2023 CBB Post Season All Things NCAA/NIT

[PeterRamTime]

MId major guaranteed into the Final game.

First time since 2011 - VCU vs. Butler. Winner met UConn…

Yep whose gonna lose to UConn in the final? Lol

[reef]

This was a class move - KSUs coach Tang going into FAUs locker room to congratulate them and tell the team to stay focused etc.



https://www.cbssports.com/college-baske ... ite-eight/

Good find Stevie , class act for sure

[section(105)]

Re: Creighton vs SDSU end of game foul call. I will go with, a foul is a foul. Which it was.

[reef]

I actually didn’t like the call there , I let them play on

[Jersey77]

Re: Creighton vs SDSU end of game foul call. I will go with, a foul is a foul. Which it was.

It was a very physical game, surprised they blew the whistle on that one as time ran out.
There were worse fouls that weren't called, especially when Nembhard was hit on the wrist and he wasn't the same afterward.
Tough way to lose a chance to go to the Final 4.

But happy for SDSU, they play great defense.

[PeterRamTime]

Jordan Miller of Miami

I remember back when he came off the bench and killed us in his first ever D1 basketball game.

[steveystuds06]

UConn hasn’t played a team like Texas. Especially if Disu comes back. They will have a very tough time against them. The crazy thing is Miami is playing great. Texas is just that good…

[Billyboy78]

Yep.

[Nastyboy]

Re: Creighton vs SDSU end of game foul call. I will go with, a foul is a foul. Which it was.

If the game wasn't called tight the entire time then you don't call that foul with a Final Four on the line.

[ace]

San Diego State, Florida Atlantic, Miami, UConn

Sure, why not. My god I love college basketball.

[theblueram]

A 9 two 5's and a 4 in the Final 4. Love it.

[KevanBoyles]

Final Four with RI roots.

[bigappleram]

Miami doesn’t have much height. Not a great formula for Sanogo/Clingan. Uconn could boatrace 2 more.

[bigappleram]

Also Antwan Walker for Miami who Cox recruited hard. Hasn’t gotten much burn there.

[steveystuds06]

Miami doesn’t have much height. Not a great formula for Sanogo/Clingan. Uconn could boatrace 2 more.

But man they can score. So many weapons on the offensive end. I think it’s gonna be a battle. Winner of that games wins the national championship.

[PeterRamTime]

Miami doesn’t have much height. Not a great formula for Sanogo/Clingan. Uconn could boatrace 2 more.

Yeah, but they score so well. I don't think it'll be easy for UConn.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Final Four with RI roots.

Larranaga is an alumnus of the mental hospital. Nuf ced.

[bigappleram]

Miami doesn’t have much height. Not a great formula for Sanogo/Clingan. Uconn could boatrace 2 more.

But man they can score. So many weapons on the offensive end. I think it’s gonna be a battle. Winner of that games wins the national championship.

This is true. And they have 2 really good guards that can keep them in it. Think they will really struggle to stop uconn inside.

[ramster]

Jordan Miller of Miami

I remember back when he came off the bench and killed us in his first ever D1 basketball game.

Jordan Miller played 3 years at George Mason then transferred to Miami for the last 2 years.
Jim Larranaga recruited Miller to Miami.
Larranaga got George Mason to the Final 4, now has Miami on the Final 4

Miller shot perfect today against Texas hitting all 20 of the shots he took
7-7 FG
13-13 FT
27 points

[scine20]

Of over 20 million entries on ESPN.com, based on the leaderboard it looks like 11 had the final four perfect. Amazing...

[Billyboy78]

[bigappleram]

You have 1 roster built predominantly thru development and continuity in FAU. SDSU and UConn’s were built similarly with a mix of development/continuity and Portalpalooza. And Miami’s built with the Benjamin’s from Johnny Ruiz.

Since we don’t have a Johnny I’m thinking a mix of continuity and portaling will be Archie’s formula.

[PeterRamTime]

You have 1 roster built predominantly thru development and continuity in FAU. SDSU and UConn’s were built similarly with a mix of development/continuity and Portalpalooza. And Miami’s built with the Benjamin’s from Johnny Ruiz.

