David Cox officially let go by URI (formerly, "Fire Cox")

[KeaneyBluBallz]

For me with Pitino it isn’t just about any one particular thing he did. It’s a lifetime of being a weasel and a liar and a egomaniacal whiny baby. Guys can get caught up in a rat race and make a mistake and still be, at heart, a good person who made a mistake. Pitino is constitutionally incapable of being forthright; it would be literally impossible for me to believe anything that ever comes out of his mouth in any context. He’s the type of person who is, at his core, so sleazy and slimy that if I somehow were to shake his hand I’d immediately have to find a bathroom to wash mine.

The Jim Harricks and Sean Millers of the world, who are on the shadier end of the spectrum but still within the range of what is generally accepted college basketball behavior (however unfortunate that may be), don’t give me the warm and fuzzies but at the end of the day I’m a shallow hoops fan and Keaney blue-colored banners hanging in the Ryan do give me the warm and fuzzies so I make my peace with them.

Guys like Preston I honestly regard more as victims than villains - they’re trying to scrap and claw their way thru an intensely ugly and competitive industry and get caught up doing stuff they wish they didn’t have to do. To PMMM’s point, it’s not what you’d teach your kids to do, but it’s understandable on some level. Guys in that position are fall guys - they do the dirt or they’ll be replaced by someone who will, all so their boss doesn’t have to have anything splash back on him when it hits the fan. It sucks.

Pitino to me is bad in an entirely different way and in an entirely different magnitude than your run of the mill corner-cutting college basketball person. He’s like a real life piece of shit human being.

Putin < Pitino ?

[RamStock]

You'd guess correctly. Didn't like Jim Harrick then or now. Dirty before URI, dirty at URI, and dirty after URI. I'll take an honest human being 10 out of 10 times over the Harrick's. (father and son)

By the way, somebody shared an opinion that we (the anti-Pitinos) are miserable. Guess that was OK?

I’m assuming then you wipe out all the memories of the 1998 and 1999 teams because they included Jim Harrick, Lamar Odom and Preston Murphy? You are more than welcome to not want Pitino or anyone that you’re feel isn’t up to your standards, but don’t call me out individually on ethics and saying I choose to be miserable because I don’t have work ethics and moral to do it right.

Well memories can't physically be wiped out...although my memory in general has faded over time with my aging. But the records and statistics can be removed from official record books.

I, along with other others, was labeled "miserable" on this board because I apparently would rather lose a few more games with a clean coach than sell myself to the devil to win more games with a dirty coach/human being.

Thank you for your welcoming. Yes, I'm more than welcome to not want Pitino. (Newsflash, me don't think he's comin' here.)

And you're more than welcome to associate and articulate your fondness for a person who cheats, lies, denies, etc. in all an effort to win some basketball games. I apologize for the reference to work ethic and morals of backing somebody like him.

Nuff said about Slick Rick. Let's move on. (ooops, my bad. I can't call him that because apparently it's an ethnic slur.)

Not sure where your were called miserable in the conversation, but to me there are a handful of actual truly enjoyable times where we were on the map in URI basketball which were 1988, 1997-99 and 2017-2018. There might be a handful of others like 1978(too old for me), Jimmy Baron Jr, etc, but removing records and stats is foolish. Do you think people at UMASS comment that they never went to the Finsl Four in the Camby days? They wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t condone a Pitino or some of the others, but I would never take away the 1997-99 teams even if it meant going through two awful years with Jerry D. I mean we went through about 15 years of accomplishing very little even after Jerry D left. Pitino is not coming here so it is a mute point. I guess bottom line is they need to hire the right coach and win. We have had two nice guys in Baron and Cox.

[NYGFan_Section208]

For me with Pitino it isn’t just about any one particular thing he did. It’s a lifetime of being a weasel and a liar and a egomaniacal whiny baby. Guys can get caught up in a rat race and make a mistake and still be, at heart, a good person who made a mistake. Pitino is constitutionally incapable of being forthright; it would be literally impossible for me to believe anything that ever comes out of his mouth in any context. He’s the type of person who is, at his core, so sleazy and slimy that if I somehow were to shake his hand I’d immediately have to find a bathroom to wash mine.

The Jim Harricks and Sean Millers of the world, who are on the shadier end of the spectrum but still within the range of what is generally accepted college basketball behavior (however unfortunate that may be), don’t give me the warm and fuzzies but at the end of the day I’m a shallow hoops fan and Keaney blue-colored banners hanging in the Ryan do give me the warm and fuzzies so I make my peace with them.

Guys like Preston I honestly regard more as victims than villains - they’re trying to scrap and claw their way thru an intensely ugly and competitive industry and get caught up doing stuff they wish they didn’t have to do. To PMMM’s point, it’s not what you’d teach your kids to do, but it’s understandable on some level. Guys in that position are fall guys - they do the dirt or they’ll be replaced by someone who will, all so their boss doesn’t have to have anything splash back on him when it hits the fan. It sucks.

Pitino to me is bad in an entirely different way and in an entirely different magnitude than your run of the mill corner-cutting college basketball person. He’s like a real life piece of shit human being.

Putin < Pitino ?

Apparently, it depends on who you ask...plenty of judges here.

ETA...and apparently...."Piece of shit" has factual definition? I.e., you can call Rick that...but not DC. ECR probably thinks that's interesting!

I don't think Rick or Dave is a POS, but because it's so totally subjective...I respect the right (altho, it's clearly not nice) of anyone to post their full opinion of either. Altho, looks like this board will only let you take a dump on the Rick, I guess.

[TruePoint]

Rick isn’t part of our community and therefore isn’t afforded the same protections.

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

I’m assuming then you wipe out all the memories of the 1998 and 1999 teams because they included Jim Harrick, Lamar Odom and Preston Murphy? You are more than welcome to not want Pitino or anyone that you’re feel isn’t up to your standards, but don’t call me out individually on ethics and saying I choose to be miserable because I don’t have work ethics and moral to do it right.

Well memories can't physically be wiped out...although my memory in general has faded over time with my aging. But the records and statistics can be removed from official record books.

I, along with other others, was labeled "miserable" on this board because I apparently would rather lose a few more games with a clean coach than sell myself to the devil to win more games with a dirty coach/human being.

