KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

Hurley, loved by many, hated by few. My stomach is still turning, but just as he has moved forward, we must do the same. A few names have been floated about what should happen...want to get the boards pulse on all of this.

Cox
Oats
Becker

Three names that have been floated and I’m sure will be interviewed if Cox doesn’t automatically get the nod (which for continuity/sustainability purposes I believe URI should) but let’s look at the options and discuss as a board to get through this grieving/grim process of losing our guy, DH.

If Cox has been promised this then give him the job and see what he can do. Let's sell out the Ryan center and all stand for him at the 1st game!!!

Pitino.

So it seems there would be a buyout clause if Cox is not named head coach. I say if he can retain the current players and the commitment of the recruits we would be in a good place. If everyone bails, pay the buyout and do a search.

You gotta kick the tires on the biggest names out there. Over the course of the next 24 hours and then circle back to Cox. He could be the guy that really takes the ball and runs with it. If Cox is the hire, I am very interested to see who he hires.

Probably one of most important hires. A fan base has been established, and needs to be solidified.

If Cox is not hired, it will be a total rebuild. It would be a strong possibility that we would loose recruits and current players.

.......I have met him a couple of times, and was impressed. He would be my choice in view of where the program is currently.

I had some names in mind in case this happened, but seems like it's not worth having the discussion if Rothstein was right and Cox is coach in waiting. If it appears we have a search I'll double back

Cox

he keeps the recruits and players

he knows the Xs and Os of coaching as he was the top scout/game planner

follow the suit of VCU (Shaka) and X (Mack) and promote from within

I love this thread. We lost out on keeping our coach but made an IMPRESSIVE offer. Now we turn the page and move on. So many fans of other local programs (Just one actually) are celebrating today, which is fine.

We're a program, we act like it. Its a sad day, but not the LAST day. Its the first to find the next coach.

If Cox can keep 3/4 recruits then I say him all day, but its definitely a risk.

Hope we go with Cox...

Cox, Oats and Becker are the three logical possible replacements.

One off the radar name I would kick the tires on would be Thad Matta. He's only 50 years old and his resume speaks for itself.

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Pitino.

THINK BIG, DO WE ?

Get ready for some great sex parties if Pitino comes.

Harrick redux.....omg

funny and true !

Murphy.

Head Coach: Rick Pitino
Assistant 1: Jim Harrick
Assistant: whoever paid Ayton 100k (if he comes with a briefcase of cash)

All joking aside: my concern with someone like Matta is the moment he rebuilds (which is what would be required if anyone but Cox is hired) he'd bolt for another job. I like the Xavier/Butler approach.

My order would be:
1. Cox
2. Oats (has recruited very well at Buffalo)
3. Preston Murphy
4. Becker

The next coach will not earn what was offered these last few days to Dan for him to stay. May not even make what Dan last earned here given his qualifications. URI however should still invest in the enhancements that it proposed to Dan. The salaries for the assistants must be increased to attract and keep a quality staff. This move would be relatively low risk as most all of the positions are on short term contracts. More charter flights making it more comfortable for staff and players should be added to put the program on par with other A-10 schools such as VCU, Dayton, and SLU. A longer term vision for a practice only facility needs to be addressed. While many similar level programs have been building these, many URI fans have dismissed this as not needed. It would appear that Hurley did not think that way and the school realized the need as it was part of the discussions in the process to keep Dan. Top recruits and coaches now expect these facilities. If you do not build one, you will need to lower your goals. With the increased NCAA payouts and Hurley buyout, URI has some of the funds to do these. It must commit to these in order to operate a high level program.

THINK BIG, DO WE

My list for what it's worth: Cox, Murphy, Murray, Oats, Mason, and Matta (maybe - I thought he left Ohio State and turned down Georgia due to health reasons). Who ever they get, their first priority is to keep Fatts, Langevine, and Dowtin, plus the 4 recruits coming in.

No, not Pitino. Sure he'd bring us to a Final 4 or 8, then leave us in shambles and we'll pay for it for another 17 years.

URI absolutely needs to keep the investment part of the what would be Hurley's contract. Build the practice facility, charter flights, etc. Be a program.

RF1 wrote:The next coach will not earn what was offered these last few days to Dan for him to stay. May not even make what Dan last earned here given his qualifications. URI however should still invest in the enhancements that it proposed to Dan. The salaries for the assistants must be increased to attract and keep a quality staff. This move would be relatively low risk as most all of the positions are on short term contracts. More charter flights making it more comfortable for staff and players should be added to put the program on par with other A-10 schools such as VCU, Dayton, and SLU. A longer term vision for a practice only facility needs to be addressed. While many similar level programs have been building these, many URI fans have dismissed this as not needed. It would appear that Hurley did not think that way and the school realized the need as it was part of the discussions in the process to keep Dan. Top recruits and coaches now expect these facilities. If you do not build one, you will need to lower your goals. With the increased NCAA payouts and Hurley buyout, URI has some of the funds to do these. It must commit to these in order to operate a high level program.