Since we don’t have a Johnny I’m thinking a mix of continuity and portaling will be Archie’s formula.

And we shouldn't be concerned because Miami has a billionaire willing to throw money around like that. He's like the only person doing that in the country.

[reef]

I’m rooting for UConn to cut down the nets cuz I am a DH guy if they fail then I want FAU

[ramster]

Dusty May's high school gym is nearly the same size as FAU's arena

FAU is among the best college basketball teams this season, but its arena isn't in the same league as other heavyweights in the sport. With a capacity of 2,900, it's only slightly larger than Eastern Greene High School's gym of 2,800.

2018-2019: 17-16 overall, 8-10 Conference USA

2019-2020: 17-15, 8-10

2020-2021: 13-10, 7-5

2021-2022: 19-15, 11-7

2022-2023: 35-3, 18-2

Dusty May is a former Bob Knight student manager at Indiana University

After high school, May spent a year at Oakland City, 40 miles north of Evansville, then transferred to IU, where the doctor whose grass he once cut put in a word with Coach Knight.

May served as a student manager at IU from 1996 until 2000.

“What I learned from Coach Knight was the value of being a great teacher. Every year I coach I try to be a better teacher. Looking back, it was how simple Coach Knight made complex things.”


https://www.yahoo.com/news/5-things-kno ... 17118.html

[Rhode_Island_Red]

You have 1 roster built predominantly thru development and continuity in FAU. SDSU and UConn’s were built similarly with a mix of development/continuity and Portalpalooza. And Miami’s built with the Benjamin’s from Johnny Ruiz.

Since we don’t have a Johnny I’m thinking a mix of continuity and portaling will be Archie’s formula.

And we shouldn't be concerned because Miami has a billionaire willing to throw money around like that. He's like the only person doing that in the country.

That we know of.

[Rhody09]

Great interview with Hurley on Pardon My Take. One interesting tidbit that I haven't heard before, paraphrased below:

“My first couple days on the job when I got to Uconn – cause I loved Rhode Island – that last team with Fatts and EC Matthews and Jared Terrel – beating Tre Young and Oklahoma first round of the tournament. That was a fun team, we won a lot of games. I had this great team that I loved to death, and I took that job at UConn, and it was a disaster. Talent, the way these guys were moving on campus, academics, behavior – it was so far away from anything you could win with – everything was a mess. […] The day after the press conference, I had buyer’s remorse. I was calling my agent like ‘can I go back?’ They explained the buyout, and I said ‘I guess I’ll just stay.’”

[Blue Man]

Great interview with Hurley on Pardon My Take. One interesting tidbit that I haven't heard before, paraphrased below:

“My first couple days on the job when I got to Uconn – cause I loved Rhode Island – that last team with Fatts and EC Matthews and Jared Terrel – beating Tre Young and Oklahoma first round of the tournament. That was a fun team, we won a lot of games. I had this great team that I loved to death, and I took that job at UConn, and it was a disaster. Talent, the way these guys were moving on campus, academics, behavior – it was so far away from anything you could win with – everything was a mess. […] The day after the press conference, I had buyer’s remorse. I was calling my agent like ‘can I go back?’ They explained the buyout, and I said ‘I guess I’ll just stay.’”

Once again. Had we invested in 2017 the way we are investing now, Danny never sets anything in motion. We messed up, and we've rectified. What he's doing at UConn he would've done here - as long as we had supported him the same. Thank Dave Dooley. If Parlange was here then, the world would be different for us.

Good for Dan. He showed everyone what's possible here. Him and Cox back to back showed everyone the contrast between what could be and what was, and why you need to invest.

Above it all Dan's a good guy, who gave us 100% the entire time he was here (unlike Eddy "first round exit"). Dan's a great example for anyone who coaches. He deserves all the support he got from UConn, and he's repaying them in kind with the run they're on.

