Dan McHale to EKU

Donate To GopherHole
J

joshvanklomp

Active member
Joined
Feb 1, 2012
Messages
1,923
Reaction score
0
Points
36
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 



Best of luck to him. I think it's never really a bad sign when your assistants are highly regarded enough to get head coaching jobs at the D-1 level. I just hope it doesn't hamper our recruiting this year.
 

Big loss from a recruiting standpoint as he was the main recruiter for some of these junior and sophomores. Happy for Coach McHale tho...this is a nice step in his career!
 


Tough to lose a good coach but congrats to Coach McHale on the head coach job. Will be interesting to see who is targeted to replace him though.
 






MinneStoa said:
Rick Pitino checks both of those boxes.
Click to expand...

Who were some of Rick's assistants in Boston? Wonder if Richard may try and go that route?

Or maybe Ryan Saunders?

Really happy for coach McHale though. Awesome opportunity. Hope he does really well there.
 

Tough news, but good luck to him. None of Tubby's assistants ever got other jobs. That wasn't a compliment. Any chance we can steal Coach Mo away from Tim Miles? I'd like him to teach us how to guard the 3....
 

scher215 said:
Who were some of Rick's assistants in Boston? Wonder if Richard may try and go that route?

Or maybe Ryan Saunders?

Really happy for coach McHale though. Awesome opportunity. Hope he does really well there.
Click to expand...

Given the scuttlebutt Norwood made with Flip about him, that seems unlikely.
 

Wonder if there's any chance of getting EKU On the schedule. I think that'd be kind of fun.
 



GameDay said:
Big loss from a recruiting standpoint as he was the main recruiter for some of these junior and sophomores. Happy for Coach McHale tho...this is a nice step in his career!
Click to expand...

And Malik Ellison.
 

Damn. Hope this doesn't hurt our recruiting too much. Kimani is still still an elite recruiter on the east coast and Ben Johnson is as good as it gets in-state. Wonder if either Ben or Kimani get a promotion or if the new coach will replace McHale as the lead assistant.
 

Good for Mac Hale if he foes well and we lose pitino could be a replacement a few years down the road. Should be fun to see who fills out the staff. Didn't we bring in a new director of basketball hoops last year who was an assistant at Oregon state
 

bemidjigopher said:
Good for Mac Hale if he foes well and we lose pitino could be a replacement a few years down the road. Should be fun to see who fills out the staff. Didn't we bring in a new director of basketball hoops last year who was an assistant at Oregon state
Click to expand...

No way we will be able to fight off the Dukes and Kentuckys. :)
 

Doubt the U would ever do it, who knows though, but I think Bobby Jackson would be a phenomenal fit.

Especially with all of the young guards we will have next year.
 

howeda7 said:
Tough news, but good luck to him. None of Tubby's assistants ever got other jobs. That wasn't a compliment. Any chance we can steal Coach Mo away from Tim Miles? I'd like him to teach us how to guard the 3....
Click to expand...

Ha - wouldn't that be great, Coach Mo sure did love it here. I don't think Tim Miles would let us take a 2nd assistant away from him (the 1st, obviously being Ben Johnson).

You know who would be great on this staff? Wade Hokenson. He bleeds maroon and gold, has family in MN, has 7 years of coaching experience at Western IL (2 of them being Assistant Head Coach experience) and the guy is as sharp and hard working as anyone I've met. I obviously know Wade, so I may be a little biased, but I know how good he is.
 

This is bad news for the Gopher program, but you can't be anything but happy for Coach McHale. Guys get in to the profession to become head coaches and McHale has earned that opportunity. A sincere congrats to Coach McHale and a thank you for a job well done during his tenure at Minnesota.

