The Coaching Carousel

[steviep123]

Blueman,
Believe what you want but the deal was done days before Ollie was fired. Tom Moore was placed here for him and Hurley to have a trial run. Also the Hurley family and close advisors perceived the UCONN job as a major upgrade. Based on the conference comparisons top to bottom it would be hard to disagree. Calhoun had his filthy hands all over this and to his and UCONN's credit they identified their target and locked him down. We were never in the hunt; and it is unfair to lay this on Thorr. He would have elevated his offer, but was never going to be in the ballpark with UCONN or Pittsburgh. It's not a criticism of our program but a harsh reality. This is nothing new. It happened with Penders, Harrick and to a lesser degree Skinner. You have a right to your opinion and your passion is obviously genuine. But I think you fail to see the forest beyond the trees. Cox is here for at least all of next year. Let's upgrade assistants and be ready to deal with some player defections. Right now it appears to be 2 or possibly 3, with one being devastating.
Next season will be another challenge.

If what you say is true, then that is collusion or tampering (I'm not sure what the term is), but I hope it somehow falls apart for UConn. It would be the 2nd time that Calhoun screwed us (the other being him convincing the powers that be at the time that Jerry Duh would be a good hire - supposedly he called Petro or Carothers and vouched for him). If it's ever proven, would URI have any further legal action they could take (although I'm not necessarily sure I want them to go down that road).

Let's hope you're wrong about deflections. We certainly can't afford to lose anyone, regardless of what some may have been saying of a few.

[Seawrightspostgame]

No, it is how big programs hire coaches. They identify the guy and begin to make moves on their end toward signing him. Of course they test the water with the candidate to make sure they aren't taking the steps for no reason.

[steviep123]

No, it is how big programs hire coaches. They identify the guy and begin to make moves on their end toward signing him. Of course they test the water with the candidate to make sure they aren't taking the steps for no reason.

Does that typically include getting a paid mole on staff?

[ace]

I’ve given up. Some people are determined to believe what they want, facts be damned.

[DC_Rams]

Blueman,
Believe what you want but the deal was done days before Ollie was fired. Tom Moore was placed here for him and Hurley to have a trial run. Also the Hurley family and close advisors perceived the UCONN job as a major upgrade. Based on the conference comparisons top to bottom it would be hard to disagree. Calhoun had his filthy hands all over this and to his and UCONN's credit they identified their target and locked him down. We were never in the hunt; and it is unfair to lay this on Thorr. He would have elevated his offer, but was never going to be in the ballpark with UCONN or Pittsburgh. It's not a criticism of our program but a harsh reality. This is nothing new. It happened with Penders, Harrick and to a lesser degree Skinner. You have a right to your opinion and your passion is obviously genuine. But I think you fail to see the forest beyond the trees. Cox is here for at least all of next year. Let's upgrade assistants and be ready to deal with some player defections. Right now it appears to be 2 or possibly 3, with one being devastating.
Next season will be another challenge.

CD, enough with the transfer talk. It’s a part of the business. Yes, it is likely we will lose one, maybe 2, but it’s a part of the game. There aren’t enough minutes to go around for everybody.

[Taylor Swift]

No, it is how big programs hire coaches. They identify the guy and begin to make moves on their end toward signing him. Of course they test the water with the candidate to make sure they aren't taking the steps for no reason.

Does that typically include getting a paid mole on staff?

Hahaha! Good one. I saw an earlier post where someone mentioned along the lines of graduates fleeing the state for greener pastures. This couldn’t be any more accurate. Most of what Gina talks about regarding job creation and unemployment are manufacturing jobs.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Anyone else want to cry at the thought of a team under .500 and doesn't have enough minutes to go around?

[RhowdyRam02]

Blueman,
Believe what you want but the deal was done days before Ollie was fired. Tom Moore was placed here for him and Hurley to have a trial run. Also the Hurley family and close advisors perceived the UCONN job as a major upgrade. Based on the conference comparisons top to bottom it would be hard to disagree. Calhoun had his filthy hands all over this and to his and UCONN's credit they identified their target and locked him down. We were never in the hunt; and it is unfair to lay this on Thorr. He would have elevated his offer, but was never going to be in the ballpark with UCONN or Pittsburgh. It's not a criticism of our program but a harsh reality. This is nothing new. It happened with Penders, Harrick and to a lesser degree Skinner. You have a right to your opinion and your passion is obviously genuine. But I think you fail to see the forest beyond the trees. Cox is here for at least all of next year. Let's upgrade assistants and be ready to deal with some player defections. Right now it appears to be 2 or possibly 3, with one being devastating.
Next season will be another challenge.