[Billyboy78]

Great interview with Hurley on Pardon My Take. One interesting tidbit that I haven't heard before, paraphrased below:

“My first couple days on the job when I got to Uconn – cause I loved Rhode Island – that last team with Fatts and EC Matthews and Jared Terrel – beating Tre Young and Oklahoma first round of the tournament. That was a fun team, we won a lot of games. I had this great team that I loved to death, and I took that job at UConn, and it was a disaster. Talent, the way these guys were moving on campus, academics, behavior – it was so far away from anything you could win with – everything was a mess. […] The day after the press conference, I had buyer’s remorse. I was calling my agent like ‘can I go back?’ They explained the buyout, and I said ‘I guess I’ll just stay.’”

Once again. Had we invested in 2017 the way we are investing now, Danny never sets anything in motion. We messed up, and we've rectified. What he's doing at UConn he would've done here - as long as we had supported him the same. Thank Dave Dooley. If Parlange was here then, the world would be different for us.

Good for Dan. He showed everyone what's possible here. Him and Cox back to back showed everyone the contrast between what could be and what was, and why you need to invest.

Above it all Dan's a good guy, who gave us 100% the entire time he was here (unlike Eddy "first round exit"). Dan's a great example for anyone who coaches. He deserves all the support he got from UConn, and he's repaying them in kind with the run they're on.

It's tough thinking about 'what could have been' if we had been proactive and were able to keep him here. Brings back memories of both Penders and Harrick as we were becoming nationally relevant then right back to irrelevancy.

[Blue Man]

Great interview with Hurley on Pardon My Take. One interesting tidbit that I haven't heard before, paraphrased below:

“My first couple days on the job when I got to Uconn – cause I loved Rhode Island – that last team with Fatts and EC Matthews and Jared Terrel – beating Tre Young and Oklahoma first round of the tournament. That was a fun team, we won a lot of games. I had this great team that I loved to death, and I took that job at UConn, and it was a disaster. Talent, the way these guys were moving on campus, academics, behavior – it was so far away from anything you could win with – everything was a mess. […] The day after the press conference, I had buyer’s remorse. I was calling my agent like ‘can I go back?’ They explained the buyout, and I said ‘I guess I’ll just stay.’”

Once again. Had we invested in 2017 the way we are investing now, Danny never sets anything in motion. We messed up, and we've rectified. What he's doing at UConn he would've done here - as long as we had supported him the same. Thank Dave Dooley. If Parlange was here then, the world would be different for us.

Good for Dan. He showed everyone what's possible here. Him and Cox back to back showed everyone the contrast between what could be and what was, and why you need to invest.

Above it all Dan's a good guy, who gave us 100% the entire time he was here (unlike Eddy "first round exit"). Dan's a great example for anyone who coaches. He deserves all the support he got from UConn, and he's repaying them in kind with the run they're on.

It's tough thinking about 'what could have been' if we had been proactive and were able to keep him here. Brings back memories of both Penders and Harrick as we were becoming nationally relevant then right back to irrelevancy.

I mean it's pretty easy to play that out at least in the short term.

For all the people (DC and his burners and a few others) who said "Cox had a bare cupboard" - Dan Hurley probably immediately wins another A10 title and goes to the NCAA that year. He probably goes and does the same the year after too.

Dan would've had a roster in year 1 of Cox with Jeff, Fatts, and Cyril - along with Tyrese Martin. Jeff never leaves the point. Fatts is probably reigned in.

I'd imagine Jacob Toppin comes and stays too.

Maybe Dan leaves then for UConn - or maybe we've continued to invest. What I do know is that Dan was going to leave anywhere that his own ambitions are outpacing the investments of where he is. And he'll stay anywhere the investments of where he is are prepared to meet him wherever he goes.

The "brand" was important - but he also talked about the weight of it. He could've built a brand here too.

What mattered to Dan was the tangible things EVERYWHERE in the program - from the arena to the promotions to the pep band.

He also needed the infrastructure to win - film rooms, athletic training rooms, charter flights, assistant coaches budget, practice facility. He got some of those things here - but not everything. Worse, he couldn't even get a commitment on those things.

Everything that he had to scratch and claw to get at URI - UConn already had in place on day 1. So he was comparing all of that - even with the rebuild - against what we had at URI. We didn't come close - but worse, we lacked the ambition to. That's why he left.