Thank you for your welcoming. Yes, I'm more than welcome to not want Pitino. (Newsflash, me don't think he's comin' here.)

And you're more than welcome to associate and articulate your fondness for a person who cheats, lies, denies, etc. in all an effort to win some basketball games. I apologize for the reference to work ethic and morals of backing somebody like him.

Nuff said about Slick Rick. Let's move on. (ooops, my bad. I can't call him that because apparently it's an ethnic slur.)

Not sure where your were called miserable in the conversation, but to me there are a handful of actual truly enjoyable times where we were on the map in URI basketball which were 1988, 1997-99 and 2017-2018. There might be a handful of others like 1978(too old for me), Jimmy Baron Jr, etc, but removing records and stats is foolish. Do you think people at UMASS comment that they never went to the Finsl Four in the Camby days? They wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t condone a Pitino or some of the others, but I would never take away the 1997-99 teams even if it meant going through two awful years with Jerry D. I mean we went through about 15 years of accomplishing very little even after Jerry D left. Pitino is not coming here so it is a mute point. I guess bottom line is they need to hire the right coach and win. We have had two nice guys in Baron and Cox.

Well perhaps I go back a lot farther back into URI's past and I can define "truly enjoyable times" differently than you. Secondly, (and I've stated this before), URI is like a lot of A10 programs. URI is not a basketball factory. Like St. Joe's, GW, and now St. Bonaventure, they've had periods of high performance and other periods of shall we say "below average" teams. That really is more than the rule than the exception for most programs. (Auburn, USC, UVA, and others have has had awful stretches of their programs too.) Butler, George Mason, Loyola, etc. had/have visions of being the next Gonzaga. But how many Gonzaga's are out there?

You can say what you want about removing stats and records. You might think it's foolish. Clearly, those forfeitures of records have meaning because otherwise people like you wouldn't be bothered by it. You can still have your memories, that's fine. But when my kids are older, they won't find those marks in the record books.

I don't care about what the people at UMASS in the 90's say about the Camby days. I care about what's going at URI today. And I agree with you. Hire the right coach to win the right way. There are plenty of those coaches out there. Go find him!

[brady1]

Rick is certainly polarizing, the holier than thou fans don’t seem to want him. But I’m sure none of them could cast the first stone. I doubt they would not celebrate another Sweet 16 or Elite 8 run if he was coach.

Favorite post ever on the URI Boards!!!

Biggest mistake URI Basketball ever made was not hiring Slick Rick to carry on what Hurley built.

GO RHODY!!!

[NYGFan_Section208]

Rick isn’t part of our community and therefore isn’t afforded the same protections.

wow, I guess he gave up his 'human' card?

[TruePoint]

? I don’t get it

[NYGFan_Section208]

I totally believe that. It's hard for the judgey to see sometimes.

[RhodyKyle]

Let's compromise. If URI hires Pitino, make him publicly apologize for every terrible thing he did to the Celtics and Red Auerbach, in particular.

[ElmCityRhody]

Rick is certainly polarizing, the holier than thou fans don’t seem to want him. But I’m sure none of them could cast the first stone. I doubt they would not celebrate another Sweet 16 or Elite 8 run if he was coach.

Favorite post ever on the URI Boards!!!

Biggest mistake URI Basketball ever made was not hiring Slick Rick to carry on what Hurley built.

GO RHODY!!!

You ever pass on a great coach - never

Think Big do we

[RamStock]

Well memories can't physically be wiped out...although my memory in general has faded over time with my aging. But the records and statistics can be removed from official record books.

I, along with other others, was labeled "miserable" on this board because I apparently would rather lose a few more games with a clean coach than sell myself to the devil to win more games with a dirty coach/human being.

Thank you for your welcoming. Yes, I'm more than welcome to not want Pitino. (Newsflash, me don't think he's comin' here.)

And you're more than welcome to associate and articulate your fondness for a person who cheats, lies, denies, etc. in all an effort to win some basketball games. I apologize for the reference to work ethic and morals of backing somebody like him.

Nuff said about Slick Rick. Let's move on. (ooops, my bad. I can't call him that because apparently it's an ethnic slur.)

Not sure where your were called miserable in the conversation, but to me there are a handful of actual truly enjoyable times where we were on the map in URI basketball which were 1988, 1997-99 and 2017-2018. There might be a handful of others like 1978(too old for me), Jimmy Baron Jr, etc, but removing records and stats is foolish. Do you think people at UMASS comment that they never went to the Finsl Four in the Camby days? They wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t condone a Pitino or some of the others, but I would never take away the 1997-99 teams even if it meant going through two awful years with Jerry D. I mean we went through about 15 years of accomplishing very little even after Jerry D left. Pitino is not coming here so it is a mute point. I guess bottom line is they need to hire the right coach and win. We have had two nice guys in Baron and Cox.

Well perhaps I go back a lot farther back into URI's past and I can define "truly enjoyable times" differently than you. Secondly, (and I've stated this before), URI is like a lot of A10 programs. URI is not a basketball factory. Like St. Joe's, GW, and now St. Bonaventure, they've had periods of high performance and other periods of shall we say "below average" teams. That really is more than the rule than the exception for most programs. (Auburn, USC, UVA, and others have has had awful stretches of their programs too.) Butler, George Mason, Loyola, etc. had/have visions of being the next Gonzaga. But how many Gonzaga's are out there?

You can say what you want about removing stats and records. You might think it's foolish. Clearly, those forfeitures of records have meaning because otherwise people like you wouldn't be bothered by it. You can still have your memories, that's fine. But when my kids are older, they won't find those marks in the record books.

I don't care about what the people at UMASS in the 90's say about the Camby days. I care about what's going at URI today. And I agree with you. Hire the right coach to win the right way. There are plenty of those coaches out there. Go find him!

People like me aren’t bothered by a forfeit of things like Michigan or Umass because that is who played in the Final Four. I hated both teams, but would laugh at someone who said their games didn’t happen and only three teams were in the Final Four. I highly doubt your kids are going to be looking through old record books of a final four that Umass played in the early 90’s anyway. Bottom line is these recent URI teams are forgettable and they need to fix it or they will continue to be a non factor with PC dominating the basketball scene in Rhode Island

[NYGFan_Section208]

Not sure where your were called miserable in the conversation, but to me there are a handful of actual truly enjoyable times where we were on the map in URI basketball which were 1988, 1997-99 and 2017-2018. There might be a handful of others like 1978(too old for me), Jimmy Baron Jr, etc, but removing records and stats is foolish. Do you think people at UMASS comment that they never went to the Finsl Four in the Camby days? They wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t condone a Pitino or some of the others, but I would never take away the 1997-99 teams even if it meant going through two awful years with Jerry D. I mean we went through about 15 years of accomplishing very little even after Jerry D left. Pitino is not coming here so it is a mute point. I guess bottom line is they need to hire the right coach and win. We have had two nice guys in Baron and Cox.

Well perhaps I go back a lot farther back into URI's past and I can define "truly enjoyable times" differently than you. Secondly, (and I've stated this before), URI is like a lot of A10 programs. URI is not a basketball factory. Like St. Joe's, GW, and now St. Bonaventure, they've had periods of high performance and other periods of shall we say "below average" teams. That really is more than the rule than the exception for most programs. (Auburn, USC, UVA, and others have has had awful stretches of their programs too.) Butler, George Mason, Loyola, etc. had/have visions of being the next Gonzaga. But how many Gonzaga's are out there?

You can say what you want about removing stats and records. You might think it's foolish. Clearly, those forfeitures of records have meaning because otherwise people like you wouldn't be bothered by it. You can still have your memories, that's fine. But when my kids are older, they won't find those marks in the record books.

I don't care about what the people at UMASS in the 90's say about the Camby days. I care about what's going at URI today. And I agree with you. Hire the right coach to win the right way. There are plenty of those coaches out there. Go find him!

People like me aren’t bothered by a forfeit of things like Michigan or Umass because that is who played in the Final Four. I hated both teams, but would laugh at someone who said their games didn’t happen and only three teams were in the Final Four. I highly doubt your kids are going to be looking through old record books of a final four that Umass played in the early 90’s anyway. Bottom line is these recent URI teams are forgettable and they need to fix it or they will continue to be a non factor with PC dominating the basketball scene in Rhode Island

And Bryant! Don't forget about Bryant!

[ElmCityRhody]

agreed Ramstock

If URI wants to be relevant then they must hire Archie

it’s that plain and simple

[rambone 78]

If Tom Ryan and co. want Archie, they will make a run at him if he's interested.

They might even revisit Pitino...they've got the money.

With no Dooley around, who knows?

[NYGFan_Section208]

If Tom Ryan and co. want Archie, they will make a run at him if he's interested.

They might even revisit Pitino...they've got the money.

With no Dooley around, who knows?

B-b-but, but....Sounds like, if the Rick is hired (I absolutely refuse to give up hope until they hold a presser for someone else), we might lose some fans...?

[TruePoint]

I totally believe that. It's hard for the judgey to see sometimes.

I don’t get what you mean by “judgey” - explain it to me.

[NYGFan_Section208]

I totally believe that. It's hard for the judgey to see sometimes.

I don’t get what you mean by “judgey” - explain it to me.

You've judged that the Rick is a POS - and that it's ok to call him that and worse, and you've judged that ECR cannot refer to DC as same or else he gets bounced. (That wasn't a serious question, was it?)

[PeteRI]

Rick Pitino isn't walking through those doors. OK?

[ATPTourFan]

If Tom Ryan and co. want Archie, they will make a run at him if he's interested.

They might even revisit Pitino...they've got the money.

With no Dooley around, who knows?

No, Rick Pitino has a $5 Million buy-out.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Rick Pitino isn't walking through those doors. OK?

Until the press conference announcing the new guy...I continue to hope. (Weird how some here just hate to hear that...)

[TruePoint]

I totally believe that. It's hard for the judgey to see sometimes.

I don’t get what you mean by “judgey” - explain it to me.

You've judged that the Rick is a POS - and that it's ok to call him that and worse, and you've judged that ECR cannot refer to DC as same or else he gets bounced. (That wasn't a serious question, was it?)

Lol OK. I guess I’m judgey then by this (very weird) explanation of what that means.

[ramster]

Back in this poll I voted for Pitino. That why it’s in bold - shows how you voted.

I felt after 2 consecutive NCAA Tournaments advancing to the second round in both - that we should and could have aimed higher than an Assistant. Hurley and Thorr knew Cox’ strengths and weaknesses.

We heard that President Dooley didn’t want Rick Pitino but Tom Ryan and some other key Boosters also wanted Pitino.

There were originally only 13 votes for Pitino when Cox hiring was announced. Additional votes came later on.
Reading thru the 11 pages I find those who stated for Pitino were:
Me
NYGFan_Section208
Reef
ElmCityRhody
Gonebarongone - I think

Some voted “Other”


Looking back:

• I think the Practice Facility would already be done. Hiring Cox allowed management to put Practice Facility on the back burner and they did. Pitino would have pushed the timeline.

• 5 year Contracts are written for huge payouts if contract terminated in 1,2 or 3 years. So a less than optimal hire is very likely 4 year minimum. Critical at a scroll like URI. It’s a long term agreement

• During early Covid time period I remember our staff complaining about difficulty in recruiting. Zoom not the same as in person. Yet I remember Pitino was doing zoom calls and getting commitments. Nothing stops the good coaches - they Overcome obstacles.

• In 4 years I’ve heard and read nothing about Iona and Pitino controversial. All about basketball and moving the program forward.

I picked Pitino 4 years ago but not a slam dunk then in my mind. Looking back? Easy to do but clearly Tom Ryan and several boosters must be frustrated that URI didn’t take the chance back then. Maybe kicking themselves that they don’t push harder?

E007D013-EBAB-4308-98E2-7FA79BE2A9B2.png

[Blue Man]

Back in this poll I voted for Pitino. That why it’s in bold - shows how you voted.

I felt after 2 consecutive NCAA Tournaments advancing to the second round in both - that we should and could have aimed higher than an Assistant. Hurley and Thorr knew Cox’ strengths and weaknesses.

We heard that President Dooley didn’t want Rick Pitino but Tom Ryan and some other key Boosters also wanted Pitino.

There were originally only 13 votes for Pitino when Cox hiring was announced. Additional votes came later on.
Reading thru the 11 pages I find those who stated for Pitino were:
Me
NYGFan_Section208
Reef
ElmCityRhody
Gonebarongone - I think

Some voted “Other”


Looking back:

• I think the Practice Facility would already be done. Hiring Cox allowed management to put Practice Facility on the back burner and they did. Pitino would have pushed the timeline.

• 5 year Contracts are written for huge payouts if contract terminated in 1,2 or 3 years. So a less than optimal hire is very likely 4 year minimum. Critical at a scroll like URI. It’s a long term agreement

• During early Covid time period I remember our staff complaining about difficulty in recruiting. Zoom not the same as in person. Yet I remember Pitino was doing zoom calls and getting commitments. Nothing stops the good coaches - they Overcome obstacles.

• In 4 years I’ve heard and read nothing about Iona and Pitino controversial. All about basketball and moving the program forward.

I picked Pitino 4 years ago but not a slam dunk then in my mind. Looking back? Easy to do but clearly Tom Ryan and several boosters must be frustrated that URI didn’t take the chance back then. Maybe kicking themselves that they don’t push harder?





E007D013-EBAB-4308-98E2-7FA79BE2A9B2.png

10000%.

I was on the Cox train, for reasons I've put all over this board. Obviously we were wrong, but the only way to find out how a new coach will do is by giving him the shot. We were in the place as a program where we could afford to take a chance.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Had I/any of us known that Tom Ryan was prepared to walk away with his funding if we didn't get Pitino? I would've hired Pitino.

The program improvements have always been the #1 priority for me. I'm a URI guy. Not a "who's coaching URI" guy.

You could bring Dean Smith back from the dead to coach here. If we don't have the facilities to a) better prepare our players or b) win recruiting battles...it does not matter.

You have to do what the money wants, and fortunately for us our "money" has had the right opinions on who to support for this program. Listen to them this time.

We are no longer in the place where we can afford to take a chance on a lower level guy to see if they could win at this level. Becker, Maciarello, Mason, Skerry, Grasso...HC or not they are all guys who haven't coached/won at the A-10 conference level. They haven't recruited at the A-10 level. And for the sake of our program, they're not at places with great facilities so they don't even know what else is out there.

I don't want a lower level guy to come here and "figure it out" while being amazed at the Ryan Center since they've been coaching in a multipurpose fieldhouse or high school gym.

I want a higher level guy to come here and say "this is nice but you need to do better."

Go get Archie. Give him the Pitino offer. Finish the practice facility. Commit to charters. Commit to a bigger coaches pool. Commit to basketball for the first time in 23 years.

[rambone 78]

If only this would all happen Blue Man......

[ramster]

Blue Man,

Note how Pitino hired assistants and now Cameron thinks Steve Masiello could be good for URi. That's what Coaches of Pitino's caliber do. They develop Assistants and Staff so when they reach high levels of success with their team then the Assistants look good and marketable too.
Note also Pitino raised $12 million for improvements already.

Practice Facility would be done if we hired Pitino 4 years ago. Even more improvements than the Practice Facility would have taken place or be in the planning stages. Just like Hurley, he would have been a bulldog for raising money, and boosters would have responded accordingly.

instead we hired as Assistant who did not have the ability to push for improvements and not at the same rate as a Hurley or Pitino would. He couldn't, he was new - not the same environment. Plus he didn't have the backing. Good man, good coach but URI took the safe path, the easy path, the short term view path for Year 1.

We were up there twice with VCU and Dayton caliber programs for a couple years when Hurley and Harrick took us, but we fell back to the pack again.


This was a post from Cameron_Dollar about 3 weeks ago from the "Who would you hire?" thread that I went back and reread today. (It's locked but can be read)

Re: Your Pick for the next Head Coach
Pitino should be taken off the list. Probably not leaving Iona. He raised 12 million for improvements and will be the first team since the Lionel Simmons and Speedy Morris LaSalle team to run the table. If he does lose in the MAAC tournament, he will still get an automatic bid. He is in a great situation. That being said, if he does leave Iona, it will be to a program that has everything in place to win a national championship. Say like a Louisville, who has already made overtures to him. You get one shot at the brass ring and we chose David Cox and his recruiting class over a well established coach with a lot of baggage. As history will show, the two greatest coaches in our program, excluding Frank Keaney were Jack Kraft and Jim Harrick. Both came here with said baggage. Pitino would have been number three. Once again that being said, my choice would be Steve Masiello, a member of the Pitino coaching tree. He has a tarnish on his resume which he rectified, but has done well at Manhattan. I believe he would love the opportunity to coach here.

[RF1]

David Cox is now likely in his last ten days as URI Men's Basketball Head Coach. My best guess is his tenure is over before noon Friday 03/11/22.

[Blue Man]

David Cox is now likely in his last ten days as URI Men's Basketball Head Coach. My best guess is his tenure is over before noon Friday 03/11/22.

I would bet Monday 3/14. Don't think we're making that announcement before the A-10 tournament is over.

[ramster]

David Cox is now likely in his last ten days as URI Men's Basketball Head Coach. My best guess is his tenure is over before noon Friday 03/11/22.

I would bet Monday 3/14. Don't think we're making that announcement before the A-10 tournament is over.

Tuesday 3/15. This is the date RR2 predicted weeks ago.


No way it’s announced during the tournament.

[Iggy1979]

Masiello? Have we lost our minds. Manhattan has been terrible the last 7 years!

[ramster]

Masiello? Have we lost our minds. Manhattan has been terrible the last 7 years!

I only referred to an assistant developed under Pitino ready to move up. Only want Archie or Pitino here or an established HC. No Assistants.

[Blue Man]

Masiello? Have we lost our minds. Manhattan has been terrible the last 7 years!

I only referred to an assistant developed under Pitino ready to move up. Only want Archie or Pitino here or an established HC. No Assistants.

Another reason to not get any assistant at the moment.

Kimani Young is such a hot name and would bring a lot of cache - but there's always going to be a "risk" when you're taking an assistant, or a lower level HC.

We are at the point of no return with this program. And I mean that literally with some of our fans.