CD, enough with the transfer talk. It’s a part of the business. Yes, it is likely we will lose one, maybe 2, but it’s a part of the game. There aren’t enough minutes to go around for everybody.

You can't have it both ways. You've been crying for weeks that we don't have a big enough rotation and saying "wait till next year, we'll have a bigger rotation, then everything will be ok". Now when people look to the horizon and see transfers coming you say it's no big deal, there aren't enough minutes. Which is it?

If Baghdad Bob followed URI even he would think you're going overboard on the messaging

[theblueram]

Anyone else want to cry at the thought of a team under .500 and doesn't have enough minutes to go around?

I've been crying for weeks now.

[hrstrat57]

Water over the dam but I talked to Dan alone in the RC lobby towards the end of last season and if he was in the midst of conspiracy he fooled me. Need a lot more info before I’m in on that. I thought I was talking to all in Frank Keaney 2. Maybe I got fooled, but I see through most tricksters pretty quick.

Re potential transfers I’ve seen every minute of every game except for Davidson and one of the Hawaii games either in person or on TV. I’ve seen a lot of lousy play and lousy coaching but I haven’t seen anybody quit on this coach. Others have claimed they’ve seen it but I haven’t and I been around you know.

Baron OTOH had more than one team quit on him in my opinion. I’m out on a coach when I see quit.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Water over the dam but I talked to Dan alone in the RC lobby towards the end of last season and if he was in the midst of conspiracy he fooled me. Need a lot more info before I’m in on that. I thought I was talking to all in Frank Keaney 2. Maybe I got fooled, but I see through most tricksters pretty quick.

Re potential transfers I’ve seen every minute of every game except for Davidson and one of the Hawaii games either in person or on TV. I’ve seen a lot of lousy play and lousy coaching but I haven’t seen anybody quit on this coach. Others have claimed they’ve seen it but I haven’t and I been around you know.

Baron OTOH had more than one team quit on him in my opinion. I’m out on a coach when I see quit.

Coaches will piss on your leg and tell you it’s raining — and get you to believe it.

[Blue Man]

Blueman,
Believe what you want but the deal was done days before Ollie was fired. Tom Moore was placed here for him and Hurley to have a trial run. Also the Hurley family and close advisors perceived the UCONN job as a major upgrade. Based on the conference comparisons top to bottom it would be hard to disagree. Calhoun had his filthy hands all over this and to his and UCONN's credit they identified their target and locked him down. We were never in the hunt; and it is unfair to lay this on Thorr. He would have elevated his offer, but was never going to be in the ballpark with UCONN or Pittsburgh. It's not a criticism of our program but a harsh reality. This is nothing new. It happened with Penders, Harrick and to a lesser degree Skinner. You have a right to your opinion and your passion is obviously genuine. But I think you fail to see the forest beyond the trees. Cox is here for at least all of next year. Let's upgrade assistants and be ready to deal with some player defections. Right now it appears to be 2 or possibly 3, with one being devastating.
Next season will be another challenge.

CD I feel like this is pretty much what I’ve been saying the whole time? I agree wholeheartedly with everything you’re saying.

[rambone 78]

I don't think any defection will be devastating, to be honest with you, except maybe Martin.

My guess the closest other would be Harris. He can't be happy with the way he's being used so far, and he's the one who wanted to come here because of Cox. Not only that, but he's a face to the basket player, they've been trying to convert him to a back to the basket player...not working.

If Fatts and/or CT leave, I don't think many here would be too upset.

[hrstrat57]

If Fatts and/or CT leave, I don't think many here would be too upset.

Thompson just starting to flow and Fatts prob the fastest guy in the A10?

Nah I’ll keep both of em thanks.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I’ve given up. Some people are determined to believe what they want, facts be damned.

Shhhh! Story is getting good, don't be letting facts get in the way!

