Zagoria Article - Hurley Has 2-Year Plan to Rebuild Rhody

[URI_05]

Yet another good article about Hurley:

http://zagsblog.com/articles/hurley-has ... ild-rhody/

[ATPTourFan]

Enjoyed that article. It's so great that Hurley has such a good relationship with Zags.

[URIGONZO]

Love the new board!!!!

[Rhody74]

I love how he doesn't downplay expectations. He's putting himself and the players on the spot.

[Blue Man]

i love how every time i read anything about him and this team i get goosebumps.

[rodfromcranston]

Jon Rothstein‏@JonRothstein

Xavier Munford could very well be URI's leading scorer. Big time talent. Will add some pop for the undermanned Rams --- who will surprise

[EasyEdBrown]

I respect that Zagoira and Hurley get along, but I am afraid that if Dan starts making more time with the Katz's and Goodman's of the world, there is going to be an awkward situation where Zagoria is outside Hurley's house with a boombox playing Peter Gabriel.

[ATPTourFan]

.... Only as long as someone is there to film it!

[EasyEdBrown]

The light the heat...

Your eyes...

[seanmc94]

Nothing like a bromance...

[reef]

If for some reason we dance in yr 2 I will be doing cartwheels !!!!!

[Blue Man]

If for some reason we dance in yr 2 I will be doing cartwheels !!!!!

We can do them together outside of whatever arena where our first round game is.

[luke]

You guys are getting me excited. I'll tell you, being in nj I have followed the Hurley family on the b ball scene for longer than some of you have been around. I can't believe Rhody was so fortunate to get Dan Hurley. He was certainly the first Guy I wanted. Hope fans give him a real chance if this year is a tough one, but I am expecting better things than most right away this year.

[Rhody72]

For the right coach, it doesn't take long to rebuild a team to be among the top 20% in D1. Recruit 3 very talented players and you are 90% there. That is why "da process" is a joke. The entire team turns over in 5 years.

I believe that we will be competitive in 2 years and get to the NIT. Dan didn't get to the NIT winning 25 at Wagner. I still expect the NCAAs in 3 years; in 2 would be a big pleasant surprise; in 4 would be a slight disappointment; beyond that - same old, same old. Remember, we complained about 1 in 4 Al.

[Blue Man]

For the right coach, it doesn't take long to rebuild a team to be among the top 20% in D1. Recruit 3 very talented players and you are 90% there. That is why "da process" is a joke. The entire team turns over in 5 years.

I believe that we will be competitive in 2 years and get to the NIT. Dan didn't get to the NIT winning 25 at Wagner. I still expect the NCAAs in 3 years; in 2 would be a big pleasant surprise; in 4 would be a slight disappointment; beyond that - same old, same old. Remember, we complained about 1 in 4 Al.

I agree with your entire first paragraph 72. I think when you compare us with Wagner you have to adjust for a few things.

25 wins in that conference isn't anything to the NCAA. Hurley was bringing in CAA or A10 level talent to Wagner, we already have that here. Next year we'll have power conference talent here. Our base-level of talent on the disasterous team last year was certainly on the level or better than what he had there. If you gave DH our roster last year, there is no way we go 7-24.

I think you can extrapolate the Hurley process because of that. I easily see us as an NCAA team next year because we'll have an insane and possibly top 25 recruiting class, and the growth of the guys that are here.

[Rhody72]

Mike Deane brought Wagner to Ryan a few years back and beat us. Wagner has been able to compete against the A10 in the past.

I get it that 25 wins at Wagner doesn't get you an NCAA bid, but its schedule has to be weak for an NYC team not to get to the NIT with 25 wins. While I'm a strong DH supporter, I'm not ready to give him the keys to the city. He has something to prove at URI - which is actually a good thing for us. He doesn't have the cache of a Jim Harrick; he is more like a Tom Penders coming out of Fordham. My guess is that he'll lead us to the dance and leave. I'll take that after 13 years of bad basketball.

[rodfromcranston]

Guess Mr. Negative didn't bother to listen to his interview.
Hurley shot down the question of leaving, by saying, he doesn't care about bigtime jobs and he's not a mover.
He said he likes it here and isn't going to uproot his family just to chase a job.
Said he can accomplish all his goals HERE at URI!
But don't let that slow you down.

[ATPTourFan]

Rod speaks the truth. Didja have a chance to listen to the complete Dan Hurley interview from last night, 72? He spent time on that particular response and did not just give the usual "I'm happy here" line or "I have a 6yr contract" to move on to the next topic.

[ace]

Wagner was hurt more by the fact that lesser teams, who did not win their conference, won their conference tournaments. That takes up two post-season spots for teams that are not better than those left out. Wagner was consistently ranked in the mid-major top 25 and was thought to be going to the NIT until the conference tournaments shaped up differently than expected. There's always context to these situations. In any case, I'm beyond excited to follow Hurley and watch him coach at this level.

[TruePoint]

I think 72 is overly pessimistic on this point, and Rod and ATP are right in their assessments of Hurley. HOWEVER, best case realistic scenario is that Hurley turns into Brad Stevens and URI is the east coast Butler. And Brad Stevens is not leaving Butler to coach Purdue or Wisconsin or Cal. But there are jobs that Stevens would take: Indiana, Duke, Kansas. I'm happy conceding that Hurley would leave URI for the right job, I just don't think there are a ton of "right" jobs. He doesn't seem like a climber to me, but it would be naive to think that if a top-5 or -10 job came up he would turn away from it. Its his career, not ours.