Hire an "up and comer" and it'll take 2+ years of winning before the Ryan Center fills up again.

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

Not sure where your were called miserable in the conversation, but to me there are a handful of actual truly enjoyable times where we were on the map in URI basketball which were 1988, 1997-99 and 2017-2018. There might be a handful of others like 1978(too old for me), Jimmy Baron Jr, etc, but removing records and stats is foolish. Do you think people at UMASS comment that they never went to the Finsl Four in the Camby days? They wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t condone a Pitino or some of the others, but I would never take away the 1997-99 teams even if it meant going through two awful years with Jerry D. I mean we went through about 15 years of accomplishing very little even after Jerry D left. Pitino is not coming here so it is a mute point. I guess bottom line is they need to hire the right coach and win. We have had two nice guys in Baron and Cox.

Well perhaps I go back a lot farther back into URI's past and I can define "truly enjoyable times" differently than you. Secondly, (and I've stated this before), URI is like a lot of A10 programs. URI is not a basketball factory. Like St. Joe's, GW, and now St. Bonaventure, they've had periods of high performance and other periods of shall we say "below average" teams. That really is more than the rule than the exception for most programs. (Auburn, USC, UVA, and others have has had awful stretches of their programs too.) Butler, George Mason, Loyola, etc. had/have visions of being the next Gonzaga. But how many Gonzaga's are out there?

You can say what you want about removing stats and records. You might think it's foolish. Clearly, those forfeitures of records have meaning because otherwise people like you wouldn't be bothered by it. You can still have your memories, that's fine. But when my kids are older, they won't find those marks in the record books.

I don't care about what the people at UMASS in the 90's say about the Camby days. I care about what's going at URI today. And I agree with you. Hire the right coach to win the right way. There are plenty of those coaches out there. Go find him!

People like me aren’t bothered by a forfeit of things like Michigan or Umass because that is who played in the Final Four. I hated both teams, but would laugh at someone who said their games didn’t happen and only three teams were in the Final Four. I highly doubt your kids are going to be looking through old record books of a final four that Umass played in the early 90’s anyway. Bottom line is these recent URI teams are forgettable and they need to fix it or they will continue to be a non factor with PC dominating the basketball scene in Rhode Island

You don't know my kids (I don't think) so don't assume what you think my kids will or won't do.

People like you aren't bothered by a forfeit from teams that cheated. Great. People like me are bothered by it...and I'm even more bothered by it when teams I'm invested in playing by the rules lose out on something because of the cheating teams. So we'll leave it at that.

Screw PC. They've now won one Big East title since the Big East was created. (That's 1 more than you and me combined.) That shows how you little of a factor PC has been in that conference over the years. The rest of the Big East doesn't give a hoot about PC and whatever success they have. And I don't give a hoot either because I don't have a URI inferiority complex like others do.

[RhowdyRam02]

David Cox is now likely in his last ten days as URI Men's Basketball Head Coach. My best guess is his tenure is over before noon Friday 03/11/22.

I would bet Monday 3/14. Don't think we're making that announcement before the A-10 tournament is over.

Tuesday 3/15. This is the date RR2 predicted weeks ago.


No way it’s announced during the tournament.

I actually think it's most likely 3/14, but I put 3/15 for possible wiggle room. Either way, by end of business on 3/15 we should officially be looking for a new coach. Agreed that I don't think Thorr makes the announcement while the A10 tournament is still taking place

[RhowdyRam02]

Looking back:

• I think the Practice Facility would already be done. Hiring Cox allowed management to put Practice Facility on the back burner and they did. Pitino would have pushed the timeline.

• 5 year Contracts are written for huge payouts if contract terminated in 1,2 or 3 years. So a less than optimal hire is very likely 4 year minimum. Critical at a scroll like URI. It’s a long term agreement

• During early Covid time period I remember our staff complaining about difficulty in recruiting. Zoom not the same as in person. Yet I remember Pitino was doing zoom calls and getting commitments. Nothing stops the good coaches - they Overcome obstacles.

• In 4 years I’ve heard and read nothing about Iona and Pitino controversial. All about basketball and moving the program forward.

I picked Pitino 4 years ago but not a slam dunk then in my mind. Looking back? Easy to do but clearly Tom Ryan and several boosters must be frustrated that URI didn’t take the chance back then. Maybe kicking themselves that they don’t push harder?





E007D013-EBAB-4308-98E2-7FA79BE2A9B2.png

I don't think the practice facility was on the back burner from management, it was tanked by boosters until recently.

I think there's a big reason why schools like VCU and Dayton can keep the train rolling by promoting assistants and we can't. They have facilities we don't have and that's because of their boosters. I don't think Cox would have been successful here no matter what, too many issues, but the boosters taking their ball and going home because President Dooley showed a bare minimum of self respect killed any chance Cox did have. We can't let the boosters off the hook here

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

Blue Man,

Note how Pitino hired assistants and now Cameron thinks Steve Masiello could be good for URi. That's what Coaches of Pitino's caliber do. They develop Assistants and Staff so when they reach high levels of success with their team then the Assistants look good and marketable too.
Note also Pitino raised $12 million for improvements already.

Practice Facility would be done if we hired Pitino 4 years ago. Even more improvements than the Practice Facility would have taken place or be in the planning stages. Just like Hurley, he would have been a bulldog for raising money, and boosters would have responded accordingly.

instead we hired as Assistant who did not have the ability to push for improvements and not at the same rate as a Hurley or Pitino would. He couldn't, he was new - not the same environment. Plus he didn't have the backing. Good man, good coach but URI took the safe path, the easy path, the short term view path for Year 1.

We were up there twice with VCU and Dayton caliber programs for a couple years when Hurley and Harrick took us, but we fell back to the pack again.


