any updates on potential candidates?
I posted someoneās update on the Big Board thread. I promise no one is withholding info from you. If you read all the posts here you will be informed.
Havenāt heard much mention of Wimp Sanderson or Lou Carnesecca.
Need someone more old school than Carnesecca.
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No way Carnesecca would be clean enough
I understand that Lou never turned down a plate of pasta or a slice at Patsyās, but other than that and the occasional lottery ticket from one of the Brooklyn bodegasāwhere he was like unto a Godāword is that the guy was pretty clean.
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How about Lourawls āTum Tumā Nairn for head coach? Since, according to coach I. (who, apropos of nothing, is probably still hoping the right person was convicted in the Nassar case) he is roughly equivalent to the almighty, it seems like it would be a good get.
Also, I will simply repeat that anyone who thinks LaVall Jordan would be an acceptable choice didnāt watch Butler play this past season.
Lefty Driesell will take that call. Up to Manuel to place it.
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Manuel will not be hiring anyone I mention here, but for my own personal edification Iām going to list my favored names anyway. I advise you all to ignore it.
First choices:
- Brad Stevens (happy in NBA, by all accounts)
- Luke Yaklich (Manuel wants head coaching experience, and high school is unlikely to count)
Others I could (or could have, had the circumstances allowed) live with:
Mark Few (wonāt leave Gonzaga)
Tony Bennett (state of Wisconsin roots but unlikely to leave ACC at this point)
Jay Wright (wonāt leave Villanova)
Nate Oats (if Beilein had done this a month ago, before Oats left Buffalo for Alabama)
T.J. Otzelberger (if Beilein had done this a month ago, before Otzelberger left South Dakota State for UNLV)
Craig Smith (Utah State)
Chris Jans (New Mexico State)
Scott Nagy (Wright State) - not completely sold on him though
Patrick Beilein (Niagara, Le Moyne) - yes, I said it
Mike White - the only realistic candidate Iāve seen mentioned who intrigues me
There, now Iām edified.
*edited below to add a few names I had neglected to mention above:
Chris Beard (obviously, but not leaving Texas Tech)
Mike Young (if Beilein had departed a month ago before Young left Wofford for Virginia Tech)
Bob McKillop (Davidson) - if he werenāt pushing 70 years of age.
Jason Williford (Virginia assistant) - Iād prefer Yaklich if we go the unproven route, but he intrigues me.
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Craig Smith and Scott Nagy yessir!
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Can I just say I really like the fact that was started as, essentially, a thread for talking about Beilein getting fired has become the HQ for discussing who should replace him after he jumped ship to the NBA?
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I would be content with Shaka Smart as our coach and here is why. I think people are forgetting too soon the phenomenal job that he did VCU. What VCU was able to accomplish while Smart was the coach was pretty incredible and just a few years ago he was one of the hottest names around. His run at Texas has had some up and downs but he inherited a pretty poor situation and if I remember he lost some of his potential roster to transfer. He has lost some guys to early entry in the draft which has even more significant negative impact on a program that is trying to grow vs one like Michigan that is already established. The last thing I would say is he lost his stud point guard Andrew Jones to leukemia this past season which obviously hurt the team in a big way. Jones was looking to have a big year so losing an upperclassmen guard like that is a significant loss. Smart has been recruiting phenomenally at Texas with 3 or 4 top 100 prospects every year. I think he could do the same at Michigan but get more out of them and not having to worry about building up the program because we are already established.
IDK, he went to Texas so he could recruit the Mo Bambas of the world, landed them, then didnāt know what to do with them. Do we really want to be Kentucky-lite?
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BP3 said he heard Oats would be willing to come if the money was right. $4M?
My problem with Shaka is that he has shown he can win at VCU with a gimmicky āhavocā defense, but when he no longer ran that gimmick at Texas, his teams didnāt really have much of an identity. He was unsuccessful without an identity and thus I question his actual coaching ability. He can definitely recruit though.
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yup how is he in game tactician and development wise? thats my concern
I have to disagree that Texas is a program trying to grow. Yes, they tailed off toward the end with Barnes but it wasnāt like Smart was walking into Vanderbilt circa 2019. Thus far heās made the NCAA Tournament twice in four years. In the four years previous, Texas made three Tournaments including Barnesā last season.
Iāll be really, really bummed if Smart is the pick.
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I said this on the other thread, without the Havoc defense Smart is the Texas version of Tommy Amaker. Good recruiter, fine representative of the school, mediocre at the rest.
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What makes you think heād get more out of players are Michigan than Texas? Thereās nothing to really support that statement. Itās not like Texas is a barren wasteland. Itās one of the best states for basketball in the country. Plus, heās had four years. I know jones got sick, but even with him theyāre still a bubble team. Dude had an amazing tournament run and other than that, heās pretty much done zilch. Won a conference tournament in the CAA and the Atlantic 10 after it had been weakened. And a bad record of developing talent. Iād rather hire Yak or Washington over him and it wouldnāt be close
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Most other names>Cooley>Moser>Smart
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