David Cox Line Up Changes and Overall Coaching 2020

[theblueram]

A while lot of bitchin and complaining about this one and that one...the bottom line is, this isn’t a very good team. Just accept it. We are 16 or 17 games in, it ain’t changing. The team is bd for multiple reasons, that most of you have mentioned before. But...

....it’s not just on Cox to develop players. The players have a their own personal responsibility to get better. Yes he’s done a lackluster job this year, but I’m not putting everything in him.
...guys transferring probably did or did not have something to do with Fatts’ presence. But those things happen yearly, around the country, on every team.
...Fatts has been bad this year. No getting around it. But, where’s the appreciation as a fan, for a guy laying his body on the line out there, for your program?? We sound like a bunch a**holes speaking the way we do sometimes, in regards to Fatts and the rest of our guys.
...and saw someone post “If Ish leaves, then Cox better follow him” Yo, when did Ish become Sharife Cooper??? He is a very solid and dependable player, no doubt about it. But he’s not STAR in the A10. Anyone who thinks he is, is in for a rude awakening in the seasons to come. An essential piece to a good/great team. But not the “guy”. If Cox is depending on this returning guard group to get it done next year, think again. He needs a true proven PG, from the transfer portal. Not a Fatts type, he has that in Jeremy. Not a nuts and bolts guy, he has that in Ish. But a true table-setter, with some offensive game.

The one thing that someone said that is true, is this coaching staff has to change. It’s one of the biggest issues that exists. Players win games. But coaches put guys in the right positions, to win games. The overall job being done of this staff stinks!!

I would be all in if we swap Preston Murphy for Austin Allen and his father, but never going to happen.

I agree with the staff stinks sentiment. I’ve tried to give everyone an extended benefit of doubt, but they don’t seem to contribute ANYTHING of value to the team/program. I’d offer to cut my pay to increase the staff pool and get some quality, veteran assistants on board before it’s too late.

I think DC needs someone who is a bit of a bad guy to counter his good guy demeanor. When a line up is in and streaking and DC want's to sub, he needs someone to tell him to wait because it's going good. When the lineup is stinking out the joint, he needs someone to tell him to change the lineup. He needs recruiters, but DC has a great eye for talent. He needs people on the bench who can feel the game, the momentum shifts and offer guidance on changes. He doesn't have this. He's got guys sitting on the bench collecting a paycheck it seems.

[PeterRamTime]

I think players left because they knew what they in Cox and knew their development would have been slowed with him.

That had to be a factor.

Tyrese and Jacob sure seem to be improving.

We'll see what happens here after the season.

If Leggett leaves, Cox has to go with him.

This is not accurate at all. Have you watched either of these guys play this year? Tyrese and Jacob are both averaging less points and almost identical rbs as last year. They look exactly the same as when they wore keaney blue. Not sure what your looking at here...

Martin is the #2 option on the team (#1 without Bouk) and he’s doing ok, but definitely not killing it.
Toppin is averaging 4 points a game on a team that has a .333 win percentage. KU is a great program but the team is garbage this year.

I totally get that you don’t like Cox, but stick to facts.

I mean they both would have brought some continuity, but we are so wildly inconsistent it wouldn't matter enough.

[ramster]

I think players left because they knew what they in Cox and knew their development would have been slowed with him.

I don't think the players left just because of Cox:
Martin and Toppin transferred to blue blood programs and better conferences for more recognition and a quicker path to the next level.
Tate left because of his suspension.
The others transferred for the opportunity of more playing time at a less profile program.

They may not have left just because of Cox, but they didn't stay at URI because of Cox either.

St Bonaventure, Richmond, Saint Louis, Dayton - these teams did not lose starters and yet URI lost 2 starters.

[ramster]

At least Cox has thought of resting Fatts until
March

Good for Hershgordon to ask the question about would it make sense to sit Fatts and allow him to recover.

Cox says he will talk to Fatts, his family and the Doctors to determine next steps.

fwiw I think he should be rested as much as possible leading up to the A10 Tournament. I have seen URI up by 15 or down by 15 and yet Fatts is often still in the game even though he is not needed. Fatts wants to be on the floor, he wants to be scoring points, but Cox must take command of the situation to prevent an ineffective Fatts from negatively impacting the team. I'm sure he will be on top of this the all important month of February and 1st two weeks of March.

[reef]

Tyrese definitely made the right move for himself and his future

[ramster]

I would be all in if we swap Preston Murphy for Austin Allen and his father, but never going to happen.

I agree with the staff stinks sentiment. I’ve tried to give everyone an extended benefit of doubt, but they don’t seem to contribute ANYTHING of value to the team/program. I’d offer to cut my pay to increase the staff pool and get some quality, veteran assistants on board before it’s too late.