[Billyboy78]

Tom Moore is a sleaze. That's all I know. He was a sleaze when he was at UConn the first time.

[TruePoint]

He was a sleaze when he was here last year, even putting aside any shenanigans with Dan. To meet that guy is to not like him. Repulsive dude.

Also, to weigh in on the conspiracy theory about Dan and UConn and Moore and Calhoun, I do believe that there was something afoot, and that the Dan-to-UConn thing was unofficially official before Ollie was whacked. I’m not sure Moore’s presence here was a “test run” like Dan could have somehow failed it, but I do think Moore was here to plant the seed and essentially recruit Dan, and to serve as a backchannel between Dan and Calhoun, who was operating in an unofficial capacity for UConn. That happened. I will live the rest of my life being certain of that.

As far as paying Dan earlier and keeping him, he was always going to go to UConn. They could have backed the Brinks truck up to his office door at any time, it wouldn’t have made a difference. The UConn brand mattered to him. Unfortunately for us, he is the last person in the basketball world for whom it still had any resonance, but those are the breaks.

[RhowdyRam02]

I think it's far more likely that Dan hired Moore as a way of getting in good with Calhoun et al knowing that UConn was going to fire Ollie sooner rather than later. Dan wasn't being recruited, he was doing the recruiting

[section(105)]

.......what?......shocked I am......I thought all along Dan hired Tom to help out a fellow coach out of work, looking to get back into the game to help teach our players in their development......and grow our program......is it raining out?

[ace]

Never change, KB. Never change

http://keaneyblue.com/viewtopic.php?f=6 ... re#p345667

[Blue Man]

As far as paying Dan earlier and keeping him, he was always going to go to UConn. They could have backed the Brinks truck up to his office door at any time, it wouldn’t have made a difference. The UConn brand mattered to him. Unfortunately for us, he is the last person in the basketball world for whom it still had any resonance, but those are the breaks.

See this is the only place I disagree. You're dead on with everything else - no one goes and gets a new job by announcing it to their current employer before it happens. No one announces to their current employer that they're looking for a new job. There's always backchanneling - especially in basketball.

However, I'll go to my grave truly believing that had we broken ground on a new practice facility (or started renovating tootell) in April 2017, put a contract in front of Dan that kept his salary the same but added another $100k into the assistants pool, and guaranteed charter flights to our away games - Tom Moore is never hired here, and the UConn backchanneling never begins.

URI was never going to offer Dan the top money contract he could get elsewhere, our only chance was to prove we were as committed to the basketball program winning as he was. We obviously were a year too late with the offer - and despite all of that, there's still no charter flights and no practice facility, which is why it's always tough to take our offers serious.

It's always been about program support for Dan. One day maybe it'll be a priority for us too.

[rambone 78]

Blue Man, I've saying the same thing for a long time.....URI talks a good game, but doesn't back it up with the commitments necessary to be a consistent winner.

It's been the same as long as I can remember. Of course improvements have been made....but they've never been proactive about them, and it's always been too little and too late to keep our good coaches around.

Now it's looking like Cox or the next coach will have to have major success first in order for URI to deliver on their promises to upgrade the facilities and enhancements.

Nothing ever changes at good old State U.

[Blue Man]

Blue Man, I've saying the same thing for a long time.....URI talks a good game, but doesn't back it up with the commitments necessary to be a consistent winner.

It's been the same as long as I can remember. Of course improvements have been made....but they've never been proactive about them, and it's always been too little and too late to keep our good coaches around.

Now it's looking like Cox or the next coach will have to have major success first in order for URI to deliver on their promises to upgrade the facilities and enhancements.

Nothing ever changes at good old State U.

It took a 3 tournament births, an elite 8 run, an A10 championship, and a top 5 NBA draft pick to get the Ryan Center.

That was the exception, not the rule - as we just decided to not invest in the program for 12 years, just expecting the RC to be enough. It wasn't until Dan got here and demanded changes that the wheel started to turn even the tiniest bit.

We were in the bottom third of the conference in terms of program investments, endowments, etc, throughout the 2000's. We've gotten better, but what does that do exactly? If you are running a marathon and just stop running in mile 3, you don't get applauded when you start running at the same speed as everyone else again. Now you're just 10 miles behind and until you start running faster you'll never catch up.

