Jim Baron to Retire

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 8 years ago

I had no use for him at the end of his time here, but this doesn't sound good. He just signed an extension March 3rd. Hopefully him and his family are in good health.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

Wow! Is it immediate?
I know he's has a horrendous recruiting
cycle, coming off a terrible season.
Thought he'd found his niche at Canisius.
Bad time for the school to be looking for a new coach.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 8 years ago

Pat Clarke was promoted to associate head coach when Baron was extended, so he might just move up instead of Canisius conducting a search.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 8 years ago

Seems immediate. Sounds like all is well - I hope that's the case.

SmartyBarrett · Unread post by **SmartyBarrett** » 8 years ago

RhowdyRam02 wrote:Pat Clarke was promoted to associate head coach when Baron was extended, so he might just move up instead of Canisius conducting a search.

He'll be the interim coach, per Goodman.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

So, he just figured this out in mid May?
Couldn't be that he's having a tough time
in Buffalo?
I just looked at their board.
Natives are getting restless about a lack
of recruiting and poor future outlook.
Their board is so dead, only two comments on his retiring.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 8 years ago

I think he wanted a South County summer.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 8 years ago

Someone in the URI athletic dept told me when Baron went to Canisius that Pat Clarke would replace him some day. Seemed crazy to me, but maybe it's about to happen.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

The timing is curious. I hope it is not health related. Perhaps he timed it late so that canisius would have no option other than to promote his olean buddy pat clarke.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

Need reef to come make it official

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 8 years ago

Strange move in May. I wish him well. I never hated him and his kids and wife the way some here did. Working class coach, honest effort. But wasn't the right guy for this program. Got ridiculous contract. Set the program back.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 8 years ago

Bye bye CFL bye bye

Seriously enjoy retirement and watching your sons play pro ball overseas

Paleoguy · Unread post by **Paleoguy** » 8 years ago

He was crying at the press conference. Mentioned that one of his sons told him he would like him to live to see his grand kids grow....

Here's the retirement press conference:

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 8 years ago

Interesting, thanks for posting the video. I watched all 32 minutes of it
- He is going to stay living in the Buffalo area
- Said he never got to say goodbye to the people of Rhode Island because it was so abrupt
- He spoke well and from the heart for sure
- in Q&A he said they had 2 kids signed and 3 open scholarships. Seems like a lot this late in the cycle
- Talked about having had a Big East transfer who he almost got in a physical fight with and had a tough time Coaching who later told him that he saved his life by not backing down from him at the time, - I'm guessing It was Scott Hazleton
- Good tape. Good for him for knowing when to step aside and doing it
- Good to hear him talk about growing up in a project with 7 brothers and 1 sister but only 3 bedrooms "you do the math"
- Good story about his father and Essie Hollis
- Could still feel his bitterness about the industry and getting fired
- Did not see Gandy in the audience

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

I'd bet it was the UConn transfer from England,
Ben ?.
Can't even remember his last name.
Seemed more of a punk than Hazleton, who
is doing very well in life.

Mongo · Unread post by **Mongo** » 8 years ago

Rod, that was Ben Eaves and I think you're right. He came in from UCONN very cocky.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 8 years ago

I remember being so excited when we got Eaves, thought he was going to be a difference maker.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

Seemed never to blend in.
Came here with much hype, and just
didn't do much.
Liked to crank up the 3's.
Have very little impact on the program.

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 8 years ago

I would be surprised if it was Ben Eaves. Saw some feature on him and he didn't seem like a punk. Talked about how he likes to draw and drink tea.
Seemed nice.
But hey he may have tried to swing on old Jim.
Crazy story

Hal Kopp · Unread post by **Hal Kopp** » 8 years ago

what i remember is constant player suspensions,poor conference play and that silly,long term contract at end.
blame the AD who gave it to him. Look at record his last year and Jerry Duhs.
I realize it is a tough process,but come on!!

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 8 years ago

Blame Baron on Crothers and Petro. They wanted a safe coach who would work hard, whose players would graduate, who might get to the Dance with a little luck.
After Harrick they decided they wanted no part of the big time, because that would require come corner-cutting at a school like URI. They let players and alums choose Harrick's successor ...an AAU-style coach with no interest in discipline or fundamentals. After two years of his idiocy, we got Baron and his mediocrity. He wasn't the worst ...I might give that to barely there Brendan Malone (Jerry being the true worst).
Baron was 162-166 at URI, with little excitement and less pizzazz.
Actually, Claude English was awful, too. But I cut him from slack because the school wqs gutting the program after the Zachen scandal. Claude couldn't get recruits through admissions,

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

I can't fault Baron for his effort. He worked hard and tried to get the program to the next level. He just couldn't get it there. He was close but I think he was in a situation just a bit above his level. I wish him the best in his retirement. His 11 years of work under the RI pension system has likely set him up well going forward.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

Truth is, judging by the academics almost putting
the program on probation and some of the low character guys he
either brought in or tried to bring in during his last years here,
showed he was either slipping, or desperate.
39 years, 2 NCAAs and zero wins, with barely a .500 record.
That's his legacy.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 8 years ago

I would guess desperate. The Harrick stint made it hard for any successor. We loved being in the limelight. We got mentioned on ESPN every night. Good times.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 8 years ago

He was here way too long. He was a .500 coach with a bunch of NITs. Glad we finally moved on

Hal Kopp · Unread post by **Hal Kopp** » 8 years ago

Reef-amen. The good thing about Baron tenure is Rhody appears to be using a quicker hook with coaches.