I think DC needs someone who is a bit of a bad guy to counter his good guy demeanor. When a line up is in and streaking and DC want's to sub, he needs someone to tell him to wait because it's going good. When the lineup is stinking out the joint, he needs someone to tell him to change the lineup. He needs recruiters, but DC has a great eye for talent. He needs people on the bench who can feel the game, the momentum shifts and offer guidance on changes. He doesn't have this. He's got guys sitting on the bench collecting a paycheck it seems.

Dan Hurley demonstrated the capability to bring in good potential assistant coaching candidates and develop them.

• Bobby Hurley - to Buffalo HC then to Arizona State HC

• Luke Murray - URI to Xavier to Louisville - in line for a D1 HC Job soon

• David Cox - URI top URI HC

He did this with the same type of Assistant Coach Pay Level they have now, if not slightly worse.

David Cox recruits and hires his Assistant Coaches. If they are not performing well then look no further than Cox for recruiting, hiring and developing them.

[Jersey77]

I think players left because they knew what they in Cox and knew their development would have been slowed with him.

I don't think the players left just because of Cox:
Martin and Toppin transferred to blue blood programs and better conferences for more recognition and a quicker path to the next level.
Tate left because of his suspension.
The others transferred for the opportunity of more playing time at a less profile program.

They may not have left just because of Cox, but they didn't stay at URI because of Cox either.

St Bonaventure, Richmond, Saint Louis, Dayton - these teams did not lose starters and yet URI lost 2 starters.

Don't disagree, but not sure of your point.
We understand why Toppin and Martin left, because they felt they had a better opportunity .

On the other hand, the Twins only came here because of Cox.
Also Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts did stay here to receive their degree.

VCU, not mentioned by you, did lose one of their top players in senior Marcus Santos-Silva to Texas Tech.

No way can you even compare Cox to the coaches of the schools you did mention:
Richmond - Chris Mooney , 16th season, winningest head coach in their history
Bonnies - Mark Schmidt, 14th season, former A10 coach of the year, school record 26 wins in 2018
St. Louis - Travis Ford 5th season, one of only 15 active head coaches with 400 wins in 24 or fewer seasons
Dayton - Anthony Grant - 4th season, last year ranked 3rd in the nation and National Coach of the Year

Richmond, Dayton, and St. Louis are senior star laden teams and going to compete for the conference title along with the Bonnies. That wasn't going to be the case with us after graduating both Jeff and Cyril.

Player movement and roster turnover is a concern, we are all well aware of that.

As I previously mentioned, I am not sure that Cox is the long term answer, but at this point I don't believe it is wise to throw everything away and start from scratch again.

[rhodylaw]

I don't think the players left just because of Cox:
Martin and Toppin transferred to blue blood programs and better conferences for more recognition and a quicker path to the next level.
Tate left because of his suspension.
The others transferred for the opportunity of more playing time at a less profile program.

They may not have left just because of Cox, but they didn't stay at URI because of Cox either.

St Bonaventure, Richmond, Saint Louis, Dayton - these teams did not lose starters and yet URI lost 2 starters.

Don't disagree, but not sure of your point.
We understand why Toppin and Martin left, because they felt they had a better opportunity .

On the other hand the Twins only came here because of Cox.
Also Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts did stay here to receive their degree.

VCU, not mentioned by you, did lose one of their top players in senior Marcus Santos-Silva to Texas Tech.

No way can you even compare Cox to the coaches of the schools you did mention:
Richmond - Chris Mooney , 16th season, winningest head coach in their history
Bonnies - Mark Schmidt, 14th season, former A10 coach of the year, school record 26 wins in 2018
St. Louis - Travis Ford 5th season, one of only 15 active head coaches with 400 wins in 24 or fewer seasons
Dayton - Anthony Grant - 4th season, last year ranked 3rd in the nation and National Coach of the Year

Richmond, Dayton, and St. Louis are senior star laden teams and going to compete for the conference title along with the Bonnies. That wasn't going to be the case with us after graduating both Jeff and Cyril.

Player movement and roster turnover is a concern, we are all well aware of that.

As I previously mentioned, I am not sure that Cox is the long term answer, but at this point I don't believe it is wise to throw everything away and start from scratch again.

I think in 1 post you summed up the problem - Dayton, Richmond, St. Louis, Bonnies are just more experienced this year. The A10 is stronger than it has been in years. We are .500 against the toughest overall schedule we have played maybe in 25 years. It could be better, but it isn’t the end of the world that we are not there yet.

[Rhodymob05]

Older teams win in the NCAA, look at UK, Duke, UNC. Our classes our destroyed after Dan left and the transfer flood gates opened. I'm not sure we will see have an experienced team that started here as freshman for a long time.