Everyone else kept investing while we stood pat - practice facilities, charter flights for the team, charter flights for recruiting visits, etc. We just kept saying how great the Ryan Center is - and don't get me wrong it's one of the best venues in the conference. Yes we've updated it, but it's also almost 20 years old. Seriously, what else have we done?

It took us 18 years to get a damn film room done. A FILM ROOM. It took 18 years of our players sitting on TO stools to watch film before we made a change. It's nice but it's not even dedicated to men's basketball and it doubles as a press conference room.

Updated the locker room? Again it's nice - but it's also small and it's lacking in a lot of the amenities that other A10 programs have, and is far behind what big programs (like UConn) have.

Do people realize that Dan relied on his friendships with other coaches to bum rides on their chartered flights to recruiting areas?

That stories like us bringing the A10 trophy through airport security, while cute, are embarrassing for a program that wants to be respected?

I really don't think the vast majority of our fans and boosters fully appreciate what is actually needed to be done in order to compete at this level of basketball.

[rambone 78]

And people wonder why Dan left.....he had tired of constantly trying to get URI to upgrade and increase the budget.

And now the foot dragging is getting even worse, when it comes to things like flights and practice facility.....

Always trying to do more with less....that's the motto at URI.

Think Big We Do....well they think big...but don't actually DO big.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

And people wonder why Dan left.....he had tired of constantly trying to get URI to upgrade and increase the budget.

And now the foot dragging is getting even worse, when it comes to things like flights and practice facility.....

Always trying to do more with less....that's the motto at URI.

Think Big We Do....well they think big...but don't actually DO big.

He left for one reason -- the same reason St. Daddy-o the Great left, the same reason Tan-o-rama Tom left.

[adam914]

As far as paying Dan earlier and keeping him, he was always going to go to UConn. They could have backed the Brinks truck up to his office door at any time, it wouldn’t have made a difference. The UConn brand mattered to him. Unfortunately for us, he is the last person in the basketball world for whom it still had any resonance, but those are the breaks.

See this is the only place I disagree. You're dead on with everything else - no one goes and gets a new job by announcing it to their current employer before it happens. No one announces to their current employer that they're looking for a new job. There's always backchanneling - especially in basketball.

However, I'll go to my grave truly believing that had we broken ground on a new practice facility (or started renovating tootell) in April 2017, put a contract in front of Dan that kept his salary the same but added another $100k into the assistants pool, and guaranteed charter flights to our away games - Tom Moore is never hired here, and the UConn backchanneling never begins.

URI was never going to offer Dan the top money contract he could get elsewhere, our only chance was to prove we were as committed to the basketball program winning as he was. We obviously were a year too late with the offer - and despite all of that, there's still no charter flights and no practice facility, which is why it's always tough to take our offers serious.

It's always been about program support for Dan. One day maybe it'll be a priority for us too.

Totally agree here Blue Man. I think this whole Dan conspiracy theory is just becoming another way for us as fans to not look in the mirror and realize the shortcomings of the current AD and administration in doing what is necessary to compete at the level we all want.

[rambone 78]

Dan realized that his salary, while important of course, wasn't the only thing that drives the success of the program.

He knew that URI's ceiling wouldn't be near as high as his next gig, wherever that was.

And that's where he wanted to go...where he would have the necessary support to get to where he wanted to go.

URI wasn't that place...and he knew that after a few years.

When you have to bum rides to go recruit...who can blame him for leaving?

[hrstrat57]

If this rehash continues change this thread title to
“Conspiracy Carousel”

Tan o Rama Tom ha ha that’s awesome RRR! That wave after beating Mizzou is imbedded in my brain.
It’s seems it’s all really about the Benjamin’s

[rambone 78]

57, you didn't know that was Tom's nickname here?

He sure loved the beaches here.....and that's why he's back.

He was making 50K a year here...and when Texas offered him 10X as much....bye bye.

He didn't want to leave, but he had no choice. He would have taken less, much less than the Texas offer to stay, but URI wouldn't budge.

[steviep123]

Blue Man, I've saying the same thing for a long time.....URI talks a good game, but doesn't back it up with the commitments necessary to be a consistent winner.

It's been the same as long as I can remember. Of course improvements have been made....but they've never been proactive about them, and it's always been too little and too late to keep our good coaches around.

