Doogie: I have every reason to believe Richard Pitino WILL be back as Gophers coach, there are just no signs

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builtbadgers said:
He will get better offers than Pitino. Can not think of anyone who thinks Pitino is his equal.
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Because he dropped down a level to rebuild his resume. Did you even read the link I posed on Grant?
 

MplsGopher said:
Although Wright St just lost in the Horizon semis as the #1 seed to the #4 seed.

That’s two years in a row now that they won’t make the tourny after winning the Horizon regular season.

So that is a chink in Nagy’s case.
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Overall he's done a great job turning around programs though. If we finish top 5 in the Big 10 we won't have to worry about winning conference tournament games. Though it would be nice to have a guy who's done well under pressure of the tournament.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
My take is that Coyle has a one on one with Oturu. If he wants to stay a Gopher, then RP gets one more year. Coyle will decide right after the season is over.
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It's hard for me to see a scenario Oturu stays around.
 


skiumah1 said:
It's hard for me to see a scenario Oturu stays around.
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Whether or not Oturu stays around is entirely unrelated to whether Pitino is retained. Completely, totally, unrelated, and I'm confident Coyle feels the same, because it's so blatantly obvious.
 
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USAF said:
Whether or not Oturu says around is entirely unrelated to whether Pitino is retained. Completely, totally, unrelated, and I'm confident Coyle feels the same, because it's so blatantly obvious.
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Agreed.
 


bga1 said:
The obvious guy, if they waited a year and Pitino failed would be Musselman. His buyout goes from 5 mil down to 2 mil iirc. I cannot think of a guy that would create more excitement. I am not saying they should wait to do that, but I think he could be had in a year.
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Then why didn't we hire him out of Nevada???

Also, what is the connection for Musselman to Minn? I see he grew up partly in Mpls, but didn't go to high school here. He hasn't ever coached here, besides one year as an asst. with the TWolves in 1990.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
My take is that Coyle has a one on one with Oturu. If he wants to stay a Gopher, then RP gets one more year. Coyle will decide right after the season is over.
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Brutal. There is no way the top administrator at a top 25 university puts the burden of retaining a coach on a 20 year old kid in any situation. Coyle will make his decision on three factors:

1. Whether he thinks there is an immediate upgrade who is attainable.
2. Whether he thinks the program can handle entering a season with a growing apathetic fan base.
3. Perhaps most importantly, if he thinks there is enough cash to fund the buyout.

I see 3 as the biggest factor that I have not seen talked about much.
 



skiumah1 said:
Overall he's done a great job turning around programs though. If we finish top 5 in the Big 10 we won't have to worry about winning conference tournament games. Though it would be nice to have a guy who's done well under pressure of the tournament.
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Read every word. Won over 50% of his games in a power 6 conference .That is way better than what has been here. No one will hire Pitino over Grant.
 

60's Guy said:
Couple thoughts:
#1. I was not surprised Tubby got fired. The two AD’s gave plenty of clues.
#2. Coyle said he was keeping Tracy. Then went silent.
#3. If Coyle was keeping Pitino why wouldn’t he say so? Silence suggests the snake has either decided to fire him or has not made up his mind.
#4. Is there a point the buyout drops?
Is $2 million a factor in the decision?
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The snake? Pretty harsh for an AD who made the Fleck hire.
 

skiumah1 said:
Overall he's done a great job turning around programs though.
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I'm sure Nagy would be a decent hire, but I'm not sure if this is true.

Looks to me similarish to Jacobson. Nagy was at South Dakota St for 21 seasons prior to Wright St, and that was his only HC experience.

I think Wright St has always been "decent" in the Horizon? I supposed they've upped their game a bit the last three seasons.
 

manderson1984 said:
Also TJ was better than Niko this year rankings wise. He's well thought of and can recruit. He's currently got the 1 class in the Mountain West. He's probably more a Big East or Pac 10 guy fit wise though imo.
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Why is TJ a known, acceptable recruiter after one season in the MWC, but Smith and Medved get dinged??

Smith had the #1 MWC class for 2019. https://247sports.com/college/utah-state/Season/2019-Basketball/Commits/

And he (TJ) is from Milwaukee originally. So wonder why you said that about Big East or PAC fit?
 



MplsGopher said:
I'm sure Nagy would be a decent hire, but I'm not sure if this is true.

Looks to me similarish to Jacobson. Nagy was at South Dakota St for 21 seasons prior to Wright St, and that was his only HC experience.

I think Wright St has always been "decent" in the Horizon? I supposed they've upped their game a bit the last three seasons.
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Does Nagy want to coach at a Power 5? The guy strikes me as a classic good basketball coach who enjoys coaching and probably likes keeping the blood pressure down in a lower level conference. Less recruiting pressure. Fewer PR issues. Basically a lock to be top 2 or 3 in his conference every year with a good shot at the tourney as well even with the added conference tournament pressure. I don't see it.

The more likely fit is someone with real head coaching experience and enough high major assistant coaching experience to not get lost in the headlights in the B1G.
 

MplsGopher said:
Why is TJ a known, acceptable recruiter after one season in the MWC, but Smith and Medved get dinged??

