years.

He was there for just 5 years and is probably the greatest coach in program history.  Its a crap job in a brutal conference.  

Buzz wasn't going to stay no matter the money.

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7 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

He was there for just 5 years and is probably the greatest coach in program history.  Its a crap job in a brutal conference.  

Buzz wasn't going to stay no matter the money.

Fair, but Tech could have been pickier about how and when they lost him. Losing him to A&M for less than $4m just says (to me) "we don't even really fuckin' care, this guy was gonna leave anyway". That's a terrible attitude and that's why I say I don't even know why Tech has a basketball program. If you're not going to fight that, you're basically saying "we hope we win but we're not going to pay a penny over the going rate to try". 

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6 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

Is it about pay, or is VT just not a good job?

Prior to Buzz taking them to 3 straight NCAAT, they'd been to one this millennium.    They'd been to 2 NCAAT in 30 years.

He was there for just 5 years and is probably the greatest coach in program history.  Its a crap job in a brutal conference.  

Buzz wasn't going to stay no matter the money.

Not a crap job, but hard to recruit kids to go to Blacksburg, in the middle of nowhere.  Not a bad place to live other than winter (basketball season).

You're surrounded by UVA, UNC, Duke, even NC State. All within a 3 hour drive. The Big East schools probably keep VT from getting those N. East corridor kids as well. I think the AD really dropped the ball on this new hire.  He had to know Buzz was gonna be in play, and had all season to be looking for a replacement with a bit more youth and success.

Buzz certainly created a buzz, and was really liked across the state. The next guy is starting with a pretty bare cupboard.

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1 minute ago, SwanderedTalent said:

Fair, but Tech could have been pickier about how and when they lost him. Losing him to A&M for less than $4m just says (to me) "we don't even really fuckin' care, this guy was gonna leave anyway". That's a terrible attitude and that's why I say I don't even know why Tech has a basketball program. If you're not going to fight that, you're basically saying "we hope we win but we're not going to pay a penny over the going rate to try". 

I read reports where VT had  whole presentation set up to show him what all they were going to do for him, pay, facilities, etc and he told them he wasn't even interested in discussing.  

I haven't followed closely but it seems like he was ready to get out and TAM was a job he was very interested in.  I really like Buzz and hate that he's an Aggie now.

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10 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

I read reports where VT had  whole presentation set up to show him what all they were going to do for him, pay, facilities, etc and he told them he wasn't even interested in discussing.  

I haven't followed closely but it seems like he was ready to get out and TAM was a job he was very interested in.  I really like Buzz and hate that he's an Aggie now.

I don't have any inside info. If he absolutely didn't want to stay, then yeah, there's nothing you can do. I just have a hard time believing he wanted the A&M job that badly. 

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52 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Well ND does maintain it's academic requirements across the boards, if you believe what they've been saying for years (the reason why Lou Holtz left). So ya gotta be a 3.5 student and Catholic.  That's tougher to get than just yer average 2.0 GPA, and any denomination or not will do.

I'm gonna call bullshit on this. They may have a high percentage of catholics, but no way it's a requirement.

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13 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I don't have any inside info. If he absolutely didn't want to stay, then yeah, there's nothing you can do. I just have a hard time believing he wanted the A&M job that badly. 

Can't be any more difficult a job than VT. Recruiting has to be easier.

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1 minute ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I didn't say it wasn't better, but I don't think it's a particularly good job. Or to say it another way, I don't think it's nearly the best job Williams could have gotten.

I'd agree. He's a Texas guy though right ??  So going home may have been enough.  He was never gonna win the ACC in Blacksburg IMO. Wonder who else was talking to him ?  Could he have waited till next year for UT maybe ?  

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3 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I’m glad TCU didn’t fold on the buyout. Jamie signed a contract, time to honor your signature. If he really wanted out he could have taken out a loan on his $5,000,000, or more, of salary from UCLA and paid it himself.

Pitt folded on his buyout when he went to TCU.