Now it's looking like Cox or the next coach will have to have major success first in order for URI to deliver on their promises to upgrade the facilities and enhancements.

Nothing ever changes at good old State U.

It took a 3 tournament births, an elite 8 run, an A10 championship, and a top 5 NBA draft pick to get the Ryan Center.

That was the exception, not the rule - as we just decided to not invest in the program for 12 years, just expecting the RC to be enough. It wasn't until Dan got here and demanded changes that the wheel started to turn even the tiniest bit.

We were in the bottom third of the conference in terms of program investments, endowments, etc, throughout the 2000's. We've gotten better, but what does that do exactly? If you are running a marathon and just stop running in mile 3, you don't get applauded when you start running at the same speed as everyone else again. Now you're just 10 miles behind and until you start running faster you'll never catch up.

Everyone else kept investing while we stood pat - practice facilities, charter flights for the team, charter flights for recruiting visits, etc. We just kept saying how great the Ryan Center is - and don't get me wrong it's one of the best venues in the conference. Yes we've updated it, but it's also almost 20 years old. Seriously, what else have we done?

It took us 18 years to get a damn film room done. A FILM ROOM. It took 18 years of our players sitting on TO stools to watch film before we made a change. It's nice but it's not even dedicated to men's basketball and it doubles as a press conference room.

Updated the locker room? Again it's nice - but it's also small and it's lacking in a lot of the amenities that other A10 programs have, and is far behind what big programs (like UConn) have.

Do people realize that Dan relied on his friendships with other coaches to bum rides on their chartered flights to recruiting areas?

That stories like us bringing the A10 trophy through airport security, while cute, are embarrassing for a program that wants to be respected?

I really don't think the vast majority of our fans and boosters fully appreciate what is actually needed to be done in order to compete at this level of basketball.

Exactly this!

[rambone 78]

For us to compete even with BE schools, we would need either very rich boosters, or a very big TV contract like they have.

Otherwise, ain't happening...ever.

URI will never pony up money of that magnitude.

And we play in a Little Sisters of the Poor conference compared to the top 7 or so.

Wonder why anybody good leaves as soon as they can? Other than McKillop of course.

[RF1]

What troubles me in the last year is that we finally realized a big increase in the basketball program's cash flow and none of it is noticeably being poured back into the program. We will have just had two of the four best attendance RC averages ever back to back which surely raised ticket revenue. We are experiencing far more sponsor revenue. The two previous seasons resulted in NCAA appearances with wins that translates into big money for some six years of the payout. URI got a $1.5M buyout from the last coach. David Cox makes a few hundred thousand less than his predecessor. All of this and not a single really tangible investment. The only thing the public knows about is that the school increased the assistant coaching salary pool by $25k. Where is all the increased revenue going? Is the men hoops program seeing any of it that we are unaware of?

[steviep123]

So what does Davidson have to keep McKillop for so long? Is he a rare breed or do they have what is necessary? Same for Schmidt at SBU and Marelli at SJU? I'm sure all three have had their share of offers.

Or what do we do to keep the program going when we lose a coach ala Xavier?

[rambone 78]

RF1, my guess is at least some of the money is going to other programs....including football.

McKillop imo is that rare breed, he's perfectly happy where he is and he's not getting any younger. Same with the others.

To keep the program going, hire a proven winner and pay him accordingly? There's always risk....but certainly less than hiring an unproven coach on the cheap. And program enhancements? FOLLOW THROUGH with them.

Of course, we all wanted Cox in order to keep the recruits...I think we've learned a hard lesson by doing that...although DC still might turn out OK.

The jury's out on him. But they'll be back with their verdict fairly soon.

[TruePoint]

As far as paying Dan earlier and keeping him, he was always going to go to UConn. They could have backed the Brinks truck up to his office door at any time, it wouldn’t have made a difference. The UConn brand mattered to him. Unfortunately for us, he is the last person in the basketball world for whom it still had any resonance, but those are the breaks.

See this is the only place I disagree. You're dead on with everything else - no one goes and gets a new job by announcing it to their current employer before it happens. No one announces to their current employer that they're looking for a new job. There's always backchanneling - especially in basketball.