I can tell you that this isn't a fly-by-night, shoot from the hip type organization we run any more.

Thorr, Dooley, and athletics are first rate in how these things get done. There will be a search, because their has to be. It'd be bad business to do so otherwise.

Dave has been the intended next head coach, is wanted by the players, and has a buyout clause attached if he isn't. He still needs to go through the interview process.

Dave Cox should be the next coach, he would be the best choice, but we still need to check the boxes and do our due diligence.

How long do you expect this take? We talking 3-4 days or 1-2 weeks?

BleedBlue87 wrote:How long do you expect this take? We talking 3-4 days or 1-2 weeks?

Some want it done today, which is dumb. There better be at least three coaches rolling into interviews before Cox is given the job, assuming he is the best candidate. Take your time. Get it right.

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

Should be all that matters. Speaks volumes.

An athletic director can never let student athletes dictate who to hire as HC.

Never.

Is there another Jack Kraft out there who will make good on taking Rhody hoops the rest of the way? Could Preston Murphy recruit better players than Cox? Perhaps with a bench coach like Tom Penders by his side?

2 straight trips to the dance and we’re a hot job right now. Go 7-20 and see ya.

Gotta play the field of interested applicants.

This is the biggest hire since we hired Jack Kraft no question.

I won’t cross the street to watch UConn btw just in case anyone was wondering.

UConn?

Really?

RFORTE wrote:

RF1 wrote:The next coach will not earn what was offered these last few days to Dan for him to stay. May not even make what Dan last earned here given his qualifications. URI however should still invest in the enhancements that it proposed to Dan. The salaries for the assistants must be increased to attract and keep a quality staff. This move would be relatively low risk as most all of the positions are on short term contracts. More charter flights making it more comfortable for staff and players should be added to put the program on par with other A-10 schools such as VCU, Dayton, and SLU. A longer term vision for a practice only facility needs to be addressed. While many similar level programs have been building these, many URI fans have dismissed this as not needed. It would appear that Hurley did not think that way and the school realized the need as it was part of the discussions in the process to keep Dan. Top recruits and coaches now expect these facilities. If you do not build one, you will need to lower your goals. With the increased NCAA payouts and Hurley buyout, URI has some of the funds to do these. It must commit to these in order to operate a high level program.

That response was from my tweet. We absolutely need to move the program forward!

Cox has an amazing relationship with Jermaine Harris -- that is the key right now. I suspect Cox gets a 4 year contract and we get to see how things play out with this #1 mid-major recruiting class that he constructed.

Can he build on it? This is the hinge point for URI basketball... if we hire Cox, does he have the necessary at least sustain the level of competitiveness we have achieved the last two seasons? I am hopeful, but also doubtful.

Gonebarongone wrote:

BleedBlue87 wrote:How long do you expect this take? We talking 3-4 days or 1-2 weeks?

Some want it done today, which is dumb. There better be at least three coaches rolling into interviews before Cox is given the job, assuming he is the best candidate. Take your time. Get it right.

.

I for one will be fine with Cox but there will be coaches that want this job that have final four appearances more than 2 NCAA appearances. Dan Hurley was a hot coach this year there will be many coaches that want the URI job that are much better coaches than Dan and will take less money for this job.Think outside the box. Thanks Dan good luck. Is Calhoun’s interview today or tomorrow? WINK!

GO RHODY!

Hurley's stock will never be higher. It was a business decision. Sucks as a fan, but wish him luck. UCONN?! Yick

I'm torn on the comment regarding letting players decide on the next HC. I believe Cox can recruit, but I know very little on what his coaching style is. Appreciate any thoughts from people that are familiar.

Thinking out loud- planning for best case scenario that recruits and players stay as is, do we go after a young coach that brought the same "hurley energy" or do we hire a more mature/veteran. Also, with hurley gone does this mean we can say good-bye to the man-to-man d? (tongue and cheek)

I hope URI at least calls Thad Matta.

Zags reporting Pitt has turned their attention to Nate Oats so that maybe a name were crossing off the list soon.

I also think it will be most likely Cox. Although lets all recall that we let the players saddle us with Jerry D the last time this happened. Granted that's hardly a fair comparison as Cox is a million times more qualified. I actually wouldn't be surprised if we do better with Cox going forward, assuming he keeps all recruits and players. Let's be realistic our end of game jitters was a seemingly never ending thing under Hurley.