[PeterRamTime]

Great interview with Hurley on Pardon My Take. One interesting tidbit that I haven't heard before, paraphrased below:

“My first couple days on the job when I got to Uconn – cause I loved Rhode Island – that last team with Fatts and EC Matthews and Jared Terrel – beating Tre Young and Oklahoma first round of the tournament. That was a fun team, we won a lot of games. I had this great team that I loved to death, and I took that job at UConn, and it was a disaster. Talent, the way these guys were moving on campus, academics, behavior – it was so far away from anything you could win with – everything was a mess. […] The day after the press conference, I had buyer’s remorse. I was calling my agent like ‘can I go back?’ They explained the buyout, and I said ‘I guess I’ll just stay.’”

Once again. Had we invested in 2017 the way we are investing now, Danny never sets anything in motion. We messed up, and we've rectified. What he's doing at UConn he would've done here - as long as we had supported him the same. Thank Dave Dooley. If Parlange was here then, the world would be different for us.

Good for Dan. He showed everyone what's possible here. Him and Cox back to back showed everyone the contrast between what could be and what was, and why you need to invest.

Above it all Dan's a good guy, who gave us 100% the entire time he was here (unlike Eddy "first round exit"). Dan's a great example for anyone who coaches. He deserves all the support he got from UConn, and he's repaying them in kind with the run they're on.

It's tough thinking about 'what could have been' if we had been proactive and were able to keep him here. Brings back memories of both Penders and Harrick as we were becoming nationally relevant then right back to irrelevancy.

Yeah we have all been thinkin that lately for sure

And I'm also like, WHEN Archie gets us rolling, can he please just stay a little while?? At least don't bolt immediately after one or two tournament runs. Ponders left after one, AL, Jim and Dan after two. Let's at the very least get three out of you Archie!

[steveystuds06]

I don't believe for a second that Dan stays here. He was always going to Uconn. Hard to find loyal coaches in this day and age. I thought Cooley was one of the good ones, but even he bailed.

[RI_Bred]

Yeah we have all been thinkin that lately for sure

And I'm also like, WHEN Archie gets us rolling, can he please just stay a little while?? At least don't bolt immediately after one or two tournament runs. Ponders left after one, AL, Jim and Dan after two. Let's at the very least get three out of you Archie!

Pay him appropriately if/when the time comes.

[Rhody15]

I don't believe for a second that Dan stays here. He was always going to Uconn. Hard to find loyal coaches in this day and age. I thought Cooley was one of the good ones, but even he bailed.

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

[bigappleram]

Once again. Had we invested in 2017 the way we are investing now, Danny never sets anything in motion. We messed up, and we've rectified. What he's doing at UConn he would've done here - as long as we had supported him the same. Thank Dave Dooley. If Parlange was here then, the world would be different for us.

Good for Dan. He showed everyone what's possible here. Him and Cox back to back showed everyone the contrast between what could be and what was, and why you need to invest.

Above it all Dan's a good guy, who gave us 100% the entire time he was here (unlike Eddy "first round exit"). Dan's a great example for anyone who coaches. He deserves all the support he got from UConn, and he's repaying them in kind with the run they're on.

It's tough thinking about 'what could have been' if we had been proactive and were able to keep him here. Brings back memories of both Penders and Harrick as we were becoming nationally relevant then right back to irrelevancy.

I mean it's pretty easy to play that out at least in the short term.

For all the people (DC and his burners and a few others) who said "Cox had a bare cupboard" - Dan Hurley probably immediately wins another A10 title and goes to the NCAA that year. He probably goes and does the same the year after too.

Dan would've had a roster in year 1 of Cox with Jeff, Fatts, and Cyril - along with Tyrese Martin. Jeff never leaves the point. Fatts is probably reigned in.

I'd imagine Jacob Toppin comes and stays too.

Maybe Dan leaves then for UConn - or maybe we've continued to invest. What I do know is that Dan was going to leave anywhere that his own ambitions are outpacing the investments of where he is. And he'll stay anywhere the investments of where he is are prepared to meet him wherever he goes.