This was a post from Cameron_Dollar about 3 weeks ago from the "Who would you hire?" thread that I went back and reread today. (It's locked but can be read)

Re: Your Pick for the next Head Coach
Pitino should be taken off the list. Probably not leaving Iona. He raised 12 million for improvements and will be the first team since the Lionel Simmons and Speedy Morris LaSalle team to run the table. If he does lose in the MAAC tournament, he will still get an automatic bid. He is in a great situation. That being said, if he does leave Iona, it will be to a program that has everything in place to win a national championship. Say like a Louisville, who has already made overtures to him. You get one shot at the brass ring and we chose David Cox and his recruiting class over a well established coach with a lot of baggage. As history will show, the two greatest coaches in our program, excluding Frank Keaney were Jack Kraft and Jim Harrick. Both came here with said baggage. Pitino would have been number three. Once again that being said, my choice would be Steve Masiello, a member of the Pitino coaching tree. He has a tarnish on his resume which he rectified, but has done well at Manhattan. I believe he would love the opportunity to coach here.

I would disagree that Jim Harrick was one of the two greatest coaches in URI history. He was a big name coach who took a team he didn't recruit to the Elite 8 and then got a desperation 3-pointer to avoid missing the tourney his second year, which would've been a huge underachievement.) Did he leave the program in better shape than when he arrived? No. Both Al Skinner and Tom Penders did better jobs than Harrick.

I know that's not a popular take among the Harrick lovers.

[ramster]

Some key Boosters were not happy Pitino didn’t get the job. Hence the delay in Capital outlays.

[RhowdyRam02]

Some key Boosters were not happy Pitino didn’t get the job. Hence the delay in Capital outlays.

Great, but they hurt the basketball program, the athletic department, and the University in the process of their temper tantrum. We want a guy like Archie Miller, which is great, but it's a lot easier to get a guy like that if the infrastructure is already in place instead of saying during negotiations, "yeah, you'll get all this stuff." Waiting until the last minute hurt us in keeping Hurley, not coming through when Hurley left knee-capped Cox' tenure, and still not having this stuff in place will hurt us in this hiring cycle. A coach at the level we want to hire wants to come into a good situation, not wait a couple of years for things to be in place

[Blue Man]

Blue Man,

Note how Pitino hired assistants and now Cameron thinks Steve Masiello could be good for URi. That's what Coaches of Pitino's caliber do. They develop Assistants and Staff so when they reach high levels of success with their team then the Assistants look good and marketable too.
Note also Pitino raised $12 million for improvements already.

Practice Facility would be done if we hired Pitino 4 years ago. Even more improvements than the Practice Facility would have taken place or be in the planning stages. Just like Hurley, he would have been a bulldog for raising money, and boosters would have responded accordingly.

instead we hired as Assistant who did not have the ability to push for improvements and not at the same rate as a Hurley or Pitino would. He couldn't, he was new - not the same environment. Plus he didn't have the backing. Good man, good coach but URI took the safe path, the easy path, the short term view path for Year 1.

We were up there twice with VCU and Dayton caliber programs for a couple years when Hurley and Harrick took us, but we fell back to the pack again.


This was a post from Cameron_Dollar about 3 weeks ago from the "Who would you hire?" thread that I went back and reread today. (It's locked but can be read)

Re: Your Pick for the next Head Coach
Pitino should be taken off the list. Probably not leaving Iona. He raised 12 million for improvements and will be the first team since the Lionel Simmons and Speedy Morris LaSalle team to run the table. If he does lose in the MAAC tournament, he will still get an automatic bid. He is in a great situation. That being said, if he does leave Iona, it will be to a program that has everything in place to win a national championship. Say like a Louisville, who has already made overtures to him. You get one shot at the brass ring and we chose David Cox and his recruiting class over a well established coach with a lot of baggage. As history will show, the two greatest coaches in our program, excluding Frank Keaney were Jack Kraft and Jim Harrick. Both came here with said baggage. Pitino would have been number three. Once again that being said, my choice would be Steve Masiello, a member of the Pitino coaching tree. He has a tarnish on his resume which he rectified, but has done well at Manhattan. I believe he would love the opportunity to coach here.

I would disagree that Jim Harrick was one of the two greatest coaches in URI history. He was a big name coach who took a team he didn't recruit to the Elite 8 and then got a desperation 3-pointer to avoid missing the tourney his second year, which would've been a huge underachievement.) Did he leave the program in better shape than when he arrived? No. Both Al Skinner and Tom Penders did better jobs than Harrick.

I know that's not a popular take among the Harrick lovers.

I mean, hard to say he left it worse off than he found it. Odom, probably our most visible basketball alum, doesn't come here without him.

If the hire after him was halfway decent - things weren't going to be that bad.

Zach Marbury, T Bell, Tip Vinson, Tiger Womack (I mean a really solid "all name" team) and Luther Clay. An incoming Ryan Center (that only gets built because of Harrick's 2 years).

Just think - if we hire Jay Wright from Hofstra instead of Jerry DiGregorio, things would've been a lot different.

But to say Harrick wasn't one of our 2 best coaches is just wrong. The guy won a national championship. There's like 50-60 of those guys total.

Jerry D was a walking dumpster fire and Petro was an idiot. Doesn't take away from what Harrick did or how good he was.

[Blue Man]

Some key Boosters were not happy Pitino didn’t get the job. Hence the delay in Capital outlays.

Great, but they hurt the basketball program, the athletic department, and the University in the process of their temper tantrum. We want a guy like Archie Miller, which is great, but it's a lot easier to get a guy like that if the infrastructure is already in place instead of saying during negotiations, "yeah, you'll get all this stuff." Waiting until the last minute hurt us in keeping Hurley, not coming through when Hurley left knee-capped Cox' tenure, and still not having this stuff in place will hurt us in this hiring cycle. A coach at the level we want to hire wants to come into a good situation, not wait a couple of years for things to be in place

I agree. But this goes back to the URI infrastructure issues. Money is misspent at this university at an alarming rate. I don't blame those guys for wanting to have the money they earned used in the way they want.

When they invest elsewhere in the University (neuroscience, business, etc) those schools don't say - "thanks for the money but we're going to do things our way."

Instead, those schools say "thank you, what should we do with it" and then they do exactly what is requested. If Dooley doesn't interfere, we're in a much different place now.

[ramster]

Tom Ryan wanted Pitino. We know the 4 year and growing aftermath. It is what it is.
Hurley developed Cox, Hurley recommended Cox, President did not want Pitino, we hired Coxxyo a 5 year contract with typical high buy out costs in first 3 years.
Players changed out quickly
Moved Dowtin from the PG spot who was a premier top 5 assist to turnover PGs in his first two years
Lost Toppin and Martin to transfer
Lackluster job in leveraging the Portal with players coming in
Attendance bodies in seats challenging lowest levels ever
Portal open to players to mass exit in two weeks for immediate eligibility
Tough times to be optimistic. But I’ll be there Wednesday with the ushers making sure people are in their right seats. Joking.