Smith had the #1 MWC class for 2019. https://247sports.com/college/utah-state/Season/2019-Basketball/Commits/

And he (TJ) is from Milwaukee originally. So wonder why you said that about Big East or PAC fit?
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Great questions. TJ is known for his recruiting prowless with Iowa State and Washington. He was huge for Fred after Matt Abdelmasiah left. He's just known as a better one than Smith or Medved. Doesn't mean he's a better teacher (that part is not proven yet) which is why I like the other two more. As far as fit goes, his offensive style mainly. He likes to run up and down more. Fits those leagues better imo. Would think he'd be a homerun for Marquette once WoJo goes to Duke.
 

Holy Man said:
The more likely fit is someone with real head coaching experience and enough high major assistant coaching experience to not get lost in the headlights in the B1G.
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If that's true, then maybe Coyle is angling for Beilein or Mussleman in a year, as others have said.

But he hired Fleck, who had zero P5 position coaching experience (no, Rutgers did not count at the time he was there) and zero assistant HC coaching experience.
 

manderson1984 said:
Great questions. TJ is known for his recruiting prowless with Iowa State and Washington. He was huge for Fred after Matt Abdelmasiah left. He's just known as a better one than Smith or Medved. Doesn't mean he's a better teacher (that part is not proven yet) which is why I like the other two more. As far as fit, I got off his style. He likes to run up and down more. Fits those leagues better imo. Would think he'd be a homerun for Marquette once WoJo goes to Duke.
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Thanks, solid answers
 


MplsGopher said:
Why is TJ a known, acceptable recruiter after one season in the MWC, but Smith and Medved get dinged??

Smith had the #1 MWC class for 2019. https://247sports.com/college/utah-state/Season/2019-Basketball/Commits/

And he (TJ) is from Milwaukee originally. So wonder why you said that about Big East or PAC fit?
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Of that class, only Anderson was a significant contributor this year at 8.9 pts per game. Not saying that's bad but people already have Freeman, Williams and Greenlee penciled in as failures here....
 

Marky Dit said:
We are not trolling. Most of us like Pitino. We just expect more than a 48-82 Big Ten record.
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Gophers have had good basketball teams three out of the last four years. Why even include the two win season from five years ago? Shit happens. The down year in 2017-18 was God smoting the University and State of Minnesota for past sins. Next year's team has potential. Leave it alone.
 


Block M said:
Gophers have had good basketball teams three out of the last four years. Why even include the two win season from five years ago? Shit happens. The down year in 2017-18 was God smoting the University and State of Minnesota for past sins. Next year's team has potential. Leave it alone.
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Yeah guys, if you just ignore Pitino's 82 conf losses .... he has 42 conf wins! :rolleyes:
 

Holy Man said:
Brutal. There is no way the top administrator at a top 25 university puts the burden of retaining a coach on a 20 year old kid in any situation. Coyle will make his decision on three factors:

1. Whether he thinks there is an immediate upgrade who is attainable.
2. Whether he thinks the program can handle entering a season with a growing apathetic fan base.
3. Perhaps most importantly, if he thinks there is enough cash to fund the buyout.

I see 3 as the biggest factor that I have not seen talked about much.
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Should not be hard to find a significant upgrade, according to Badger. And, the ad always has a list of great candidates.....
 

MplsGopher said:
If that's true, then maybe Coyle is angling for Beilein or Mussleman in a year, as others have said.

But he hired Fleck, who had zero P5 position coaching experience (no, Rutgers did not count at the time he was there) and zero assistant HC coaching experience.
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Last I saw, basketball and football were different sports, and completely different animals in terms of organizational management, etc. Two of our last three basketball head coaches have taken substantial on the job training time at the high major level on our dime and have not succeeded. That's my version of PTS as a long time fan.
 

Holy Man said:
Last I saw, basketball and football were different sports, and completely different animals in terms of organizational management, etc. Two of our last three basketball head coaches have taken substantial on the job training time at the high major level on our dime and have not succeeded. That's my version of PTS as a long time fan.
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All good, but then Tubby also did not succeed.

And plenty of HC who were first successful at the mid-major (or lower) levels then went on to have successful high-major careers.
 

Spaulding!No! said:
search over. on to step 2 in the WI process - institutional control is rolled to the Athletic Dept. See Rashard Griffith and Brent Moss examples.
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In all seriousness, Lewis is a tremendous prospect with sky high potential. You can bet the Badgers have their eye on him as a long-term possibility down the road.
 


The cost of the Buyout is a factor - but at the same time - ticket sales are a factor.

If Oturu leaves and Pitino comes back, I don't see any way that attendance improves - and likely gets worse - unless they do a fire sale and slash ticket prices.

So the Buyout matters - but the loss of ticket revenue also matters. Don't forget that when Claeys was fired, one of the reasons given was the need to bring excitement to the program and improve attendance. At this point, you could make the same claims about the men's BB program.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
The cost of the Buyout is a factor - but at the same time - ticket sales are a factor.

If Oturu leaves and Pitino comes back, I don't see any way that attendance improves - and likely gets worse - unless they do a fire sale and slash ticket prices.

So the Buyout matters - but the loss of ticket revenue also matters. Don't forget that when Claeys was fired, one of the reasons given was the need to bring excitement to the program and improve attendance. At this point, you could make the same claims about the men's BB program.
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Board of regents might require this to actually happen (which I believe it could) before they are ok paying a buyout.
 

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