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USAF said:
I think I'd bite the bullet, accept the baggage and the inevitable bad press, and hire Chris Jans away from New Mexico State.

The guy can flat out coach, and has been a major winner everywhere he's been. Not yet 51 years old, so has some legs. The Bowling Green fiasco is half a decade old. He'd jump at the chance.
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Here is my problem with this: NM St plays in the WAC.

They sleep-walk through that conference. Now if they were doing what they do, in the MWC ... then I'd be a yes. But in two years at NM St in the WAC, they've sleep-walked through it both times on the way to a #12 seed and a first round exit. I don't see why it won't happen again this year.

But if we were talking about the MWC, why not then Craig Smith or Niko?? No baggage either.

So for me, this one is a no, when there are clearly better options.
 

Not to beat a dead horse but Steve Forbes just did a podcast with Jeff Goodman on the “Good N Plenty” podcast and his story is pretty awesome. Guy is a grinder and truthfully is one of the safest hires we’d make. He would bring very little splash and doesn’t fit the “one of us” model that seems to matter a ton to some.
 

Steve Forbes could be a solid pickup. Wonder if he'd prefer to stay in the south, or if it would matter. I see he was born in Iowa, but he went to undergrad in Southern Arkansas, so wonder if he didn't grow up in the north.

Mike Young (30-5 last year at Wofford), finally got a P5 call-up after seventeen (17) years at Wofford.
 

Another SoCon name that I believe has been mentioned before is Wes Miller, at UNC Greensboro. Has had some good success there the last few years.
 

MplsGopher said:
Steve Forbes could be a solid pickup. Wonder if he'd prefer to stay in the south, or if it would matter. I see he was born in Iowa, but he went to undergrad in Southern Arkansas, so wonder if he didn't grow up in the north.

Mike Young (30-5 last year at Wofford), finally got a P5 call-up after seventeen (17) years at Wofford.
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Mike Young's wife was a pretty prominent lawyer and from what I heard on a podcast he waited and turned down many jobs because of that.
Listen to the podcast with Goodman and Forbes. Guy just wants an opportunity to coach. SoCon has good coaches and is a competitive league. Wes is still being tabbed as Roy Williams heir apparent for a lot of folks down in UNC.
 




manderson1984 said:
Mike Young's wife was a pretty prominent lawyer and from what I heard on a podcast he waited and turned down many jobs because of that.
Listen to the podcast with Goodman and Forbes. Guy just wants an opportunity to coach. SoCon has good coaches and is a competitive league. Wes is still being tabbed as Roy Williams heir apparent for a lot of folks down in UNC.
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If she was that prominent, wouldn’t she have wanted to climb the ladder and ... you know, get out of crappy South Carolina?? :LOL: (inland too, not coastal)
 

MplsGopher said:
If she was that prominent, wouldn’t she have wanted to climb the ladder and ... you know, get out of crappy South Carolina?? :LOL: (inland too, not coastal)
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Just going off of what I heard on a podcast about why he hadn't taken a job. They said it'd have to be perfect and he was really selective because of how good his wife's job is. We posters (not saying you in this case) tend to forget that it is part of the equation when coaches take jobs. Even in a Forbes interview he said he left it up to his son (since he was a senior in HS) on whether he left his juco job for an assistant job at Wichita State.
 




manderson1984 said:
Not to beat a dead horse but Steve Forbes just did a podcast with Jeff Goodman on the “Good N Plenty” podcast and his story is pretty awesome. Guy is a grinder and truthfully is one of the safest hires we’d make. He would bring very little splash and doesn’t fit the “one of us” model that seems to matter a ton to some.
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"safe" hire. What, specifically, do you mean? As opposed to?
 

manderson1984 said:
Just going off of what I heard on a podcast about why he hadn't taken a job. They said it'd have to be perfect and he was really selective because of how good his wife's job is. We posters (not saying you in this case) tend to forget that it is part of the equation when coaches take jobs. Even in a Forbes interview he said he left it up to his son (since he was a senior in HS) on whether he left his juco job for an assistant job at Wichita State.
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Yes you're correct that it is a point we don't often consider on here.

I'd still rather have a MWC guy, as that conference is more competitive (mid-major as opposed to low-major), but you can make a good argument either way. There is also the argument that Craig Smith didn't win/ hasn't won yet with his own recruits at South Dakota/Utah State. I can't deny that point. But I don't think his Utah State roster, possibly especially this year, was anything special left behind by the previous staff. They stumbled badly at the start of the year, but they've been red hot lately. Will be interesting if they can pull off a MWC tourny championship over SDSU, in the third meeting of the two teams this season.
 





MplsGopher said:
Yes you're correct that it is a point we don't often consider on here.

I'd still rather have a MWC guy, as that conference is more competitive (mid-major as opposed to low-major), but you can make a good argument either way. There is also the argument that Craig Smith didn't win/ hasn't won yet with his own recruits at South Dakota/Utah State. I can't deny that point. But I don't think his Utah State roster, possibly especially this year, was anything special left behind by the previous staff. They stumbled badly at the start of the year, but they've been red hot lately. Will be interesting if they can pull off a MWC tourny championship over SDSU, in the third meeting of the two teams this season.
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Totally understand you reasoning for Craig Smith and personally he's probably my top choice. I would argue that SoCon is vastly underrated and I would put it up there with the Missouri Valley and close to the MWC. It just doesn't have the firepower up top with SDSU.

