CTRamfan wrote: ↑3 years ago
I think Bozeman is a huge upgrade to the staff. The two young assistants will benefit from his presence. Cox might call on Todd's experience when needed. Cox had a really "light weight" group of assistants in my opinion.
c
I think that the program is poised for success. A good roster, thanks to Cox's recruiting.
Cox is 49-38 [.557] in his first three years as a head coach. Last year's SOS [4.93] was our hardest since 99-00. Considering the roster change and two key injuries, I could not have imagined us doing much better.
The group of assistant coaches were all hired by David Cox. If a "lightweight group" then that falls on David Cox, nobody else.
Bozeman should help, but it's a problem that Cox had to make this replacement. Dan Hurley had 3 Assistants promoted from his staff at URI: Bobby Hurley promoted to HC Buffalo,(then to HC Arizona State) Luke Murray promoted to AC Xavier (then to AC Louisville and then to AC UCONN) and David Cox promoted to HC URI. David Cox has had nobody promoted in 3 years and is now having to replace his #1 Assistant Coach. Both Head Coaches dealt with the same Assistant Coach salary pool level at the same school in the same A10 Conference - salary pool is a weak excuse that didn't hold Hurley back.
Cox Record:
2019: (9-9) 8th place (18-15) Underachieved with the talent he inherited from Dan Hurley
2020: (13-5) 3rd place (21-9)...After winning 10 straight games the wheels came off as URI lost 4 of their last 7 games giving up a sure at-large bid. After 10 straight wins:
Lost horribly at Dayton - not even in the Nationally televised game
Beat St Joseph's
Lost @ Davidson
Beat @ Fordham 76-75 with meticulous performance by Jacob Toppin in the last minute
Lost badly at home to Saint Louis 72-62
Lost Destroyed at home by Dayton 57-84
Beat @ UMASS 64-63
No way would this team have done any good in the A10 Tournament that was cancelled. No momentum at all.
2021: (7-10) 10th place (10-15). Terrible year. Best player shot 23.5% on 3Ps and 33.7% overall. Team had been picked as high as 3rd in A10 preseason local press and 6th by A10 Coaches.
What will get URI in the NCAA Tournament will be performance in the A10. It does't much matter what we do in OOC if we finish as poorly in the A10 as 8th and 10th place as in 2 of the past 3 years.
Cox Career A10: (28-24) .538 which is mediocre.
I'm not so confident that URI is poised for success. Part of recruiting is not just bringing players in, but keeping them. Losing Toppin to Kentucky as a Freshman and Tyrese Martin to UCONN as a Sophomore were devastating losses as both were projected starters. Losing Russell might be ok to some here but teams like Richmond, Saint Louis and St Bonaventure seem to be able to keep their players, even when they have Grad Years and also extra Covid eligibility years. Don't blame Russell for leaving but bottom line he still left.
Incoming recruits the level of EC Mathews, Hassan Martin, Kuran Iverson, Stanford Robinson, Jared Terrell and Cyril Langevine enabled Dan Hurley to move URI to the upper tier of the A10 with the likes of Dayton, VCU and Saint Louis. They came to URI highly regarded and Dan Hurley help develop them all into better players year after year. Hurley achieved 2 NCAA Tournaments and an A10 Championship.
That same level of talent and rate of development does not seem to be happening these last 3 years. Players are leaving, which was not happening under Hurley. Defensive effort and pressure has fallen well off from the level that the Hurley teams demonstrated. Defense performance is more aligned with Baron Teams than with Hurley Teams unfortunately.
Todd Bozeman is here to help with this year's team but he also represents a possible option to replace David Cox. Big 4th year of his 5 year contract. No extension was granted. It's a business.