[ramster]

I don't think the players left just because of Cox:
Martin and Toppin transferred to blue blood programs and better conferences for more recognition and a quicker path to the next level.
Tate left because of his suspension.
The others transferred for the opportunity of more playing time at a less profile program.

They may not have left just because of Cox, but they didn't stay at URI because of Cox either.

St Bonaventure, Richmond, Saint Louis, Dayton - these teams did not lose starters and yet URI lost 2 starters.

Don't disagree, but not sure of your point.
We understand why Toppin and Martin left, because they felt they had a better opportunity .

On the other hand, the Twins only came here because of Cox.
Also Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts did stay here to receive their degree.

VCU, not mentioned by you, did lose one of their top players in senior Marcus Santos-Silva to Texas Tech.

No way can you even compare Cox to the coaches of the schools you did mention:
Richmond - Chris Mooney , 16th season, winningest head coach in their history
Bonnies - Mark Schmidt, 14th season, former A10 coach of the year, school record 26 wins in 2018
St. Louis - Travis Ford 5th season, one of only 15 active head coaches with 400 wins in 24 or fewer seasons
Dayton - Anthony Grant - 4th season, last year ranked 3rd in the nation and National Coach of the Year

Richmond, Dayton, and St. Louis are senior star laden teams and going to compete for the conference title along with the Bonnies. That wasn't going to be the case with us after graduating both Jeff and Cyril.

Player movement and roster turnover is a concern, we are all well aware of that.

As I previously mentioned, I am not sure that Cox is the long term answer, but at this point I don't believe it is wise to throw everything away and start from scratch again.

I was using St Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Dayton and Richmond as examples of top tier A10 Teams who were not impacted by transfers. Some refer to “the new normal” with the transfer situation of today like it’s an excuse that gives Head Coaches a break.

Santos-Silva was known to be shopping while at VCU. He graduated and therefore was immediately eligible. He earned his degree in 3 years at VCU and is now a grad student at Texas Tech.

Toppin and Martin were big surprised when announced by URI. Toppin just a freshman and Martin a Sophomore. Both would have been in the starting line up this year.

When they left some said Martin would not start at UCONN and Toppin would never play or impact at Kentucky. Toppin is often 1st off bench at Kentucky playing in a year he wasn’t expected to and Martin is 2nd best at UCONN.

Bad enough to lose 1 started, but two?

You say they left for better opportunities. Of course they did, everyone leaves for what they perceive to be a better opportunity.

I know Toppin was not happy with his playing time.

Some have mentioned team chemistry as a possible reason to leave. Unfortunately the reasons to leave outweighed the reasons to stay - and both left assuming they would sit out a year. Imagine now when no sitting out is necessary.

Still time left in this season. Still have the A10 Tournament to play for. Hopefully we put it all together.

[Jersey77]

They may not have left just because of Cox, but they didn't stay at URI because of Cox either.

St Bonaventure, Richmond, Saint Louis, Dayton - these teams did not lose starters and yet URI lost 2 starters.

Don't disagree, but not sure of your point.
We understand why Toppin and Martin left, because they felt they had a better opportunity .

On the other hand, the Twins only came here because of Cox.
Also Jeff, Cyril, and Fatts did stay here to receive their degree.

VCU, not mentioned by you, did lose one of their top players in senior Marcus Santos-Silva to Texas Tech.

No way can you even compare Cox to the coaches of the schools you did mention:
Richmond - Chris Mooney , 16th season, winningest head coach in their history
Bonnies - Mark Schmidt, 14th season, former A10 coach of the year, school record 26 wins in 2018
St. Louis - Travis Ford 5th season, one of only 15 active head coaches with 400 wins in 24 or fewer seasons
Dayton - Anthony Grant - 4th season, last year ranked 3rd in the nation and National Coach of the Year

Richmond, Dayton, and St. Louis are senior star laden teams and going to compete for the conference title along with the Bonnies. That wasn't going to be the case with us after graduating both Jeff and Cyril.

Player movement and roster turnover is a concern, we are all well aware of that.

As I previously mentioned, I am not sure that Cox is the long term answer, but at this point I don't believe it is wise to throw everything away and start from scratch again.

I was using St Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Dayton and Richmond as examples of top tier A10 Teams who were not impacted by transfers. Some refer to “the new normal” with the transfer situation of today like it’s an excuse that gives Head Coaches a break.

Santos-Silva was known to be shopping while at VCU. He graduated and therefore was immediately eligible. He earned his degree in 3 years at VCU and is now a grad student at Texas Tech.

Toppin and Martin were big surprised when announced by URI. Toppin just a freshman and Martin a Sophomore. Both would have been in the starting line up this year.

When they left some said Martin would not start at UCONN and Toppin would never play or impact at Kentucky. Toppin is often 1st off bench at Kentucky playing in a year he wasn’t expected to and Martin is 2nd best at UCONN.