However, I'll go to my grave truly believing that had we broken ground on a new practice facility (or started renovating tootell) in April 2017, put a contract in front of Dan that kept his salary the same but added another $100k into the assistants pool, and guaranteed charter flights to our away games - Tom Moore is never hired here, and the UConn backchanneling never begins.

URI was never going to offer Dan the top money contract he could get elsewhere, our only chance was to prove we were as committed to the basketball program winning as he was. We obviously were a year too late with the offer - and despite all of that, there's still no charter flights and no practice facility, which is why it's always tough to take our offers serious.

It's always been about program support for Dan. One day maybe it'll be a priority for us too.

Totally agree here Blue Man. I think this whole Dan conspiracy theory is just becoming another way for us as fans to not look in the mirror and realize the shortcomings of the current AD and administration in doing what is necessary to compete at the level we all want.

I would agree with this if he had left to go to Pitt. I truly don’t think there is any scenario in which he was offered the UConn job and wouldn’t have taken it. I think as soon as they decided they wanted him to coach there, it was a fait accompli - whenever that actually was or how aware our people were of it at the time. That doesn’t mean I don’t agree with all the other points being made here: we are, in general, way too passive and not assertive enough; we are way too conservative in our thinking and not aggressive enough; we are way too reactive and not proactive enough. This is in URI’s DNA, and it’s the main reason why Dan was so much more valuable to us than he would be to anyone else - he was dragging URI, kicking and screaming, to a way of thinking and operating that is totally unnatural to it and that’s exactly what we need.

And I also agree with the idea that we should have opened the vault for him earlier, even if it wouldn’t have ultimately stopped him from going to UConn it would have helped the program tremendously to set the precedent with the boosters, to have broken ground on the practice facility (you don’t stop building an infrastructure protect part way thru because the coach leaves), etc.

I just think UConn was a thing for him in his head in a way that URI never could have been. You never know what associations people have with certain institutions or brands, for Dan the UConn brand holds a lot of weight, as bizarre as we may find it.

[Billyboy78]

Even Ace says that UCONN was always his destination job. He's where he's always wanted to be.

[steviep123]

Even Ace says that UCONN was always his destination job. He's where he's always wanted to be.

I thought Ace or someone else maybe said, he had 3 destination jobs, UConn being one of them. It would be interesting to know what the other two are and if either of them open up while he's still at UConn would he go?

[adam914]

See this is the only place I disagree. You're dead on with everything else - no one goes and gets a new job by announcing it to their current employer before it happens. No one announces to their current employer that they're looking for a new job. There's always backchanneling - especially in basketball.

However, I'll go to my grave truly believing that had we broken ground on a new practice facility (or started renovating tootell) in April 2017, put a contract in front of Dan that kept his salary the same but added another $100k into the assistants pool, and guaranteed charter flights to our away games - Tom Moore is never hired here, and the UConn backchanneling never begins.

URI was never going to offer Dan the top money contract he could get elsewhere, our only chance was to prove we were as committed to the basketball program winning as he was. We obviously were a year too late with the offer - and despite all of that, there's still no charter flights and no practice facility, which is why it's always tough to take our offers serious.

It's always been about program support for Dan. One day maybe it'll be a priority for us too.

Totally agree here Blue Man. I think this whole Dan conspiracy theory is just becoming another way for us as fans to not look in the mirror and realize the shortcomings of the current AD and administration in doing what is necessary to compete at the level we all want.

I would agree with this if he had left to go to Pitt. I truly don’t think there is any scenario in which he was offered the UConn job and wouldn’t have taken it. I think as soon as they decided they wanted him to coach there, it was a fait accompli - whenever that actually was or how aware our people were of it at the time. That doesn’t mean I don’t agree with all the other points being made here: we are, in general, way too passive and not assertive enough; we are way too conservative in our thinking and not aggressive enough; we are way too reactive and not proactive enough. This is in URI’s DNA, and it’s the main reason why Dan was so much more valuable to us than he would be to anyone else - he was dragging URI, kicking and screaming, to a way of thinking and operating that is totally unnatural to it and that’s exactly what we need.

And I also agree with the idea that we should have opened the vault for him earlier, even if it wouldn’t have ultimately stopped him from going to UConn it would have helped the program tremendously to set the precedent with the boosters, to have broken ground on the practice facility (you don’t stop building an infrastructure protect part way thru because the coach leaves), etc.