The "brand" was important - but he also talked about the weight of it. He could've built a brand here too.

What mattered to Dan was the tangible things EVERYWHERE in the program - from the arena to the promotions to the pep band.

He also needed the infrastructure to win - film rooms, athletic training rooms, charter flights, assistant coaches budget, practice facility. He got some of those things here - but not everything. Worse, he couldn't even get a commitment on those things.

Everything that he had to scratch and claw to get at URI - UConn already had in place on day 1. So he was comparing all of that - even with the rebuild - against what we had at URI. We didn't come close - but worse, we lacked the ambition to. That's why he left.

I think UConn getting back in the Big East is the big outlier here. And Dan was clued in that the wheels were in motion for that when he agreed to the job. Uconn in the AAC long term probably wouldn't have drawn him there. They weren't the Uconn of old in the AAC and Dan knew that. He couldn't sell that to recruits. That was a key development.

[Jersey77]

I don't believe for a second that Dan stays here. He was always going to Uconn. Hard to find loyal coaches in this day and age. I thought Cooley was one of the good ones, but even he bailed.

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

C'mon Dan had no intention of coming back.
Shouldn't take it that literally, lots of things are said but not really meant.

[Rhody15]

I don't believe for a second that Dan stays here. He was always going to Uconn. Hard to find loyal coaches in this day and age. I thought Cooley was one of the good ones, but even he bailed.

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

C'mon Dan had no intention of coming back.
Shouldn't take it that literally, lots of things are said but not really meant.

Don't really see why he would embellish all these years after though.

[Jersey77]

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

C'mon Dan had no intention of coming back.
Shouldn't take it that literally, lots of things are said but not really meant.

Don't really see why he would embellish all these years after though.

Because at the time just after he took the UConn job, it was all probably a little overwhelming and stressful.
He enjoyed it here and was in his comfort zone.

But aside from the $, UConn was a great opportunity that he couldn't pass up.
Besides he does like the challenge which he said on First Take.

[PeterRamTime]

I think if we had ponied up the investments after 2017 he would have stayed a little while longer. He probably still would have moved on.

Like maybe gets us to the dance a couple more times without any big time runs then goes somewhere like UConn.

Idk. The allure of UConn would have still been difficult for him to pass even with everything promised.

You also gotta wonder, if Hass doesn't get hurt and we go sweet 16 or deeper how much changes?

[rambone 78]

We could have made the FF in 2017 if Hass hadn't gotten hurt.

Dan would have had a TON of P5 suitors if that had happened.

[Blue Man]

I think if we had ponied up the investments after 2017 he would have stayed a little while longer. He probably still would have moved on.

Like maybe gets us to the dance a couple more times without any big time runs then goes somewhere like UConn.

Idk. The allure of UConn would have still been difficult for him to pass even with everything promised.

You also gotta wonder, if Hass doesn't get hurt and we go sweet 16 or deeper how much changes?

Or if they rightly call the blocking foul.

I agree. Sweet 16 maybe opens up our wallets more. Maybe none of this happens.

The allure of UConn definitely mattered - and maybe he was always going to wind up there. But it wasn't the allure of UConn's brand that made him want to go there. It wasn't the promise of anything - Dan's a maniac, he believes he can win and take over any challenge. But it was the hard and fast reality of what UConn already had vs what URI wasn't even willing to promise.

That's why Thorr talked so much during the Archie process about what URI was already doing. We were breaking ground on the practice facility. Here's what we can do for your coaching pool. Here's charter flights. Here's this and that. We made those mistakes of not having that with Dan.

Dan walked into a practice facility at UConn. A big one. URI's best contract offer (a year too late) was that we would have one in FIVE YEARS. Guess what? 5 years later - we still don't have one (obviously it's coming now, but you get the point). Even still - Dan lost Luke Murray (who is now back with him), Antonio Reynolds Dean, and Preston Murphy to assistant coaching jobs elsewhere - not HC jobs, assistant jobs. His top guys at UConn have always made more than his entire coaches pool at URI.