Bad enough to lose 1 started, but two?

You say they left for better opportunities. Of course they did, everyone leaves for what they perceive to be a better opportunity.

I know Toppin was not happy with his playing time.

Some have mentioned team chemistry as a possible reason to leave. Unfortunately the reasons to leave outweighed the reasons to stay - and both left assuming they would sit out a year. Imagine now when no sitting out is necessary.

Still time left in this season. Still have the A10 Tournament to play for. Hopefully we put it all together.

I think we can all agree that the transfers have been a concern and it is easy to understand why it hasn't impacted the programs you listed.
Under the circumstances Cox has done an excellent job reloading our roster, which we were all very excited about.
Cox is still a relatively new head coach and these are very unsettling times, extremely difficult for even the most seasoned coaches.
My current expectations aren't that high but hopefully this team can turn it around and find some success.

[reef]

Hopefully we won’t have a lot of transfers after this season but nowadays it’s inevitable

[Blue Man]

I agree with the staff stinks sentiment. I’ve tried to give everyone an extended benefit of doubt, but they don’t seem to contribute ANYTHING of value to the team/program. I’d offer to cut my pay to increase the staff pool and get some quality, veteran assistants on board before it’s too late.

I think DC needs someone who is a bit of a bad guy to counter his good guy demeanor. When a line up is in and streaking and DC want's to sub, he needs someone to tell him to wait because it's going good. When the lineup is stinking out the joint, he needs someone to tell him to change the lineup. He needs recruiters, but DC has a great eye for talent. He needs people on the bench who can feel the game, the momentum shifts and offer guidance on changes. He doesn't have this. He's got guys sitting on the bench collecting a paycheck it seems.

Dan Hurley demonstrated the capability to bring in good potential assistant coaching candidates and develop them.

• Bobby Hurley - to Buffalo HC then to Arizona State HC

• Luke Murray - URI to Xavier to Louisville - in line for a D1 HC Job soon

• David Cox - URI top URI HC

He did this with the same type of Assistant Coach Pay Level they have now, if not slightly worse.

David Cox recruits and hires his Assistant Coaches. If they are not performing well then look no further than Cox for recruiting, hiring and developing them.

You're forgetting Preston and ARD as well. Both left for higher level programs in higher level conferences because we couldn't afford to keep them.

That was Hurley's biggest gripe - he could identify top tier talent but couldn't afford to retain them.

I agree that Cox needs a 'Cox' to his 'Hurley' - and that was one of the things that made DH so successful.

[Jersey77]

I think DC needs someone who is a bit of a bad guy to counter his good guy demeanor. When a line up is in and streaking and DC want's to sub, he needs someone to tell him to wait because it's going good. When the lineup is stinking out the joint, he needs someone to tell him to change the lineup. He needs recruiters, but DC has a great eye for talent. He needs people on the bench who can feel the game, the momentum shifts and offer guidance on changes. He doesn't have this. He's got guys sitting on the bench collecting a paycheck it seems.

Dan Hurley demonstrated the capability to bring in good potential assistant coaching candidates and develop them.

• Bobby Hurley - to Buffalo HC then to Arizona State HC

• Luke Murray - URI to Xavier to Louisville - in line for a D1 HC Job soon

• David Cox - URI top URI HC

He did this with the same type of Assistant Coach Pay Level they have now, if not slightly worse.

David Cox recruits and hires his Assistant Coaches. If they are not performing well then look no further than Cox for recruiting, hiring and developing them.

You're forgetting Preston and ARD as well. Both left for higher level programs in higher level conferences because we couldn't afford to keep them.

That was Hurley's biggest gripe - he could identify top tier talent but couldn't afford to retain them.

I agree that Cox needs a 'Cox' to his 'Hurley' - and that was one of the things that made DH so successful.

Blue Man would you be referring to a Preston Murphy type?

[DC_Rams]

I think DC needs someone who is a bit of a bad guy to counter his good guy demeanor. When a line up is in and streaking and DC want's to sub, he needs someone to tell him to wait because it's going good. When the lineup is stinking out the joint, he needs someone to tell him to change the lineup. He needs recruiters, but DC has a great eye for talent. He needs people on the bench who can feel the game, the momentum shifts and offer guidance on changes. He doesn't have this. He's got guys sitting on the bench collecting a paycheck it seems.

Dan Hurley demonstrated the capability to bring in good potential assistant coaching candidates and develop them.

• Bobby Hurley - to Buffalo HC then to Arizona State HC

• Luke Murray - URI to Xavier to Louisville - in line for a D1 HC Job soon

• David Cox - URI top URI HC

He did this with the same type of Assistant Coach Pay Level they have now, if not slightly worse.