[PlayMikeMotenMore]

Blue Man,

Note how Pitino hired assistants and now Cameron thinks Steve Masiello could be good for URi. That's what Coaches of Pitino's caliber do. They develop Assistants and Staff so when they reach high levels of success with their team then the Assistants look good and marketable too.
Note also Pitino raised $12 million for improvements already.

Practice Facility would be done if we hired Pitino 4 years ago. Even more improvements than the Practice Facility would have taken place or be in the planning stages. Just like Hurley, he would have been a bulldog for raising money, and boosters would have responded accordingly.

instead we hired as Assistant who did not have the ability to push for improvements and not at the same rate as a Hurley or Pitino would. He couldn't, he was new - not the same environment. Plus he didn't have the backing. Good man, good coach but URI took the safe path, the easy path, the short term view path for Year 1.

We were up there twice with VCU and Dayton caliber programs for a couple years when Hurley and Harrick took us, but we fell back to the pack again.


This was a post from Cameron_Dollar about 3 weeks ago from the "Who would you hire?" thread that I went back and reread today. (It's locked but can be read)

Re: Your Pick for the next Head Coach
Pitino should be taken off the list. Probably not leaving Iona. He raised 12 million for improvements and will be the first team since the Lionel Simmons and Speedy Morris LaSalle team to run the table. If he does lose in the MAAC tournament, he will still get an automatic bid. He is in a great situation. That being said, if he does leave Iona, it will be to a program that has everything in place to win a national championship. Say like a Louisville, who has already made overtures to him. You get one shot at the brass ring and we chose David Cox and his recruiting class over a well established coach with a lot of baggage. As history will show, the two greatest coaches in our program, excluding Frank Keaney were Jack Kraft and Jim Harrick. Both came here with said baggage. Pitino would have been number three. Once again that being said, my choice would be Steve Masiello, a member of the Pitino coaching tree. He has a tarnish on his resume which he rectified, but has done well at Manhattan. I believe he would love the opportunity to coach here.

I would disagree that Jim Harrick was one of the two greatest coaches in URI history. He was a big name coach who took a team he didn't recruit to the Elite 8 and then got a desperation 3-pointer to avoid missing the tourney his second year, which would've been a huge underachievement.) Did he leave the program in better shape than when he arrived? No. Both Al Skinner and Tom Penders did better jobs than Harrick.

I know that's not a popular take among the Harrick lovers.

I mean, hard to say he left it worse off than he found it. Odom, probably our most visible basketball alum, doesn't come here without him.

If the hire after him was halfway decent - things weren't going to be that bad.

Zach Marbury, T Bell, Tip Vinson, Tiger Womack (I mean a really solid "all name" team) and Luther Clay. An incoming Ryan Center (that only gets built because of Harrick's 2 years).

Just think - if we hire Jay Wright from Hofstra instead of Jerry DiGregorio, things would've been a lot different.

But to say Harrick wasn't one of our 2 best coaches is just wrong. The guy won a national championship. There's like 50-60 of those guys total.

Jerry D was a walking dumpster fire and Petro was an idiot. Doesn't take away from what Harrick did or how good he was.

He wasn't one of URI's best 2 coaches because he didn't do one of the two best jobs at URI. He won a national championship at UCLA.

Look at Harrick's second season at URI. That season was a colossal failure, almost Cox-like. Lamar Odom made a single shot and presto, everyone forgets how poorly that team underachieved. Lost by 24 to PC, lost to Cleveland State, lost at Pepperdine. They were 13-10 at one point and lost their lost 2 games going into the A10 tourney. Did Harrick's coaching suddenly get better over that weekend in Philly? Or did URI catch lightning in a bottle?

He left the program with questionable character players. Marbury and his 1-man weave offense? Tiger Womack? Compare those kids with the kind of kids Skinner brought to the program.

[Blue Man]

I would disagree that Jim Harrick was one of the two greatest coaches in URI history. He was a big name coach who took a team he didn't recruit to the Elite 8 and then got a desperation 3-pointer to avoid missing the tourney his second year, which would've been a huge underachievement.) Did he leave the program in better shape than when he arrived? No. Both Al Skinner and Tom Penders did better jobs than Harrick.

I know that's not a popular take among the Harrick lovers.

I mean, hard to say he left it worse off than he found it. Odom, probably our most visible basketball alum, doesn't come here without him.

If the hire after him was halfway decent - things weren't going to be that bad.

Zach Marbury, T Bell, Tip Vinson, Tiger Womack (I mean a really solid "all name" team) and Luther Clay. An incoming Ryan Center (that only gets built because of Harrick's 2 years).

Just think - if we hire Jay Wright from Hofstra instead of Jerry DiGregorio, things would've been a lot different.

But to say Harrick wasn't one of our 2 best coaches is just wrong. The guy won a national championship. There's like 50-60 of those guys total.

Jerry D was a walking dumpster fire and Petro was an idiot. Doesn't take away from what Harrick did or how good he was.

He wasn't one of URI's best 2 coaches because he didn't do one of the two best jobs at URI. He won a national championship at UCLA.

Look at Harrick's second season at URI. That season was a colossal failure, almost Cox-like. Lamar Odom made a single shot and presto, everyone forgets how poorly that team underachieved. Lost by 24 to PC, lost to Cleveland State, lost at Pepperdine. They were 13-10 at one point and lost their lost 2 games going into the A10 tourney. Did Harrick's coaching suddenly get better over that weekend in Philly? Or did URI catch lightning in a bottle?

He left the program with questionable character players. Marbury and his 1-man weave offense? Tiger Womack? Compare those kids with the kind of kids Skinner brought to the program.

OK but two can play that game - what did Skinner do with those kids? Lost to Purdue in the first round. Didn't beat a ranked team all year.

Now of course - you could say "went to OT" but if I had wheels I'd be a wagon. Just like with the Odom shot.