I'll take it to the grave that if we present Dan with a $2M contract in March 2017, a $750k assistants pool, and the immediate start of construction on a practice facility - Jim Calhoun never comes to a URI practice that summer, and Tom Moore isn't hired as a coach here.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

I don't believe for a second that Dan stays here. He was always going to Uconn. Hard to find loyal coaches in this day and age. I thought Cooley was one of the good ones, but even he bailed.

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

He wasn't staying.

Not after Slickee-boy Moore whispered sweet nothings in his ear for a whole year, not with Arrogant Haystack Calhoun at his practices -- you can only imagine what those two said to him about URI.

[Blue Man]

I don't believe for a second that Dan stays here. He was always going to Uconn. Hard to find loyal coaches in this day and age. I thought Cooley was one of the good ones, but even he bailed.

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

He wasn't staying.

Not after Slickee-boy Moore whispered sweet nothings in his ear for a whole year, not with Arrogant Haystack Calhoun at his practices -- you can only imagine what those two said to him about URI.

What they said? Or what he saw?

Because saying things like "imagine what you could do with a practice facility, charter flights, and not losing your assistant coaches every year" isn't really slander if it's true.

In fact. That's literally exactly what Dan asked for that we didn't provide.

I really don't understand some in this fanbase. URI needed to invest to keep someone like Dan. For some reason you think people who didn't go here/didn't grow up here should love URI like we do. Dan did exactly what we asked of him - got us to national prominence and winning without scandal. We were a national conversation piece by him doing things the right way. We did literally nothing in return that Dan asked of us as a fanbase or university:

Invest: assistant coaches, charter flights, practice facility.

Show up: We didn't come close to selling out every game down the stretch those 2 years we were good. We had "historically good" attendance for URI - but we as a fanbase fell short of our commitment as well. We got good and couldn't fill up our 7700 seat arena. UConn had more people in the building than us when they were bad, then they got good and routinely sell out a 10k and 15k arena.

I'm sure it wasn't hard for Calhoun to "sell" UConn against URI when you look at everything that Dan saw and then asked us to provide.

URI also needed to invest to get someone like Archie. We finally started investing. Too late for Dan, but at least we got Arch.

[ace]

I am so glad those people were around to tell Dan about UConn, a basketball program with which he had no familiarity and certainly had never even heard of. Quite a break for him!

Archie got money and resources and more than empty promises. He’s going to turn that into URI basketball being fun again. These are good things. Be happy.

[steviep123]

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

He wasn't staying.

Not after Slickee-boy Moore whispered sweet nothings in his ear for a whole year, not with Arrogant Haystack Calhoun at his practices -- you can only imagine what those two said to him about URI.

What they said? Or what he saw?

Because saying things like "imagine what you could do with a practice facility, charter flights, and not losing your assistant coaches every year" isn't really slander if it's true.

In fact. That's literally exactly what Dan asked for that we didn't provide.

I really don't understand some in this fanbase. URI needed to invest to keep someone like Dan. For some reason you think people who didn't go here/didn't grow up here should love URI like we do. Dan did exactly what we asked of him - got us to national prominence and winning without scandal. We were a national conversation piece by him doing things the right way. We did literally nothing in return that Dan asked of us as a fanbase or university:

Invest: assistant coaches, charter flights, practice facility.

Show up: We didn't come close to selling out every game down the stretch those 2 years we were good. We had "historically good" attendance for URI - but we as a fanbase fell short of our commitment as well. We got good and couldn't fill up our 7700 seat arena. UConn had more people in the building than us when they were bad, then they got good and routinely sell out a 10k and 15k arena.

I'm sure it wasn't hard for Calhoun to "sell" UConn against URI when you look at everything that Dan saw and then asked us to provide.

URI also needed to invest to get someone like Archie. We finally started investing. Too late for Dan, but at least we got Arch.

And even more important, when URI becomes good (not if, but when) this investment will make it harder for Archie to leave, but also, if he does, will allow us to have a better class of candidates to replace him. We need to continue to improve investments. While the past 5 years have sucked, Dan would have eventually left if not that year then some other time without these investments so we are where we are. Now keep improving the backbone, Arch turns us into the winner we can become and let it feed itself. Yes, it's easy to fall into the "what if" rabbit hole and forget about the future, knowing we had THE GUY and he's doing that with another team. The best time to invest in the needed infrastructure and program improvements was six years ago. The second best time is NOW. We're doing it now. Keep it going.