David Cox recruits and hires his Assistant Coaches. If they are not performing well then look no further than Cox for recruiting, hiring and developing them.

You're forgetting Preston and ARD as well. Both left for higher level programs in higher level conferences because we couldn't afford to keep them.

That was Hurley's biggest gripe - he could identify top tier talent but couldn't afford to retain them.

I agree that Cox needs a 'Cox' to his 'Hurley' - and that was one of the things that made DH so successful.

Holy shit! We actually AGREE on something (your last sentence). Maybe today is where the tide turns for all things RHODY. Stay tuned.

[ace]

Dave identified Sutton as that guy. Not sure I see it. The resources aren’t perfect, but they are there. We’ve seen some good assistants come through. Some of you were convinced that Dave was the singular reason Rhody had been successful and that they wouldn’t miss a beat with the coaching change (those posts still exist!). Coaching staffs are complex. The main guy has to be smart enough to hire the right guys and self-confident enough to use and rely on them. Dave had it in his head early on that he could be the primary assistant and also the main guy. It’s been quite the learning experience.

Coaches tend to get too much credit when teams win and too much blame when they don’t. That’s the job, though. Blame the players, blame the assistants, blame handlers, whatever... in the end, it comes down to the head coach.

[theblueram]

Dave identified Sutton as that guy. Not sure I see it. The resources aren’t perfect, but they are there. We’ve seen some good assistants come through. Some of you were convinced that Dave was the singular reason Rhody had been successful and that they wouldn’t miss a beat with the coaching change (those posts still exist!). Coaching staffs are complex. The main guy has to be smart enough to hire the right guys and self-confident enough to use and rely on them. Dave had it in his head early on that he could be the primary assistant and also the main guy. It’s been quite the learning experience.

Coaches tend to get too much credit when teams win and too much blame when they don’t. That’s the job, though. Blame the players, blame the assistants, blame handlers, whatever... in the end, it comes down to the head coach.

Not sure about the singular reason, but if I remember, Cox took over the scouting of all games? Maybe I'm wrong on that. But that was the chatter and after that things changed. I just think Dave needs some basketball minds on his staff that he has confidence in and will listen to. Your only as good as the people you hire.

[section(105)]

.......besides the scouting aspect, or lack there of, I would like to see a guru of his offense “system” come in and teach the fundamentals of that system.......ya know and start guruing.........

[Jersey77]

Dave identified Sutton as that guy. Not sure I see it. The resources aren’t perfect, but they are there. We’ve seen some good assistants come through. Some of you were convinced that Dave was the singular reason Rhody had been successful and that they wouldn’t miss a beat with the coaching change (those posts still exist!). Coaching staffs are complex. The main guy has to be smart enough to hire the right guys and self-confident enough to use and rely on them. Dave had it in his head early on that he could be the primary assistant and also the main guy. It’s been quite the learning experience.

Coaches tend to get too much credit when teams win and too much blame when they don’t. That’s the job, though. Blame the players, blame the assistants, blame handlers, whatever... in the end, it comes down to the head coach.

Not sure about the singular reason, but if I remember, Cox took over the scouting of all games? Maybe I'm wrong on that. But that was the chatter and after that things changed. I just think Dave needs some basketball minds on his staff that he has confidence in and will listen to. Your only as good as the people you hire.

I agree that Kevin Sutton was hired as someone DC could trust and lean on with all his experience. Also keeping John Carroll on the staff in a similar role as a special assistant. He hired Austin for his energy and enthusiasm and was able to retain his father in a packaged deal.

[bigappleram]

The weakness of the staff would suggest that our HC doesn’t have a ton of self confidence. Strong leaders want to surround themselves with people that will challenge or push them.

[theblueram]

Dave identified Sutton as that guy. Not sure I see it. The resources aren’t perfect, but they are there. We’ve seen some good assistants come through. Some of you were convinced that Dave was the singular reason Rhody had been successful and that they wouldn’t miss a beat with the coaching change (those posts still exist!). Coaching staffs are complex. The main guy has to be smart enough to hire the right guys and self-confident enough to use and rely on them. Dave had it in his head early on that he could be the primary assistant and also the main guy. It’s been quite the learning experience.

Coaches tend to get too much credit when teams win and too much blame when they don’t. That’s the job, though. Blame the players, blame the assistants, blame handlers, whatever... in the end, it comes down to the head coach.

Not sure about the singular reason, but if I remember, Cox took over the scouting of all games? Maybe I'm wrong on that. But that was the chatter and after that things changed. I just think Dave needs some basketball minds on his staff that he has confidence in and will listen to. Your only as good as the people you hire.

I agree that Kevin Sutton was hired as someone DC could trust and lean on with all his experience. Also keeping John Carroll on the staff in a similar role as a special assistant. He hired Austin for his energy and enthusiasm and was able to retain his father in a packaged deal.