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57 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I don't have any inside info. If he absolutely didn't want to stay, then yeah, there's nothing you can do. I just have a hard time believing he wanted the A&M job that badly. 

He wanted to get back to the state of Texas badly. Dude flew a Texas state flag outside his home in Virginia the entire time he was there. He did the same thing in Milwaukee. 

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4 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Pitt folded on his buyout when he went to TCU.

Pitt was like good riddance.  There were rumors Dixon was on the hot seat before he took the TCU job. What was the timing between Buzz getting hired at Virginia Tech and Dixon getting hired at TCU? If it was the same summer I wonder if TCU missed an opportunity.

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1 hour ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Well ND does maintain it's academic requirements across the boards, if you believe what they've been saying for years (the reason why Lou Holtz left). So ya gotta be a 3.5 student and Catholic.  That's tougher to get than just yer average 2.0 GPA, and any denomination or not will do.

I know four guys who played ball at Notre Dame. They were not Catholic nor did they have anywhere near a 3.5 GPA.

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14 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I know four guys who played ball at Notre Dame. They were not Catholic nor did they have anywhere near a 3.5 GPA.

That stat was from an old SI article about why Lou Holtz left ND back in the day. He'd managed to loosen up their GPA requirements, and when they tightened them back up (the 3.5 GPA number was reported, along with a few other requirements). He resigned saying they'd never win another national championship again.  The catholic thing was just me being sarcastic.

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23 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

He wanted to get back to the state of Texas badly. Dude flew a Texas state flag outside his home in Virginia the entire time he was there. He did the same thing in Milwaukee. 

Counterpoint: the biggest, nicest house in College Station is still in College Station.

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7 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

That stat was from an old SI article about why Lou Holtz left ND back in the day. He'd managed to loosen up their GPA requirements, and when they tightened them back up (the 3.5 GPA number was reported, along with a few other requirements). He resigned saying they'd never win another national championship again.  The catholic thing was just me being sarcastic.

They are good guys, my friends who played there. They just came from kind of shitty schools and were passed along, like too many athletes, and given grades that they really didn't have to work much to get.

 

One year my buddy Kevin and I were sitting in the stadium as ND opened up with BYU. Two older gentlemen were sitting behind us and they were going over the roster and came to Kevin McDougal and the one said, "look, an Irishman at quarterback", I turned and said, "yes, one of the Black Irish".

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1 hour ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I didn't say it wasn't better, but I don't think it's a particularly good job. Or to say it another way, I don't think it's nearly the best job Williams could have gotten.

If aggy is going to spend the money to compete then it is a good job. They overpay for mediocrity and are in a talent hotbed. The SEC is up right now, but traditionally has been a 1-2 team league (1-2 teams can win it any given year) that is very winnable. If that isn’t attractive then the only attractive jobs in the country are The blue bloods. 

Edited by Jhawk
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4 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

They are good guys, my friends who played there. They just came from kind of shitty schools and were passed along, like too many athletes, and given grades that they really didn't have to work much to get.

 

One year my buddy Kevin and I were sitting in the stadium as ND opened up with BYU. Two older gentlemen were sitting behind us and they were going over the roster and came to Kevin McDougal and the one said, "look, an Irishman at quarterback", I turned and said, "yes, one of the Black Irish".

Heh heh. He was Spanish blood  ?

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Quote

PLAYING CAREER
Sampson competed at Oklahoma from 2004 to 2007. He earned three letters during that time and received the program's Most Inspirational Award and Connection to the Community Award as a senior in 2006.

On the court, he led the Sooners, connecting on 44 percent of his shots from behind the arc as a senior. Off the court, he earned Academic All-Big 12 First-Team honors in 2007.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kellen-sampson-1.html

Scored 36 points in 3 years. 