I didn't like Utah State's start, but what I did like is I saw a team get better and work through it. I give Smith a ton of credit that way. I really like him a lot, I'm just saying Steve Forbes as a little longer track record.
 


manderson1984 said:
I would argue that SoCon is vastly underrated and I would put it up there with the Missouri Valley and close to the MWC.
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I go by at-large bids. Feel free to disagree.

To me, regardless how high the best SoCon teams are ranked each year, they fail to earn an at-large. At least in my quick check back through the 2010 tourny. The Mountain West usually has at least one at-large.
 

BarnBurner said:
"safe" hire. What, specifically, do you mean? As opposed to?
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Shaka wasn't a super safe hire for Texas. He was splashy and I think a good hire (at the time) for Texas. But he only had success at VCU as a head coach. At VCU, he inherited a program that Anthony Grant rebuilt. They had won three straight conference championships, three straight NCAA tournaments (including a win vs. Duke). So while Shaka was splashy - he did great things at VCU and was young and played modern basketball - - he wasn't necessarily safe because of the nature of his success.
 

manderson1984 said:
Totally understand you reasoning for Craig Smith and personally he's probably my top choice. I would argue that SoCon is vastly underrated and I would put it up there with the Missouri Valley and close to the MWC. It just doesn't have the firepower up top with SDSU.

I didn't like Utah State's start, but what I did like is I saw a team get better and work through it. I give Smith a ton of credit that way. I really like him a lot, I'm just saying Steve Forbes as a little longer track record.
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That's certainly a sign. I think Damian Johnson's team lost their first 6 and looked horrible doing it. Now they've won how many in a row? My niece's HS team: after the first couple games I was wondering whether they'd get a victory this season. Now they're in the quarterfinals of their section--even after losing one of their standouts to injury. That's coaching.
 
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MplsGopher said:
Here is my problem with this: NM St plays in the WAC.

They sleep-walk through that conference. Now if they were doing what they do, in the MWC ... then I'd be a yes. But in two years at NM St in the WAC, they've sleep-walked through it both times on the way to a #12 seed and a first round exit. I don't see why it won't happen again this year.
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I don't have an opinion on Chris Jans but I wouldn't get down much on NM St. for their weak conference and first round exits. Last year's first round exit was a 1 point loss to final four participant Auburn.
 

Bad Gopher said:
That's certainly a sign. I think Damian Johnson's team lost their first 6 and looked horrible doing it. Now they've won how many in a row? My niece's HS team: after the first couple games I was wondering whether they'd get a victory this season. Now they're in the quarterfinals of their section. That's coaching.
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Would love to see if we could get DJ on as a grad assistant.
 

I'm not the most in tune with the rumor mill, but has there been any discussion about Jim Petersen possibly taking over? Otherwise like others I like what I see from Craig Smith and Niko.
 

Smith does have a little more track record than just Utah St. I am fully aware its NAIA but he took a team that was 1-25 the year before he started and in year 3 they played for the NAIA national championship. He was 23-7 in Conf the last two years at USD and if SDSU doesnt have an all timer in Daum he could certainly have made 2 NCAA's there. He did inherit a solid roster at Utah St but is still 51-13 in two years there. This year has had some bumps but also its worth noting his NBA level big man (Neemias Queta) had been in and out of the lineup in the middle part of there season which seems likely to have shifted their performances in that stretch. And lets not forget, he know how to win at the Barn! USD came in here in 2015 and beat us. Add in the MN connection and it seems like a pretty straight forward hire.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Shaka wasn't a super safe hire for Texas. He was splashy and I think a good hire (at the time) for Texas. But he only had success at VCU as a head coach. At VCU, he inherited a program that Anthony Grant rebuilt. They had won three straight conference championships, three straight NCAA tournaments (including a win vs. Duke). So while Shaka was splashy - he did great things at VCU and was young and played modern basketball - - he wasn't necessarily safe because of the nature of his success.
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Agreed. He was anything but a safe hire.
 

manderson1984 said:
Who does? I wish I could remember where I listened to it, but they talked about Musselman wanting to stay south.
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manderson1984 said:
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Safe is in will produce positive results (wins). I consider the more years and data of proven excellence as a safer hire
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At what level/conference/etc?

Typing the word "excellence" is easy. Defining it, in the world of CBB, is difficult. (Note - except for Badger, who didn't say that)
 


manderson1984 said:
Mike Young's wife was a pretty prominent lawyer and from what I heard on a podcast he waited and turned down many jobs because of that.
Listen to the podcast with Goodman and Forbes. Guy just wants an opportunity to coach. SoCon has good coaches and is a competitive league. Wes is still being tabbed as Roy Williams heir apparent for a lot of folks down in UNC.
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I bet that Wake Forest makes a hard push for Wes if they decide to move on from Manning as well. I read that Wake Forests athletic facilities are named after his father as well
 

Bad Gopher said:
That's certainly a sign. I think Damian Johnson's team lost their first 6 and looked horrible doing it. Now they've won how many in a row? My niece's HS team: after the first couple games I was wondering whether they'd get a victory this season. Now they're in the quarterfinals of their section--even after losing one of their standouts to injury. That's coaching.
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Every team in 4A is in the quarterfinals of their section. That's the first round. Everyone gets in.
 


is Tim Miles still interesting or more "meh at this point? Also I wonder if Dave Joerger could possibly have any interest in coaching college.
 

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