Perhaps we need a change, like yesterday.

[reef]

Supposedly Sutton has a long track record of being a top assistant, maybe he was overrated in that area ??

[ramster]

I think DC needs someone who is a bit of a bad guy to counter his good guy demeanor. When a line up is in and streaking and DC want's to sub, he needs someone to tell him to wait because it's going good. When the lineup is stinking out the joint, he needs someone to tell him to change the lineup. He needs recruiters, but DC has a great eye for talent. He needs people on the bench who can feel the game, the momentum shifts and offer guidance on changes. He doesn't have this. He's got guys sitting on the bench collecting a paycheck it seems.

Dan Hurley demonstrated the capability to bring in good potential assistant coaching candidates and develop them.

• Bobby Hurley - to Buffalo HC then to Arizona State HC

• Luke Murray - URI to Xavier to Louisville - in line for a D1 HC Job soon

• David Cox - URI top URI HC

He did this with the same type of Assistant Coach Pay Level they have now, if not slightly worse.

David Cox recruits and hires his Assistant Coaches. If they are not performing well then look no further than Cox for recruiting, hiring and developing them.

You're forgetting Preston and ARD as well. Both left for higher level programs in higher level conferences because we couldn't afford to keep them.

That was Hurley's biggest gripe - he could identify top tier talent but couldn't afford to retain them.

I agree that Cox needs a 'Cox' to his 'Hurley' - and that was one of the things that made DH so successful.

BlueMan,
I note Bobby Hurley as he went to Buffalo as HC and then ASU as HC as an example of Dan Hurley developing Assistants and promoting them. Bobby was very effective recruiting at URI.
David Cox was recruited by Dan Hurley and he developed him
Luke Murray was recruited by Dan and developed. Luke will soon be a Head Coach at a D1 school. Will happen this year as he is highly regarded.

As for ARD and Preston they are also examples of Assistants recruited by Dan Hurley. I don’t think it’s all money why they left. Assistants typically move around as they move up the ladder. Preston to BC then to Creighton. ARD moved up to ACC Clemson which was also closer to his Atlanta home.

Point is Dan Hurley got good, solid Assistsnts to Kingston regardless of pay levels. The sign of a good head Coach.

David Cox following in those same footsteps?????
Time will tell.

[LIRAM]

Promoted TJ way too soon and still can't understand the Carroll situation and why it is handcuffing us. Maybe the Carroll's move on and DC can get a veteran assistant with head coaching experience (J. Carroll) lol. Someone who has a strength in X and O's and game management. Sutton seems to be a solid guy and his strength is suppose to be player development? Maybe he is the guy responsible for Makhel? This is not a strong staff and DC needs more support and knowledge with him.

He also needs to spend the off season picking the brain of coaches he respects and add things to his tool box. Most young coaches spend extended time in the gym watching other coaches and develop their philosophy and identity. David Cox has more positives than negatives going for him. He has potential to be a very good coach. I'm hoping Thor invest in the assistant coaching pool and we get DC some help.

If you look at Coach Tami and her staff with the women's program you are instantly impressed. She has a tremendous associate head coach with a wealth of international and college experience, a young alumnus with a ton of experience and a former WNBA, professional player who coached one of the top AAU programs in the country. That is a staff!

[ramster]

Promoted TJ way too soon and still can't understand the Carroll situation and why it is handcuffing us. Maybe the Carroll's move on and DC can get a veteran assistant with head coaching experience (J. Carroll) lol. Someone who has a strength in X and O's and game management. Sutton seems to be a solid guy and his strength is suppose to be player development? Maybe he is the guy responsible for Makhel? This is not a strong staff and DC needs more support and knowledge with him.

He also needs to spend the off season picking the brain of coaches he respects and add things to his tool box. Most young coaches spend extended time in the gym watching other coaches and develop their philosophy and identity. David Cox has more positives than negatives going for him. He has potential to be a very good coach. I'm hoping Thor invest in the assistant coaching pool and we get DC some help.

If you look at Coach Tami and her staff with the women's program you are instantly impressed. She has a tremendous associate head coach with a wealth of international and college experience, a young alumnus with a ton of experience and a former WNBA, professional player who coached one of the top AAU programs in the country. That is a staff!

Bottom line is the Coaching Staff is the responsibility of David Cox. Dan Hurley recruited and developed excellent Assistant Coaches. Coach Tami has recruited good Assistants and is developing them. To say URI does not pay enough might be true, but excellent He'd Coaches "find a way".

Excuses belong to Head Coaches like CFL at URI and the current CFL 35 miles north of Kingston.