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it is interesting what looked like it might be a really bad ending to the Big 12 basketball season has turned out to not be so bad

KU is down, several teams got bounced too early, TCU and Texas managed to both miss the NCAAs.....but now Tech is in the finals and Texas won the NIT (which is not much for Texas of course nor it should be) and TCU advanced pretty far in it

then it looked like TCU might lose a coach, but now he is staying and perhaps even Tech might have to work hard to keep theirs, but now I think they have plenty of people that will be throwing money to keep him (and who can blame them)

contrast that with the SEC SEC SEC that looked to be having a really good end of the year with 8 teams in....they have no team in the finals after Auburn bounced UK and then lost to UVA, Arkansas is striking out on coaches, I am not sure LSU realizes they fired their coach (or have they even fired him) and Tony Benford was a disaster at north Texas state if they end up with him and now Tennessee looks like they might lose Barnes and best of all aggy is out there making sure they win the "pay more for less" trophy because I am not sure that Buzz will get it done there with the competition in Texas right now and in the SEC SEC SEC.....the only thing they would have going for them is if LSU does not wake up and take some action and ends up with Benford and Arkansas strikes out again and Tennessee loses their coach....but even then all of those things point to the SEC SEC SEC not being a top basketball league even after one of their better regular seasons in a while

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3 hours ago, Jhawk said:

If aggy is going to spend the money to compete then it is a good job. They overpay for mediocrity and are in a talent hotbed. The SEC is up right now, but traditionally has been a 1-2 team league (1-2 teams can win it any given year) that is very winnable. If that isn’t attractive then the only attractive jobs in the country are The blue bloods. 

I really don't see it that way. A&M wears its coaching salaries like a badge of honor, so I think you make a mistake equating that with a genuine commitment to building a legitimate, winning basketball program. 

I agree that Williams is more likely to win the SEC at A&M than the ACC at Virginia Tech, but my point is that I would expect being the best coach in Virginia Tech history (damned with faint praise as that is) to translate to a bigger move than going to A&M. I wouldn't say the "only attractive jobs" are blue bloods, but if you take a program to its first two Sweet 16s in fifty years or whatever it was, I think that's about where you should be aiming as a coach. That or close, and A&M is not close.

Edited by SwanderedTalent
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UCLA going after Barnes is a real head scratcher at Barnes' age.  LSU will be very interesting to watch though.  They and 

2 hours ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I really don't see it that way. A&M wears its coaching salaries like a badge of honor, so I think you make a mistake equating that with a genuine commitment to building a legitimate, winning basketball program. 

I agree that Williams is more likely to win the SEC at A&M than the ACC at Virginia Tech, but my point is that I would expect being the best coach in Virginia Tech history (damned with faint praise as that is) to translate to a bigger move than going to A&M. I wouldn't say the "only attractive jobs" are blue bloods, but if you take a program to its first two Sweet 16s in fifty years or whatever it was, I think that's about where you should be aiming as a coach. That or close, and A&M is not close.

But couldn't you say that about any job?  He could have been the best coach in marquette history if he stay.  Same goes for A&M.  Further, if he gets it done at A&M then he is probably in line for a big boy job, just like gillispie was.  Clyde got A&M to a S16 and finished 2nd in the big12 with them.  It is possible to win there and he didn't even have elite talent (Deandre Jordan was after Clyde).  A&M just spent $6M on a new locker room and millions more on other upgrades to their arena in 2017.  I know that A&M sucks and that everyone here has to hate them with a passion but the truth of the matter is that it isn't a bad job.  It is certainly better than VT and better than Marquette at this point.  Plus, buzz is 46 years old.  If he wins there for 4-7 years with an elite 8 or so and is in the top 3 of the SEC each year then he is going to be on lists at blue blood programs.  He might be #3-4 on the lists but he will be on them.

If buzz built VT to what he did and that is an acceptable level of success then he will have zero problem doing that at A&M.  Coaches don't have the bias about jobs that fans do.  He sees a place that he gets paid, can win, and can possibly move up from.  At 46 that is the perfect job.

Edited by Jhawk
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  • Pancho changed the title to College basketball coaching carousel: 2024 edition

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