I do think the school would be negligent not to do a search/interviews of other coaches however. I do want to throw out Tim Cluess name because i know some of high ups at the UNI like him. more importantly i don't think you can find a coach in college basketball that has overachieved at two programs for over a decade now. If not here he certainly deserves a shot at a major college job and i don't know why Pitt is not looking at him.

Thad Matt turned down Georgia, so hard to imagine he would want to go to URI. Plus, he has had some health problems and seriously underperformed his last couple of years at Ohio State.

Let’s all remember this great interview...

Thorr is not letting students dictate anything. It's no surprise they are comfortable with David Cox. That's really not news.

.....regarding Cluess, his teams seem to play less defense than what, I think, is needed to consistently contend in the A-10......

If Cluess is the hire I might not renew my season tickets. He's pretty much the only person off the top of my head that I feel that way about

section(105) wrote:.....regarding Cluess, his teams seem to play less defense than what, I think, is needed to consistently contend in the A-10......

Cluess would be a disaster. He is a 1 trick pony. That can work against teams he currently plays against, but is exposed in no time against better competition. It's no secret why he gets run off the floor against anyone that can coach or has talent

David Cox is ready, he has been groomed for this for the past few years. I don't care that he hasn't had a HC gig for an extended period of time past 3 games. So many KBers know this but look at his resume, great reach and connections in the DMV area, Georgetown, Pitt, Rutgers. He is qualified to get a shot and show what he can do. Please everyone against this stop throwing out the Jerry D comparisons crap. Cox is on a diff level than JD, also we have a different administration and AD which i'm more confident in for sustaining and continuing to grow the program

Dave also has strong ties to each recruit coming in outside of Tate, but I think he would keep Boswell on because of the solid elite expressions ties and connections he shares. Not that Thorr should let the players disctate who gets the next coaching gig, but lets remember that these kids currently, IMHO, have much better character then some kids on the team post Harrick. Fatts, Jefe, Cyril, Akele, i could go on but they are good kids, work hard, and have a real strong relationship and bond with Dave

It's only an opinion but the other names listed should be considered and maybe even interviewed, but my top choice and really best and only choice would be David Cox, I would feel so much better with our program with him at the helm.

Good rundown of Cox's resume here: http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/ ... 0517hqln3n

A lot to like.

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Pitino.

Yes. This.

Another off the radar name that would be a long shot would be Jay Larranaga. I think he wants to stay in the league though.

Ofc Iona losses to top national teams. Your talking about guys at Iona who are often 4th and 5th tier recruits from the New York area vs teams full of National recruits and NBA players. It would be silly to say "Well his teams don't beat the Dukes of the World..." Of course they don't. Hurley's more talented team had basically the same result when they played Duke in the NCAA's and nearly lost to iona at home earlier in the year.. Does that mean he can't coach?

As for the style of play. The arguments here are exactly what Iona fans said when he came up from a division two school to Iona. personally I have little doubt 99% of the true mid major teams in the nation would be happy with the team playing crappy defense if it meant they won as much as Cluess has at Iona and Post. There's also no reason to think the guy can't coach defense if he had better players, He's said many times with his level of talent he simply finds it more effective to coach around, and focus on offense.

He's also one of the very best in the nation when it comes to getting transfers and reloading a program quickly. Something that i think should be considered if they do wind up not going with Cox.

I hope the next guy isn't married to a philosophy. Just Win Baby. And Cox is a hell of a recruiter. And he has seen Hurley's success and Thompson's demise. That is valuable experience.

I don't like that post by someone that said Cox was as likely to follow Dan as accept the HC job at URI. That is suspect.

DH did create space for himself in people's minds in RI. Star coach. I personally was tired of the family narrative. The "wired different" stuff. But whoever it is I hope they have a big enough personality to capture a similar market share of RI interest. Dan had it in spades. I wonder if Cox has it.

If we are indeed substantially increasing the assistant's pool, bring Preston back and give him the title that Cox just had. If we can come close to paying what Creighton does, he will come back. We know he loves it here. I'd love to get back into the Michigan/Illinois market along with Preston's continued connections in the New England market (see Marcus Zegarowski). If Cox is the HC and Preston the assistant HC (or whatever the title is), that would give a hell of a recruiting duo in 3 very important markets.

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Pitino.

HIde your wives!!

STC wrote:Another off the radar name that would be a long shot would be Jay Larranaga. I think he wants to stay in the league though.

Homerun hire right there.

xcrun wrote:

Seawrightspostgame wrote:Pitino.

Yes. This.

If there were a thumbs down feature I would click it relentlessly. A bad choice all around. No F'in way.