[PeterRamTime]

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

He wasn't staying.

Not after Slickee-boy Moore whispered sweet nothings in his ear for a whole year, not with Arrogant Haystack Calhoun at his practices -- you can only imagine what those two said to him about URI.

What they said? Or what he saw?

Because saying things like "imagine what you could do with a practice facility, charter flights, and not losing your assistant coaches every year" isn't really slander if it's true.

In fact. That's literally exactly what Dan asked for that we didn't provide.

I really don't understand some in this fanbase. URI needed to invest to keep someone like Dan. For some reason you think people who didn't go here/didn't grow up here should love URI like we do. Dan did exactly what we asked of him - got us to national prominence and winning without scandal. We were a national conversation piece by him doing things the right way. We did literally nothing in return that Dan asked of us as a fanbase or university:

Invest: assistant coaches, charter flights, practice facility.

Show up: We didn't come close to selling out every game down the stretch those 2 years we were good. We had "historically good" attendance for URI - but we as a fanbase fell short of our commitment as well. We got good and couldn't fill up our 7700 seat arena. UConn had more people in the building than us when they were bad, then they got good and routinely sell out a 10k and 15k arena.

I'm sure it wasn't hard for Calhoun to "sell" UConn against URI when you look at everything that Dan saw and then asked us to provide.

URI also needed to invest to get someone like Archie. We finally started investing. Too late for Dan, but at least we got Arch.

Yeah attendance was fucking embarrassing.

I went back recently and looked

First game of the 17/18 season

6300 showed up.

You can't come close to selling out your first game after that magical 2017 run with all those guys back!?

The next home game against Holy Cross
4300...just awful

After beating Seton Hall could we could only muster 4400 against Brown.

It'll take a lot for Archie to get people back in there.

I agree with you blueman and it is perplexing how the powers at be were too stupid to realize that they just needed to invest the way Dan wanted. I mean how short sided can you be? A school like URI benefits in incalculable ways from its Men's college basketball team being good.

The real question is how is it possible that Dave Dooley did not realize this? He just never noticed how UConn or all the several colleges that benefitted dramatically by going all in on athletics?

[Jdrums#3]

I don't believe for a second that Dan stays here. He was always going to Uconn. Hard to find loyal coaches in this day and age. I thought Cooley was one of the good ones, but even he bailed.

Don't really see why he would lie on the most popular sports podcast in America and say he wanted to come back to Rhody the day after his UConn press conference.

C'mon Dan had no intention of coming back.
Shouldn't take it that literally, lots of things are said but not really meant.

Agreed, Jersey. The heart wants to come back, perhaps, but the head says no.

Therefore, he could say and mean he wanted to come back, considered coming back, etc. and sincerely mean it but his logical side won out and he went and remained at UConn.

At the end of the day, only Dan knows for sure and probably his wife.

I understand the emotional attachment here. After all, who wouldn’t like us and Rhody. We are a great bunch from an excellent institution despite some flaws that can be fixed.

[RF1]

Thorr tried to make a last pitch effort in 2018 to keep Hurley after UConn came calling. All that was offered then should have been granted a year earlier in 2017 after the A-10 Tournament Championship and NCAA appearance. URI for the most part sat back thinking a previous upgraded commitment to Hurley was enough. It was just satisfied making its first NCAA in almost 20 years and didn't send out signals it wanted that to become a regular occurrence. I think that lack of action in 2017 really sent a message to Dan and he then began thinking much more about his next gig. Moore and Calhoun, sensing it was Ollie's last season, then really got into his ear planting the seeds for the UConn move.

