All Things Pitino rumor mill thread

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DeathClutch said:
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Myron oh Myron, just please never speak of Minnesota again. He may be right about the current facilities, but their is plenty of HS talent in Minnesota.
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Recruiting is national, of course, but if you are looking at one's home region as a primary source of recruits then you need to look beyond the immediate borders of a single state. Minnesota borders the Dakotas, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and a fairly non-populated area of Canada. Wisconsin is the best source of the border states but it isn't that rich of a source (neither is Minnesota despite producing a handful of high profile recruits in recent years). There are relatively few larger metropolitan areas in those states.

Tennessee borders Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Knoxville is not a very long drive from Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Birmingham, Louisville, and Cincinnati. Even Indianapolis and Memphis are less than 6 hours of driving time.

Do you really believe that the regional talent pool in Minneapolis is comparable to Knoxville, TN?
 

There is absolutely not enough talent in MN alone and Tennessee is definitely a better job, but are people seriously looking at giving Pitino a big chunk of money to leave us right now? Seems ridiculous at this point in his career.
 

Gold Vision said:
There is absolutely not enough talent in MN alone and Tennessee is definitely a better job, but are people seriously looking at giving Pitino a big chunk of money to leave us right now? Seems ridiculous at this point in his career.
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Tennessee is not the smartest school of the bunch.

They now have had 8 coaches in Football and Basketball since 2008.

So if Tennessee wants to hire him, he's probably not that good of a coach.
 

I heard Tennessee is going after Pitino because they are looking for a Lane Kiffin type hire.
 


cjbfbp said:
Recruiting is national, of course, but if you are looking at one's home region as a primary source of recruits then you need to look beyond the immediate borders of a single state. Minnesota borders the Dakotas, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and a fairly non-populated area of Canada. Wisconsin is the best source of the border states but it isn't that rich of a source (neither is Minnesota despite producing a handful of high profile recruits in recent years). There are relatively few larger metropolitan areas in those states.

Tennessee borders Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Knoxville is not a very long drive from Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Birmingham, Louisville, and Cincinnati. Even Indianapolis and Memphis are less than 6 hours of driving time.

Do you really believe that the regional talent pool in Minneapolis is comparable to Knoxville, TN?
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No -- but there is also is more competition for the same group of recruits from the States you mentioned. The Minnesota talent pool is not our problem. We need to pull talent from beyond the reach of the Midwest, not just "secure the borders".

Our bigger problem is and continues to be our second-rate facilities and that likely includes the Barn. At some point, we need to act like a big fish if we want to compete with them.
 

Gold Vision said:
There is absolutely not enough talent in MN alone and Tennessee is definitely a better job, but are people seriously looking at giving Pitino a big chunk of money to leave us right now? Seems ridiculous at this point in his career.
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Tennessee isn't even the best job in the state.
 

Gold Vision said:
There is absolutely not enough talent in MN alone and Tennessee is definitely a better job, but are people seriously looking at giving Pitino a big chunk of money to leave us right now? Seems ridiculous at this point in his career.
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I can't disagree with you, but I would say that hiring him now for the Tennessee job is less ridiculous than our hiring him as a coach of a middle tier Big Ten team two years ago. Consider the positive evidence:

1) He has been a head coach for three years and he hasn't had a losing season yet;
2) He won the NIT in his second year of head coaching;
3) He landed a top 40 class at the beginning of his third year of coaching and it occurred at a place that has struggled a bit in recruiting this century (even with the former big name coach).
 

I agree with Myron - much easier to win (by "win" i took that as getting the program to a level where they're a consistent presence in the NCAAs) at Tennessee than at MN. Better recruiting area, not as tough of competitors in conference.
 




Tennessee is a dumpster fire right now. Bruce Pearl cheated. They ran Cuanzo Martin off for no good reason and now his replacement lasted one year. They will be absolutely awful the next two years no matter who the coach is. Does Pitino want his first four years in big-time coaching to be two bad years at MN and two even worse ones at Tennessee? Yes, they have nicer facilities and maybe they can pay him more, but that's it. Being the only school in a state of 5 million people is better than competing with Memphis and Vanderbilt in-state and many other SEC/ACC schools in a larger pool, IMO.

It's ridiculous how he's linked to every God-awful SEC football school job there is. Let's the see the coach from Buffalo, LA Tech and oh yeah MN are candidates. Those three schools are all basically the same, right?
 

howeda7 said:
It's ridiculous how he's linked to every God-awful SEC football school job there is.
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Quit exaggerating. If Tennessee, which is easily a better job, is "God-awful" - what does that make Minnesota?
 

mnsportsgeek said:
Tennessee isn't even the best job in the state.
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Might not even be the 2nd best one right now. Watching Vandy some in the NIT they look like a team on the rise. It would be a lateral move at best for Pitino and the only real positive is it would be easier to win in the SEC than it is in the B1G but I can't see Pitino taking the Tennessee job anyway.
 



golfing18now said:
No -- but there is also is more competition for the same group of recruits from the States you mentioned. The Minnesota talent pool is not our problem. We need to pull talent from beyond the reach of the Midwest, not just "secure the borders".