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 8 years ago

Baron was good enough to rebuild a program to a certain point, but not good enough to get the program over the hump. There's no shame in that but, as we all know, URI can do better. As Rod said, his legacy is two NCAA tournaments and 0 wins.
The season that I'll never get over is the Jimmy Baron-Will Daniels team that was in the top 25 and then completely fell apart. Baron turned negative, put more pressure on the team and they responded by playing worse and worse. His worst coaching job.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

Never forget the Creighton game, where we had a huge
lead and blew it.
The great Will Daniels only played briefly in the second half,
despite Creighton storming back.
CFL's excuse after the game?
"He had THREE fouls"!!!!!!!
It was at that point I knew CFL needed to go.
They were 19-2 and ranked. Somehow they collapsed
and lost in the NIT.

Rhody Guy · Unread post by **Rhody Guy** » 8 years ago

I will eat my computer if it was Ben Eaves. Know him personally and he doesn't have the personality. Way too relaxed and gentle for that which is why I don't think he panned out as a player. All kinds of talent just couldn't play under pressure in my opinion.

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 8 years ago

Rod don't forget 2003-04, they were hot coming into A-10 play and getting votes, Brian Woodward punches a Xavier player (I want to say his last name was Doleman) and the A-10 knocks them out of any At-Large possibilities. I think they ended up beating 4 or 5 NCAA tourney teams that year....

josephski · Unread post by **josephski** » 8 years ago

Hal Kopp wrote:Reef-amen. The good thing about Baron tenure is Rhody appears to be using a quicker hook with coaches.

I'm very confident in Hurley making the tournament next year but if he doesn't then we'll be in a similar situation as we were with Baron. So it really doesn't seem like URI learned anything from the Baron tenure.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 8 years ago

Except their are zero similarities in Dan and Jim Baron
Dan is in his seventh year in the profession, safe to assume his brightest years are ahead of him. I'll roll the dice and try to be a part of that upward trajectory.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

Gonzo, I recall several late season total collapses
under CFL.
Still, I think the job he did with his second team, with Dustin Helenga,
Andingono, Howie Smith, and others, was the single best
coaching job I've ever seen at URI.
They were coming off three straight 20 loss seasons,
finished 20-11, 8-6 on the road, 2nd in the A-10, and made the NIT,
and beat Seton Hall in the NIT.
Just an amazing accomplishment.
Went to the NIT the following season, losing a close game at West Virginia.
At that point, I felt I was wrong about Baron, and maybe he could
do something at URI.
Then came a 6-22 season, and a 14-14 season, and lots of excuses.
Zebras don't change their stripes, I guess.

Bar, I think the main difference in CFL and Dan is, Dan is
driven to almost an obsessive level.
CFL seemed comfortable with NITs and hollow 20 win seasons.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 8 years ago

Dan brings a lot more drive and energy to things. Baron would have been happy to win 20 a year and eventually retire from URI. Dan is looking beyond. Did Baron ever beat a ranked team? We almost beat Duke (sound familiar?). Pitt maybe? We beat Syracuse in a rare down year for the Orange.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 8 years ago

I can't remember if OSU was ranked when we beat them.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 8 years ago

URI beating Syracuse was not because it was a down year for cuse that year. Uri had a legit team and Syracuse just didn't have a special team.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 8 years ago

Those collapses under CFL were sure painful to watch. Glad we are over that. I certainty expect us not to do that under DH

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 8 years ago

Rhody Guy wrote:I will eat my computer if it was Ben Eaves. Know him personally and he doesn't have the personality. Way too relaxed and gentle for that which is why I don't think he panned out as a player. All kinds of talent just couldn't play under pressure in my opinion.

I'm sure it was Hazleton. He said the confrontation was about going to class and doing the work. Baron said he ran into him recently and he said the guy was now Coaching himself and said h, his wife and his son want to thank Baron for saving his life. Hazleton is now HC at Greater Lawrence HS, is married and has a son.
Hazleton was a great HS player and McDonalds All American. I was very excited when he transferred to URI and felt at the time that Baron should have played him more minutes and featured him more in the offense.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 8 years ago

Ramblinrose wrote:Dan brings a lot more drive and energy to things. Baron would have been happy to win 20 a year and eventually retire from URI. Dan is looking beyond. Did Baron ever beat a ranked team? We almost beat Duke (sound familiar?). Pitt maybe? We beat Syracuse in a rare down year for the Orange.

No, he never beat a a top 25 team.
Against Duke we lost despite Jimmy Baron going an unconscious 8-10 on 3 pointers many from very long range. Jimmy had 24 points all on 3's. Delroy James also had a strong game going 9-12 FG with 8 rebounds.
Jimmy was a phenomenal shooter and won a lot of games for his dad at URI.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 8 years ago

The roster is in bad shape.
3 scholarships still open in mid May.
And Gurley just announced leaving to play at a cc leaving 4 scholarships open.
Big gaps in the front court left unfulfilled.
Finished tied for 7th in conference and looks to be headed downhill from there next year.
Why should Clark be rewarded with the HC job based on the performance of the team?

http://campuswatch.buffalonews.com/2016 ... ll-roster/

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 8 years ago

URI had a good team against Syracuse. I guess bad Syracuse teams are ones that fail to make the Elite 8.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 8 years ago

He will be replaced by Reggie Witherspoon, who was replaced by B. Hurley at Buffalo. The college basketball coaching world is small.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 8 years ago

Last time I recall Canisius being good wqs when Larry Fogle was putting up 30 a game.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 8 years ago

Man those are sweet uniforms!

URIGONZO · Unread post by **URIGONZO** » 8 years ago

What is Pat Clarke going to do now that Witherspoon is in at Canisius? And there in no Jim Baron to give him a job??

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