[Billyboy78]

I think 72 is overly pessimistic on this point, and Rod and ATP are right in their assessments of Hurley. HOWEVER, best case realistic scenario is that Hurley turns into Brad Stevens and URI is the east coast Butler. And Brad Stevens is not leaving Butler to coach Purdue or Wisconsin or Cal. But there are jobs that Stevens would take: Indiana, Duke, Kansas. I'm happy conceding that Hurley would leave URI for the right job, I just don't think there are a ton of "right" jobs. He doesn't seem like a climber to me, but it would be naive to think that if a top-5 or -10 job came up he would turn away from it. Its his career, not ours.

Perhaps URI becomes a top job. 30 or so years ago, nobody could have foreseen that UConn would become a top job.

[reef]

Hurley will get this team moving in the right direction. I cant wait to bet us early as we will surprise

[Blue Man]

Temple wasn't a stepping stone for Chaney, St. Joes wasn't a stepping stone for Martelli, and both those guys have enjoyed national level and consistent success.

And great point about UCONN 30 years ago. With the volitility of the college basketball landscape right now, Hurley could turn URI into a powerhouse program.

Consistent winning = consistent money = more coverage = better recruits = more donations = better program. If Hurley turns this program around quickly like we think he will, he may just decide that he wants to make this his own and become the next Frank Keaney

[Mongo]

Temple wasn't a stepping stone for Chaney, St. Joes wasn't a stepping stone for Martelli, and both those guys have enjoyed national level and consistent success.

And great point about UCONN 30 years ago. With the volitility of the college basketball landscape right now, Hurley could turn URI into a powerhouse program.

Consistent winning = consistent money = more coverage = better recruits = more donations = better program. If Hurley turns this program around quickly like we think he will, he may just decide that he wants to make this his own and become the next Frank Keaney

Call me crazy, but I have a funny feeling Dan Hurley is here for a while. He's 39 and has young children. He could be here 10 years and at 49 take a top tier job. I hope what Blue Man says plays out, you win and more money comes in. I hope that means we pay Coach Hurley top tier money and give him no reason to leave. I am beyond excited to see some real college basketball played at URI for the first time since 1999.

Go Rhody!!!

[ATPTourFan]

Wouldn't it be great if in a few years the Ryan Center is a nationally known basketball facility known to be very hostile to top teams coming to play the Rams, ie Cintas, etc.

[BFC]

I don't see Hurley as a Martelli, content being a big fish in a small pond. I think Hurley wants to compete at the highest level and would love to do it with a program he built, I believe him when he says he's here because he sees URI as having the potential to be that program. But if the support doesn't grow with the program, he's not going to lower his expectations based on loyalty. Basically, it's on us (gulp!).

[ATPTourFan]

BFC, good call on that. As soon as his goals exceed what URI's able to provide in resources, he leaves.

[Blue Man]

I don't see Hurley as a Martelli, content being a big fish in a small pond. I think Hurley wants to compete at the highest level and would love to do it with a program he built, I believe him when he says he's here because he sees URI as having the potential to be that program. But if the support doesn't grow with the program, he's not going to lower his expectations based on loyalty. Basically, it's on us (gulp!).

I totally agree. But I do think the support will be there. The State as a whole will whore itself out to a successful program. It's PC now because they have more potential to do that via the Big East. If both programs are very successful, then RI will turn into a CBB frenzy.

Remember when Rhody was in the tourney in 98? How crazy everything was around here? That run got the Ryan Center. Seriously. Winning those games got the state of RI to spend tens of millions of dollars to build a better basketball arena at URI.

Imagine what a couple of those runs will do after this drought? The support will be there, and I bet you that if Hurley keeps us in a few tourney runs, we're going to sell out the RC for long, consecutive stretches.

[reef]

Hopefully Hurley does for URI what Calhoun did for UCONN

[luke]

Right Reef. Hurley won't need to go anywhere in the future to be at a power program. He will be creating one for URI. Then URI will be the job everyone covets. Why leave then?

[Rhody72]

C'mon guys - this isn't your first rodeo. Do you expect him to say to prospective recruits (or anyone else) that if he is successful he won't be here in 4 years? Dan said what every new coach says. Do you believe that Ed Cooley's lifelong ambition was to coach PC? Re-read the comments here on Baron's recruits.

I'm not being NEGATIVE, just realistic. If Dan brings URI to the NCAAs in 3 years and then decides to leave to go to a big-time school, I'll thank him and wish him well. Rhody basketball will be back and no one will say he did it with someone elses recruits like they knock JH. Who was the last coach to take URI to the NCAAs and not leave for a better job? (Jack Kraft because of bad health?) Then again, I wouldn't extend or renew Dan's contract until he takes URI to the NCAAs.

[reef]

You are probably right but we can dream anyway

[Rhody72]

There are not many successful mid-major coaches that stay put for long. Mark Few would be one and I'm sure that there are others, but it is the exception and not the rule. John Chaney and Phil Martelli in the A10 were hometown boys in Philly. If Preston ever becomes a head coach at URI and is successful, he could be one for URI. Most A10 schools can't compete financially when a major conference school comes calling.

[ATPTourFan]

Shaka Smart?

[twisted3829]

Brad Stevens

[reef]

Lets hope DH will be the exception and not the rule

[Blue Man]

C'mon guys - this isn't your first rodeo. Do you expect him to say to prospective recruits (or anyone else) that if he is successful he won't be here in 4 years? Dan said what every new coach says. Do you believe that Ed Cooley's lifelong ambition was to coach PC? Re-read the comments here on Baron's recruits.
.

Yeah...I do. Cooley's a Providence guy, I'm pretty sure that's his dream job.