Our bigger problem is and continues to be our second-rate facilities and that likely includes the Barn. At some point, we need to act like a big fish if we want to compete with them.
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Your point about competition is true, but we do have regional competition even if we don't have competition within our state. We go after a similar level of recruits and even a few of the same players as Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and perhaps even Iowa State although Hoiberg has a bit of his own niche.

I think the "closing the borders" line is just a bone Pitino threw out for sentimental rubes who seem to care about such things. McCaffrey has done the same thing at Iowa. It should be fairly obvious by now that in-state recruiting is not a top priority for Pitino. Sure, he'll woo a highly rated recruit who is fairly motivated to come here (Jarvis) but he's not going to spend a lot of time chasing reluctant in-state recruits (last year's big three) or pursue a possibly willing in-stater when he feels he can do better elsewhere (Sacar Anim, Johnny Woodard).
 

howeda7 said:
Tennessee is a dumpster fire right now. Bruce Pearl cheated. They ran Cuanzo Martin off for no good reason and now his replacement lasted one year. They will be absolutely awful the next two years no matter who the coach is. Does Pitino want his first four years in big-time coaching to be two bad years at MN and two even worse ones at Tennessee? Yes, they have nicer facilities and maybe they can pay him more, but that's it. Being the only school in a state of 5 million people is better than competing with Memphis and Vanderbilt in-state and many other SEC/ACC schools in a larger pool, IMO.

It's ridiculous how he's linked to every God-awful SEC football school job there is. Let's the see the coach from Buffalo, LA Tech and oh yeah MN are candidates. Those three schools are all basically the same, right?
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Who knows if he is a candidate or not for the job but those two are pretty compelling reasons along with Tennessee is a better job could be enough for any coach to consider the move.
 

howeda7 said:
eing the only school in a state of 5 million people is better than competing with Memphis and Vanderbilt in-state and many other SEC/ACC schools in a larger pool, IMO.
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Yet, they had two NBA draft picks in 2014 (both second rounders) and a first rounder in 2011 and during that time period we have had "0."
 

cjbfbp said:
Yet, they had two NBA draft picks in 2014 (both second rounders) and a first rounder in 2011 and during that time period we have had "0."
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Past success is not a guarantee of future results.
 


Tim1406 said:
Past success is not a guarantee of future results.
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Of course not, but the draft results are a loose proxy for the comparative level of recruiting they've been able to achieve. As further evidence of my prior point (comparatively advantageous geographical location), I looked through the U of Tenn basketball roster for 2014-15. Seven players on that roster are from places that are within a comfortable drive (about 6 hours or less) of Knoxville. The corresponding number for the Gophers was one. As of right now, we'll have two for next year.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Quit exaggerating. If Tennessee, which is easily a better job, is "God-awful" - what does that make Minnesota?
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It's long-term prospects may not be God-awful but the short-term ones are. And since we know wins don't count when your coach is cheating in DP-land, when is the last time Tennessee was really good? The 80's with the guy who wore plaid suits whose name I can't remember? But hey, at least Pat Summit got them a huge arena and some nice facilities.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yet, they had two NBA draft picks in 2014 (both second rounders) and a first rounder in 2011 and during that time period we have had "0."
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Cuanzo Martin was a good coach. Yet they still ran him off. 8 football and basketball coaches since 2008. Where do I sign up?
 


howeda7 said:
It's long-term prospects may not be God-awful but the short-term ones are. And since we know wins don't count when your coach is cheating in DP-land, when is the last time Tennessee was really good? The 80's with the guy who wore plaid suits whose name I can't remember? But hey, at least Pat Summit got them a huge arena and some nice facilities.
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Wins don't count when the NCAA says they don't count, not just in "DP-land". Pearl was rightfully punished, but his offenses were nothing compared to Minnesota's, particularly since the player in question never even played for Tennessee. I'm not sure what your definition of "really good" is, but seven NCAA Tournament appearances in ten years under two coaches (including three Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight) is leagues better than any decade Minnesota basketball has ever enjoyed.
 


It isn't often you spend a year complaining about under achieving only to spend the offseason figuring out which school is going to hire your coach. Weird season all around.
 

With Lavin gone officially at St Johns, I wonder how long it will take for someone to comment that Pitino is a great fit. Honestly, this one wouldn't surprise me as much.
 

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Goodman has no clue. Pitino is not even in the Tennessee top 5.
 

builtbadgers said:
Goodman has no clue. Pitino is not even in the Tennessee top 5.
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He shouldn't be in anybody's top five, at this point (earn it). And if he were to get one of these jobs, I'd imagine other qualified coaches in the brethren would not be pleased. It'd be like basketball's version of Lane Kiffin (minus the d-baggery).
 


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