[LIRAM]

You are correct Ramster it is on the head coach. Hiring two very green assistants was a terrible decision. It was much easier for Dan to get his brother and young qualified assistants because his name was Hurley. DC might need more juice (money) to get people here. I would spend some time with Thor and give Preston another shot. There are second assistants at big 5 schools who we might be able to pry with offering the top assistant job or getting the top assistant from a lower playing conference?

I thought Skinner always did a great job of building his staffs. Cohen and Shea were great for him and did so much heavy lifting. I can remember watching practices in Keaney and Shea running the show. His staffs at BC were equally impressive. Al was easy to like and easy to work for. Just a good dude.

[3mm's]

Was Toppin, Martin and Tate really Cox guys or was their lead recruiter let go by the Rhody administration for reasons that they were not happy with? When two of them were offered by better teams did this have anything to do with their feelings to Rhody. Maybe Cox wasn't the only reason they came here or the reason they left.
The Carroll's as coaches were not Cox's choices. The elder was forced on him because some important people felt he would be the older coach to help the new guy. Upon his illness no one could replace him so the hiring was delayed. By the time the opening was posted everyone that would have applied and had some recruiting/coaching experience already had a job and for them to leave at that late date would have been career suicide.
TJ was needed as the young guy who could commumicate with the players and he may have a bright future in coaching.
My question is- was Cox really the one who had choices on his staff? Sutton yes as a friend with recruiting area ties and coaching rep.
Add the asst. pay and maybe Cox is doing a pretty good job.

[phipsiGD'11]

So who are they letting go to get P-Murph? (Joking, but not really).

TJ- youngest, least experienced, but obvious ties to the program, seems to be a hard worker.

Austin- comes as a package with his father. Has experience at a higher level program.

Sutton- seems like Cox's confidante. Good connections with recruiting. Supposed to be a talent developer.

[NC_Ram]

Dave identified Sutton as that guy. Not sure I see it. The resources aren’t perfect, but they are there. We’ve seen some good assistants come through. Some of you were convinced that Dave was the singular reason Rhody had been successful and that they wouldn’t miss a beat with the coaching change (those posts still exist!). Coaching staffs are complex. The main guy has to be smart enough to hire the right guys and self-confident enough to use and rely on them. Dave had it in his head early on that he could be the primary assistant and also the main guy. It’s been quite the learning experience.

Coaches tend to get too much credit when teams win and too much blame when they don’t. That’s the job, though. Blame the players, blame the assistants, blame handlers, whatever... in the end, it comes down to the head coach.

Not sure about the singular reason, but if I remember, Cox took over the scouting of all games? Maybe I'm wrong on that. But that was the chatter and after that things changed. I just think Dave needs some basketball minds on his staff that he has confidence in and will listen to. Your only as good as the people you hire.

I agree that Kevin Sutton was hired as someone DC could trust and lean on with all his experience. Also keeping John Carroll on the staff in a similar role as a special assistant. He hired Austin for his energy and enthusiasm and was able to retain his father in a packaged deal.

They sound great don't they ... yet we continue to struggle with that basketball juggernaut that is Fordham

[reef]

I doubt Cox makes any changes to the assistants , he will just go with what he has unless they move on somehow

[section(105)]

I doubt Cox makes any changes to the assistants , he will just go with what he has unless they move on somehow

.......maybe the John Carrol situation has an end to it, and not on going until he decides to retire.....?

[Jersey77]

I doubt Cox makes any changes to the assistants , he will just go with what he has unless they move on somehow

Correct Reef, I don't see any changes in the assistants, and doubt any would be leaving in the near future, except for maybe John Carroll for health concerns but he doesn't count.

[DC_Rams]

I doubt Cox makes any changes to the assistants , he will just go with what he has unless they move on somehow

Correct Reef, I don't see any changes in the assistants, and doubt any would be leaving in the near future, except for maybe John Carroll for health concerns but he doesn't count.

If this team doesn’t miraculously turn the tide this season, there will be musical chairs being played. Guaranteed.

[theblueram]

I doubt Cox makes any changes to the assistants , he will just go with what he has unless they move on somehow

Correct Reef, I don't see any changes in the assistants, and doubt any would be leaving in the near future, except for maybe John Carroll for health concerns but he doesn't count.

If this team doesn’t miraculously turn the tide this season, there will be musical chairs being played. Guaranteed.

I hope you're right DC. Cox has a good mind for the game but the bench may be not so good? DC can't do it all on his own ya know. He needs serious bench help. Like when to call a timeout, subs etc....

[ramster]

Correct Reef, I don't see any changes in the assistants, and doubt any would be leaving in the near future, except for maybe John Carroll for health concerns but he doesn't count.

If this team doesn’t miraculously turn the tide this season, there will be musical chairs being played. Guaranteed.

