Jeff Goodman coaching hire grades: Minnesota (B+); Texas Tech (C-)

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Minnesota
Hire: Richard Pitino -- Was it a bit of a stretch? Sure. Little Richard has only been a head coach for one season, and we all know he would not have gotten the FIU gig a year ago if not for his last name. However, Richard Pitino quickly proved himself by winning 18 games at a program left in complete disarray by Isiah Thomas. Athletic director Norwood Teague and his right-hand man Mike Ellis know the coaching pool as well as anyone, and the last time these guys listened by Billy Donovan, it resulted in the hiring of Shaka Smart at VCU. Minnesota is a tough job, one of the most difficult in the Big Ten, but Pitino gives the Gophers a chance -- especially after hiring a quality staff of Dan McHale, Ben Johnson and Kimani Young.

Grade: B+
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Texas Tech
Hire: Tubby Smith -- Count me as a fan of the man, but I'm just not completely buying into this one. Smith is 61, and has inherited another difficult job, this one even more daunting than the one he was fired from at Minnesota. It's difficult to get players to Lubbock, Texas, and Smith isn't exactly known for grinding it these days on the recruiting trail. Now, having said all that, was Texas Tech going to get anyone better? Smith has won a national title and more than 500 D-I games, and is almost the antithesis of the previous guy, Billy Gillispie, in his character. However, I'm just not buying that Smith will make this program relevant outside of Lubbock.

Grade: C-
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Others of note:

Northwestern
Hire: Chris Collins -- There's a reason why the Wildcats have yet to make an appearance in the NCAA tournament. This is a difficult, difficult job. That's why it was a home run to get one of the best rising coaches in the industry. Collins has the pedigree, having played and coached under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, and also having learned from his father -- former NBA coach Doug Collins. The younger Collins is from the area, has recruited academic guys to Duke, and has the personality/coaching ability to end Northwestern's drought.

Grade: A
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Rutgers
Hire: Eddie Jordan -- They tried to lure Dan Hurley from Rhode Island, but this wasn't an easy job to fill in the wake of the Mike Rice saga. Jordan is an alum, so that's an immediate win for the administration. He's also been the head coach of three different NBA franchises, so there's another victory and sales tool in recruiting circles. He also retained David Cox and Van Macon, an intelligent decision. The issue now, though, is that there's not much talent in the program, and it'll take time to rebuild. Jordan's success may largely be dependent on his coaching staff.

Grade: B
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per Goodman:

Minnesota

Hire: Richard Pitino -- Was it a bit of a stretch? Sure. Little Richard has only been a head coach for one season, and we all know he would not have gotten the FIU gig a year ago if not for his last name. However, Richard Pitino quickly proved himself by winning 18 games at a program left in complete disarray by Isiah Thomas. Athletic director Norwood Teague and his right-hand man Mike Ellis know the coaching pool as well as anyone, and the last time these guys listened by Billy Donovan, it resulted in the hiring of Shaka Smart at VCU. Minnesota is a tough job, one of the most difficult in the Big Ten, but Pitino gives the Gophers a chance -- especially after hiring a quality staff of Dan McHale, Ben Johnson and Kimani Young.

Grade: B+

Texas Tech

Hire: Tubby Smith -- Count me as a fan of the man, but I'm just not completely buying into this one. Smith is 61, and has inherited another difficult job, this one even more daunting than the one he was fired from at Minnesota. It's difficult to get players to Lubbock, Texas, and Smith isn't exactly known for grinding it these days on the recruiting trail. Now, having said all that, was Texas Tech going to get anyone better? Smith has won a national title and more than 500 D-I games, and is almost the antithesis of the previous guy, Billy Gillispie, in his character. However, I'm just not buying that Smith will make this program relevant outside of Lubbock.

Grade: C-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...or-2013-rating-all-the-new-hires-in-d-i-hoops

Go Gophers!!
 

Goodman is tight with Teague and Ellis so these grades were probably expected. Still nice to read on a crappy weather Friday.
 

I'm guessing Pitino and Collins, both young, high energy coaches who learned at the right hand of two of the all-time greats, will always be compared as they enter the B1G together. It will be fun watching them compete in the coming years.
 


Yikes! The Tubby hire by TT got the worst grade on the entire list.
 



The way I look at the Tubby hire at Tech is they're just doing the same thing over and over, they hired Knight in his retirement years, they were hoping Billy G would redeem himself and now they've gone the Bobby Knight route in Tubby again. He'' make them a better program than what they're now, but the Red Raiders need to go young if they want to take that next step. Tech is a *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#ty program right now that will be average to mediocre in five years when Tubby hangs it up for good
 



C- seemed too generous until I really considered where the program is at.
 

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