I am now past Hurley. I am old enough to have seen URI battling it out with UConn for NCAA bids with the teams sometimes playing one another three times in the same season. They were once a longtime rival just below PC. I will never support them. Hurley did a good job at URI and left with the program in a much better state. He however also shares some of the indirect blame for our current situation. He set things up so that Cox would be his successor. Dan made Cox associate head coach and got URI to give him an atypical non head coach buyout clause. He then gave him a big recommendation for the job when leaving. It would seem given what then transpired in the four year tenure of Cox that Dan's judgement had been flawed. We are now still dealing with the after effects of Cox being made head coach.

[reef]

Great interview with Hurley on Pardon My Take. One interesting tidbit that I haven't heard before, paraphrased below:

“My first couple days on the job when I got to Uconn – cause I loved Rhode Island – that last team with Fatts and EC Matthews and Jared Terrel – beating Tre Young and Oklahoma first round of the tournament. That was a fun team, we won a lot of games. I had this great team that I loved to death, and I took that job at UConn, and it was a disaster. Talent, the way these guys were moving on campus, academics, behavior – it was so far away from anything you could win with – everything was a mess. […] The day after the press conference, I had buyer’s remorse. I was calling my agent like ‘can I go back?’ They explained the buyout, and I said ‘I guess I’ll just stay.’”

Just goes to show you how important making the right hire is , coaching is everything in college hoops

UConn got it right in getting DH and we did too with Arch

[Jdrums#3]

Once again. Had we invested in 2017 the way we are investing now, Danny never sets anything in motion. We messed up, and we've rectified. What he's doing at UConn he would've done here - as long as we had supported him the same. Thank Dave Dooley. If Parlange was here then, the world would be different for us.

Good for Dan. He showed everyone what's possible here. Him and Cox back to back showed everyone the contrast between what could be and what was, and why you need to invest.

Above it all Dan's a good guy, who gave us 100% the entire time he was here (unlike Eddy "first round exit"). Dan's a great example for anyone who coaches. He deserves all the support he got from UConn, and he's repaying them in kind with the run they're on.

It's tough thinking about 'what could have been' if we had been proactive and were able to keep him here. Brings back memories of both Penders and Harrick as we were becoming nationally relevant then right back to irrelevancy.

I mean it's pretty easy to play that out at least in the short term.

For all the people (DC and his burners and a few others) who said "Cox had a bare cupboard" - Dan Hurley probably immediately wins another A10 title and goes to the NCAA that year. He probably goes and does the same the year after too.

Dan would've had a roster in year 1 of Cox with Jeff, Fatts, and Cyril - along with Tyrese Martin. Jeff never leaves the point. Fatts is probably reigned in.

I'd imagine Jacob Toppin comes and stays too.

Maybe Dan leaves then for UConn - or maybe we've continued to invest. What I do know is that Dan was going to leave anywhere that his own ambitions are outpacing the investments of where he is. And he'll stay anywhere the investments of where he is are prepared to meet him wherever he goes.

The "brand" was important - but he also talked about the weight of it. He could've built a brand here too.

What mattered to Dan was the tangible things EVERYWHERE in the program - from the arena to the promotions to the pep band.

He also needed the infrastructure to win - film rooms, athletic training rooms, charter flights, assistant coaches budget, practice facility. He got some of those things here - but not everything. Worse, he couldn't even get a commitment on those things.

Everything that he had to scratch and claw to get at URI - UConn already had in place on day 1. So he was comparing all of that - even with the rebuild - against what we had at URI. We didn't come close - but worse, we lacked the ambition to. That's why he left.

My personal opinion - and it is not a shot at President Dooley at all because I have a great deal of respect for him and I believe his urgent priorities were not Athletic Dept related at the time Dan left - is it took a change in Presidents to realign the priorities after the excellent job President Dooley performed addressing his urgent priorities.

Therefore, President Dooley placed new President, President Parlange, into a position to have the luxury of shifting gears a bit - which is what led to finally giving Thorr, I believe, what he needed to secure a coach of Archie’s stature.

I do not know this for a fact but, being in related meetings with university leadership and being on the periphery of what President Dooley was focusing on at the time, that is the sense I have.

Since I had to retire, I have stepped away to the point of being completely out of that loop. But, I do believe, if at all possible that President Parlange will continue to build on what he started, given the broad support needed.