I just think UConn was a thing for him in his head in a way that URI never could have been. You never know what associations people have with certain institutions or brands, for Dan the UConn brand holds a lot of weight, as bizarre as we may find it.

I totally agree with all of this to, I just don't think it means there was some behind the scenes conspiracy to make it all happen. And truthfully I am a lot less concerned with how Dan was recruited for the UConn job and way more concerned with how URI chooses to react to him leaving. So far I am not encouraged. And I think focusing on whatever back channel stuff may or may not have happened with Dan is just easier for fans then to focus on URI's own responsibility in the whole thing. It's much easier to blame someone else and claim we were screwed over somehow then it is to admit that we aren't willing to do what it takes to be what we wish we were. (And that's not all directed at you TP, speaking much more in general terms here)

[TruePoint]

The only reason I care about the back channel stuff and the timing is how last season ended. Agree that it is more or less irrelevant for everything that happened after the day Dan told Thorr he was taking the UConn job.

[rjsuperfly66]

So what does Davidson have to keep McKillop for so long? Is he a rare breed or do they have what is necessary? Same for Schmidt at SBU and Marelli at SJU? I'm sure all three have had their share of offers.

Or what do we do to keep the program going when we lose a coach ala Xavier?

McKillop was 57 years old when he had his first meaningful season at Davidson. Even then for a guy who has held up in folklore as a great coach, he has only 3 NCAA Tournament wins, which all came during the 2008 NCAA Tournament with Stephen Curry. He has 8 NCAA Tournament appearances in 29 years. He's thought of as a great basketball mind, and he's had some fun runs, but had he proven elite, maybe someone would have taken a shot on him. At this point, makes no sense for him to ever consider a move.

As for Xavier, I believe they are totally driven by their resources. Xavier spends a ton of money on it's basketball program and they've had sustained success to support it. In 2016, Xavier had $7.8 million in basketball expenses and posted $12.7 million in revenue. URI spent $4.7 million on basketball expenses, and posted just $4.8 in revenues. That was the 6th highest expenditures in the A10 in that year. Infrastructure is so important.

[RF1]

RF1, my guess is at least some of the money is going to other programs....including football.

McKillop imo is that rare breed, he's perfectly happy where he is and he's not getting any younger. Same with the others.

To keep the program going, hire a proven winner and pay him accordingly? There's always risk....but certainly less than hiring an unproven coach on the cheap. And program enhancements? FOLLOW THROUGH with them.

Of course, we all wanted Cox in order to keep the recruits...I think we've learned a hard lesson by doing that...although DC still might turn out OK.

The jury's out on him. But they'll be back with their verdict fairly soon.

I don't have an issue with SOME of the money going to the general athletics budget to fund other sports. I however would hope that most of it gets poured back into the men's hoops program. To date that has not been done with any of this new increased revenue. In fact, the program is actually spending LESS now. The extra $25k spent paying the assistants is just a small portion of the savings from the reduced head coaching salary.

It takes a successful program to generate money. Continued success requires constant investment. URI is not doing that. I will ultimately pay the price as success and revenue will fall off and it will have to start all over again.

[rjsuperfly66]

RF1, my guess is at least some of the money is going to other programs....including football.

McKillop imo is that rare breed, he's perfectly happy where he is and he's not getting any younger. Same with the others.

To keep the program going, hire a proven winner and pay him accordingly? There's always risk....but certainly less than hiring an unproven coach on the cheap. And program enhancements? FOLLOW THROUGH with them.

Of course, we all wanted Cox in order to keep the recruits...I think we've learned a hard lesson by doing that...although DC still might turn out OK.

The jury's out on him. But they'll be back with their verdict fairly soon.

I don't have an issue with SOME of the money going to the general athletics budget to fund other sports. I however would hope that most of it gets poured back into the men's hoops program. To date that has not been done with any of this new increased revenue. In fact, the program is actually spending LESS now. The extra $25k spent paying the assistants is just a small portion of the savings from the reduced head coaching salary.

It takes a successful program to generate money. Continued success requires constant investment. URI is not doing that. I will ultimately pay the price as success and revenue will fall off and it will have to start all over again.