I hope you're right DC. Cox has a good mind for the game but the bench may be not so good? DC can't do it all on his own ya know. He needs serious bench help. Like when to call a timeout, subs etc....

Cox hired his staff. He owns it

So if he is to replace his staff, as some are saying, why would we expect the new staff to be any better? Same person doing the hiring.
Or will he have Rhody72 do the hiring for him?

[reef]

Rhody 72 will not be part of the process

[rambone 78]

Thorr might demand that he do it, to keep his job.

It's happened before, I think, when Thorr told Baron to hire PM.

[Rhodymob05]

All we know is that there HAS to be a change or upgrade made somewhere to improve next season.

[ramster]

David Cox started Leggett for Betrand in the St Louis Game. That was the first time Cox started this line up all season. Fatts started and Cox left Leggett in the line up and pulled Betrand. Leggett did not respond offensively well going (0-8) in 24 minutes. Finally Cox went with this line up for the first time. Better still Cox stayed with it despite Leggett not producing well vs SLU PLUS Cox shortened the playing time. Maybe he is reading the board? Several of us posters have been clamoring for more playing time for Leggett since December. Some said starting Leggett with Russel and Sheppard would be too short a guard group - but bottom line this represents our best 5 on the court. And playing these 5 maximum minutes is our key to winning the A10.

St Louis Game: Mitchell, Walker, Sheppard, Russell, Leggett
Dayton Game: Mitchell, Walker, Sheppard, Russell, Leggett

This is the best line up to carry us through winning the A10 Tournament. Keep minutes high for the 5 starters.

Lowest Turnovers of the year previously was 8 vs Seton Hall. Last night vs Dayton we had 9 but that was with a 50 minute game - so best TO game of the season for URI

Carey and Betrand are both very turnover prone. Carey is out of the rotation now.

SLU Starter Minutes Total = 130 (65%)
Russell - 34
Sheppard - 33
Leggett - 24
Walker - 20
Mitchell - 19

SLU Bench Minutes Total = 70 (35%)
Martin - 25
Betrand - 16
Harris - 14
Johnson - 12
Carey - 3



Dayton Starter Minutes Total = 194 (78%)
Sheppard - 45
Russell - 45
Leggett - 40
Mitchell - 33
Walker - 31

Dayton Bench Minutes Total = 56 (22%)
Martin - 22
Harris - 14
Betrand - 12
Johnson - 8
Carey - 0

[Blue Man]

David Cox started Leggett for Betrand in the St Louis Game. That was the first time Cox started this line up all season. Fatts started and Cox left Leggett in the line up and pulled Betrand. Leggett did not respond offensively well going (0-8) in 24 minutes. Finally Cox went with this line up for the first time. Better still Cox stayed with it despite Leggett not producing well vs SLU PLUS Cox shortened the playing time. Maybe he is reading the board? Several of us posters have been clamoring for more playing time for Leggett since December. Some said starting Leggett with Russel and Sheppard would be too short a guard group - but bottom line this represents our best 5 on the court. And playing these 5 maximum minutes is our key to winning the A10.

St Louis Game: Mitchell, Walker, Sheppard, Russell, Leggett
Dayton Game: Mitchell, Walker, Sheppard, Russell, Leggett

This is the best line up to carry us through winning the A10 Tournament. Keep minutes high for the 5 starters.

Lowest Turnovers of the year previously was 8 vs Seton Hall. Last night vs Dayton we had 9 but that was with a 50 minute game - so best TO game of the season for URI

Carey and Betrand are both very turnover prone. Carey is out of the rotation now.

SLU Starter Minutes Total = 130 (65%)
Russell - 34
Sheppard - 33
Leggett - 24
Walker - 20
Mitchell - 19

SLU Bench Minutes Total = 70 (35%)
Martin - 25
Betrand - 16
Harris - 14
Johnson - 12
Carey - 3



Dayton Starter Minutes Total = 194 (78%)
Sheppard - 45
Russell - 45
Leggett - 40
Mitchell - 33
Walker - 31

Dayton Bench Minutes Total = 56 (22%)
Martin - 22
Harris - 14
Betrand - 12
Johnson - 8
Carey - 0

Agreed. For all we've (fairly) piled on to DC, last night was the first time there was a noticeable change in his rotation. Credit where credit is due.

Also there wasn't a famous "cox timeout" and he did use at least one to stop Dayton's momentum (still used a possession or two late for my taste, but progress is a good thing).

Getting that team to buy back in after a 4 game losing streak and being down a couple of touchdowns in the 2nd half would tell me that maybe he hasn't lost this team after all.

Again, it's one game - but it is one game moving in a good direction. Hopefully the trend continues and this wasn't an anomaly.

[reef]

Carey finally with a DNP coaches decisions glad Cox is starting Ish now and getting him starters minutes