I think it's fair to say Harrick got the most out of Skinner's guys. Of course Tyson and Cat were seniors, but there's no guarantee what Skinner would've done in the NCAA tourney with them. He doesn't exactly have a stellar tourney record with URI or BC. He made it to the second weekend once.

Fact is, the biggest moments in URI history happened under Harrick. Beating #1 Kansas. Elite 8. The first A-10 title.

It's impossible to mention URI basketball without recognizing his impact.

It's also true to say Skinner built a significantly better program than Harrick, but he was also here for the third longest time.

I'm not bashing Al by any stretch, he's one of our better coaches. But the end of season success matters.

Frank Keaney
Jim Harrick
Dan Hurley
Tom Penders
Al Skinner

That'd be my top 5.

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Penders left us with Kenny Green and Jeff Kent, but also saddled us with Eric Leslie.

[RF1]

David Cox is now likely in his last ten days as URI Men's Basketball Head Coach. My best guess is his tenure is over before noon Friday 03/11/22.

I would bet Monday 3/14. Don't think we're making that announcement before the A-10 tournament is over.

Tuesday 3/15. This is the date RR2 predicted weeks ago.


No way it’s announced during the tournament.

As I had opined earlier, I really hope that URI does not delay because of the A-10 Tournament. It really serves no purpose in helping Rhody. Other member schools have fired their coaches during the tournament. UMass announced the departure of Kellogg within hours after their loss on the Thursday (03/09) afternoon of the tournament in 2017. The tournament was in Pittsburgh that year from 03/08-03/12 with URI winning the championship. I don't think it at all spoiled URI's run. Why then should Rhody extend the courtesy to the league this time around? It is not as if the conference does a lot for URI. I am all for taking action as soon as possible after the Rams season is officially ended. Screw what the A-10 would like.

[Blue Man]

Penders left us with Kenny Green and Jeff Kent, but also saddled us with Eric Leslie.

Again the 2 year thing makes it tough to meter the "impact" of their career, but it's one of 2 times URI made it to a second weekend.

Hurley got us to back to backs and left the program probably in the best place since Skinner.

I think there's a fair debate between Hurley/Penders/Skinner about their impact/abilities here, but I think Keaney/Harrick are unimpeachable.

[Blue Man]

I would bet Monday 3/14. Don't think we're making that announcement before the A-10 tournament is over.

Tuesday 3/15. This is the date RR2 predicted weeks ago.


No way it’s announced during the tournament.

As I had opined earlier, I really hope that URI does not delay because of the A-10 Tournament. It really serves no purpose in helping Rhody. Other member schools have fired their coaches during the tournament. UMass announced the departure of Kellogg after their loss on the Thursday afternoon of the tournament in 2017. The tournament was in Pittsburgh that year from 03/08-03/12 with URI winning the championship. I don't think it at all spoiled URI's run. Why then should Rhody extend the courtesy to the league this time around? It is not as if the conference does a lot for URI. I am all for taking action as soon as possible after the Rams season is officially ended. Screw what the A-10 would like.

UMass is a scumbag organization top to bottom.

Plus if you want to create a buzz in the media, (which we DESPERATELY need), you don't announce your firing during one of the two biggest weekends of your sport's season.

You do it on Monday when teams and fans are making travel plans and consuming all college basketball related content instead of watching games.

[ramster]

Tuesday 3/15. This is the date RR2 predicted weeks ago.


No way it’s announced during the tournament.

As I had opined earlier, I really hope that URI does not delay because of the A-10 Tournament. It really serves no purpose in helping Rhody. Other member schools have fired their coaches during the tournament. UMass announced the departure of Kellogg after their loss on the Thursday afternoon of the tournament in 2017. The tournament was in Pittsburgh that year from 03/08-03/12 with URI winning the championship. I don't think it at all spoiled URI's run. Why then should Rhody extend the courtesy to the league this time around? It is not as if the conference does a lot for URI. I am all for taking action as soon as possible after the Rams season is officially ended. Screw what the A-10 would like.

UMass is a scumbag organization top to bottom.

Plus if you want to create a buzz in the media, (which we DESPERATELY need), you don't announce your firing during one of the two biggest weekends of your sport's season.

You do it on Monday when teams and fans are making travel plans and consuming all college basketball related content instead of watching games.

Yep. I don't want to do what UMASS does

[adam914]

I would bet Monday 3/14. Don't think we're making that announcement before the A-10 tournament is over.

Tuesday 3/15. This is the date RR2 predicted weeks ago.


No way it’s announced during the tournament.

As I had opined earlier, I really hope that URI does not delay because of the A-10 Tournament. It really serves no purpose in helping Rhody. Other member schools have fired their coaches during the tournament. UMass announced the departure of Kellogg within hours after their loss on the Thursday (03/09) afternoon of the tournament in 2017. The tournament was in Pittsburgh that year from 03/08-03/12 with URI winning the championship. I don't think it at all spoiled URI's run. Why then should Rhody extend the courtesy to the league this time around? It is not as if the conference does a lot for URI. I am all for taking action as soon as possible after the Rams season is officially ended. Screw what the A-10 would like.

Does it really matter? A few days here or there isn't going to make any meaningful difference.

[RhowdyRam02]

Tuesday 3/15. This is the date RR2 predicted weeks ago.


No way it’s announced during the tournament.

As I had opined earlier, I really hope that URI does not delay because of the A-10 Tournament. It really serves no purpose in helping Rhody. Other member schools have fired their coaches during the tournament. UMass announced the departure of Kellogg within hours after their loss on the Thursday (03/09) afternoon of the tournament in 2017. The tournament was in Pittsburgh that year from 03/08-03/12 with URI winning the championship. I don't think it at all spoiled URI's run. Why then should Rhody extend the courtesy to the league this time around? It is not as if the conference does a lot for URI. I am all for taking action as soon as possible after the Rams season is officially ended. Screw what the A-10 would like.

Does it really matter? A few days here or there isn't going to make any meaningful difference.

Exactly. If we're going after a coach that's not employed we probably already have started back channel communications (whispers about Archie?) and if they are employed they'll be preparing for the NCAA tournament anyway. Whether we fire Cox the day after the last game or the day after the tournament is irrelevant for the search