Would it make you feel better though if spending less now led towards enhancements moving forward (let's say allocation towards any program enhancements listed in prior posts)? The hope would be that the savings is simply being placed somewhere to be invested later, and not allocated into other directions.

[RF1]

RF1, my guess is at least some of the money is going to other programs....including football.

McKillop imo is that rare breed, he's perfectly happy where he is and he's not getting any younger. Same with the others.

To keep the program going, hire a proven winner and pay him accordingly? There's always risk....but certainly less than hiring an unproven coach on the cheap. And program enhancements? FOLLOW THROUGH with them.

Of course, we all wanted Cox in order to keep the recruits...I think we've learned a hard lesson by doing that...although DC still might turn out OK.

The jury's out on him. But they'll be back with their verdict fairly soon.

I don't have an issue with SOME of the money going to the general athletics budget to fund other sports. I however would hope that most of it gets poured back into the men's hoops program. To date that has not been done with any of this new increased revenue. In fact, the program is actually spending LESS now. The extra $25k spent paying the assistants is just a small portion of the savings from the reduced head coaching salary.

It takes a successful program to generate money. Continued success requires constant investment. URI is not doing that. I will ultimately pay the price as success and revenue will fall off and it will have to start all over again.

Would it make you feel better though if spending less now led towards enhancements moving forward (let's say allocation towards any program enhancements listed in prior posts)? The hope would be that the savings is simply being placed somewhere to be invested later, and not allocated into other directions.

I would feel much better if it was actually allocated via a real public announcement to go to long term benefits for the program. To date, nothing but the sound of crickets in Kingston. Actual proof of real actions needs to be shown to supporters given the history.

[adam914]

The only reason I care about the back channel stuff and the timing is how last season ended. Agree that it is more or less irrelevant for everything that happened after the day Dan told Thorr he was taking the UConn job.

I guess I can understand that if you truly think it had a measurable affect on how the season ended. I guess that's open for debate and something we'll never truly know. I doubt it had much affect at all, but that's just my opinion obviously.

[RF1]

I don't necessarily think that Moore came here with the intention of luring Hurley to UConn. I however do feel there were back channels going on throughout the year and suspect that Moore was involved given his connections. I think UConn knew from intermediaries that Hurley had high interest in the job before they fired Ollie. That is why there is ZERO evidence that UConn had any interest in any other candidate. I personally think there had been some interaction going on for months before it went down.

[daytonflyerfan]

Stop it, that's still dumb. There's a difference between Fordham who is always bad, and URI who funds around 5th-6th in the league.

Just based upon attendance, you guys are around 2nd place, give or take a few spots with VCU, SLU, and Richmond. We are 1st. 5th or 6th seems too low.

[daytonflyerfan]

And you guys are having a comparable year to us last year.

Us last year, rpi 147.

You, rpi 139.

One year can make a big difference.

[Blue Man]

And you guys are having a comparable year to us last year.

Us last year, rpi 147.

You, rpi 139.

One year can make a big difference.

Fair. But when you hire a guy with the plus of “keeping a good thing going” and then the good thing stops going, you get a lot of this.

Had we gone with an outside hire there might have been more patience.

Reality is we hired a guy who’s coached half the roster and recruited the other half. We had higher expectations because of that.

[daytonflyerfan]

And you guys are having a comparable year to us last year.

Us last year, rpi 147.

You, rpi 139.

One year can make a big difference.

Fair. But when you hire a guy with the plus of “keeping a good thing going” and then the good thing stops going, you get a lot of this.

Had we gone with an outside hire there might have been more patience.

Reality is we hired a guy who’s coached half the roster and recruited the other half. We had higher expectations because of that.

Sean Miller's first year at Xavier was pretty rough. It happens. His 2nd year was not great either, by Xavier standards, but they won the A10T.

Miller was an in-house assistant promoted to be the head coach.

1st year, 17-12, rpi 139

2nd year, 21-10, rpi 80

And obviously, he was great thereafter.

[steviep123]

DaytonFlyerFan, please educate me. When Grant replaced Archie Miller before last season, how was the roster? Did you lose a lot of recruits or current players? I think I vaguely remember Dayton losing some people but I can't remember the details or if they were major pieces.