Looking forward, this is going to be a very important hire for the program. I saw where both Marcus and Doogie tweeted they wouldn't be surprised if Pomeday was promoted. Personally, I'd be both surprised and disappointed if that were the case. Pitino needs to replace his lead assistant with someone who has impressive recruiting and coaching credentials. One name that Doogie brought up that makes sense is Ryan Miller. Miller is at UNLV right now and has a reputation as a very strong recruiter. Dave Rice is on the hot seat in Vegas and it would make a lot of sense for Miller to move back to the Midwest and to the B1G. My hesitation with Miller is he's not an East Coast guy and my hunch is that Pitino will look to add a second assistant with East Coast ties. We know Norwood Teague and Mike Ellis value assistants, so I am pretty certain Pitino will have the budget to attract a good one.
 


Coach Mo would be great because he's a remnant of DePaul's Glory Days. Him and Hokenson would have ties to Peoria etc., if anyone is leery of Chicago's AAU scene. I'm guessing Papa P. will steer a proven recruiter our way. There's only so many ways a father can help a son and no doubt Norwood will open up the purse strings.
 

howieramone said:
Coach Mo would be great because he's a remnant of DePaul's Glory Days. Him and Hokenson would have ties to Peoria etc., if anyone is leery of Chicago's AAU scene. I'm guessing Papa P. will steer a proven recruiter our way. There's only so many ways a father can help a son and no doubt Norwood will open up the purse strings.
Click to expand...

I seem to recall that Papa P looked to Jr when Kevin Keatts left Louisville for the UNCW head job. Richard recommended Kenny Johnson, former Indiana assistant, and Rick hired him. I'm sure Richard has enough connections in the biz to find a good assistant himself.
 

GopherLady said:
Ha - wouldn't that be great, Coach Mo sure did love it here. I don't think Tim Miles would let us take a 2nd assistant away from him (the 1st, obviously being Ben Johnson).

You know who would be great on this staff? Wade Hokenson. He bleeds maroon and gold, has family in MN, has 7 years of coaching experience at Western IL (2 of them being Assistant Head Coach experience) and the guy is as sharp and hard working as anyone I've met. I obviously know Wade, so I may be a little biased, but I know how good he is.
Click to expand...

I like that Hokenson is a former player and from MN, but other than that, I don't think he has a ton going for him. He's an assistant at an awful mid-major program. And this is his first D1 job. He hasn't even recruited any Minnesota players to Western Illinois.

I mean that's nice that you know him and all, but he's not qualified.

Maybe what could happen is he becomes Director of Basketball Ops if Pomeday is promoted. Hokenson's profile on the Western Illinois website says that part of what he does is: "administers the day-to-to operations of the program, such as coordinating team travel, scheduling practices, compliance and monitoring academic progress," so I imagine he'd do well as the Director of Basketball Ops here.
 

Or maybe if they promote Pomeday, former Gophers video coordinator and current UNCW assistant Casey Stanley will become Director of Basketball Ops.
 

scher215 said:
Doubt the U would ever do it, who knows though, but I think Bobby Jackson would be a phenomenal fit.

Especially with all of the young guards we will have next year.
Click to expand...

He would be a great fit. Jackson was an assistant for a couple years with the Kings and is now the Wolves' Director of Player Development.
 


Does anyone know the last UM assistant to be hired as a head coach anywhere? (prior to this one)
 

Tim1406 said:
Does anyone know the last UM assistant to be hired as a head coach anywhere? (prior to this one)
Click to expand...

Do we have to go all the way back to Larry Davis? There was Milton Barnes, too, but I think he left before Larry.
 

scher215 said:
Wonder if there's any chance of getting EKU On the schedule. I think that'd be kind of fun.
Click to expand...

I would think that is a near certainty at some point. It is actually a pretty good game for Minnesota to have. An almost certain win, and not a total RPI killer. EKU is fairly good. (Its a really good gig for Dan McHale to get as a 1st time HC)

Tubby's Minnesota team beat Eastern Kentucky at the Barn back in 2010 the same day the Metrodome roof collapsed. I remember driving home from that game and barely making it up the exit ramp there was so much snow and it just kept coming!
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom