What is an acceptable expectation for a Gopher Men’s Basketball Head Coach?


NOT ONCE has anyone here explained how a coach here is supposed to recruit & retain valuable players without money. And win without good players.

All I've heard is that a good coach can squeeze out a few more wins by going to a crappy-high-watermark strategy. Or pointing out the 3-4 most overachieving teams per year (out of 300+)...which translates to us having a good season once every 50 years.

And no, a new coach will not bring NIL money. Our administration will never pay anywhere near the big paying teams.
 


Trying to figure out what a reasonable expectation is for making the NCAA Tournament is an interesting question.

Clem - 13 years - 6 tournaments (3 of those fell during the Ganglegate mess)
Monson - 8 years - 1 tournament (little tough to judge him fairly with the penalties he dealt with)
Tubby - 6 years - 3 tournaments
Pitino - 8 years - 2 tournaments

2 NCAA tournaments every 5 years feels like a decent baseline expectation with the hope for more. That is basically what Fran has done at Iowa.

Above and beyond that.....if the Big Ten stays with their current structure for a while then expectation should be qualifying for the Big Ten tournament most years and finishing top half of the conference on a somewhat regular basis.
Good work.

My general expectation for the program always has been 3 NCAAs every 5 seasons, with one of those (gasp!) being a Sweet 16 (or better) appearance.

I've become so warped now that I'd lower that to 2 NCAAs every 5 years, even though we reside in 1 of the 2 most powerful conferences (totaling 34 teams) that will continue to gobble up a large volume of at-large bids. I'm sick of the NIL excuses (hear that everywhere); it shouldn't be too much to ask 2 of every 5 seasons to be 1 of roughly 17-18 Big Ten/SEC schools receiving (at worst) an at-large bid.

And how about making the expectation non-trash non-conference schedules & finishing above .500 in the Big Ten instead of trash November-December schedules & hunting for .500 and the bubble?
 
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in the 27 years since the Final Four appearance, the Gophers have made the NCAA tournament 7 times. that averages one appearance every 3.9 seasons (25.6%)

as MNVCGUY noted, Tubby made the NCAA tournament 3 times in 6 years. that means coaches other than Tubby have made the NCAA tournament 4 times in 21 seasons - or once every 5.3 seasons (18.9%).

that's 27 seasons under 5 different coaches. (including the last couple of years under Clem).

So - what needs to change?

the Administration needs to re-commit to the basketball program
the AD needs to make the basketball program a priority
they need to find a head Coach who can recruit and maintain talent in the NIL and Portal era.
and the program needs enough NIL money to buy a much higher level of talent

I am NOT saying it's impossible. I AM saying it's a hell of a lot more difficult than just "hiring the right coach."
 


in the 27 years since the Final Four appearance, the Gophers have made the NCAA tournament 7 times. that averages one appearance every 3.9 seasons (25.6%)

as MNVCGUY noted, Tubby made the NCAA tournament 3 times in 6 years. that means coaches other than Tubby have made the NCAA tournament 4 times in 21 seasons - or once every 5.3 seasons (18.9%).

that's 27 seasons under 5 different coaches. (including the last couple of years under Clem).

So - what needs to change?

the Administration needs to re-commit to the basketball program
the AD needs to make the basketball program a priority
they need to find a head Coach who can recruit and maintain talent in the NIL and Portal era.
and the program needs enough NIL money to buy a much higher level of talent

I am NOT saying it's impossible. I AM saying it's a hell of a lot more difficult than just "hiring the right coach."
Great summation.

Complex problems require in-depth solutions.
 

Great summation.

Complex problems require in-depth solutions.
Yeah, coaching change feels inevitable and will almost certainly help some as long as they get the right guy.

But coaching change alone won't solve all the issues. Have to give the coach the support and resources he needs to compete in this new landscape of college basketball. Football team appears to have figured out how to at least be competitive in this new environment, same has to happen for basketball.
 


If I am interpreting correctly, this data shows we are 10th in NIL contributions within our conference.
Ahead of Rutgers, Purdue, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska, UCLA. (No data for private schools NW and USC.).

How the funds are distributed within each athletic dept is another issue of course.

 
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I say NCAA tournament 4 out of 5 years. Sweet 16 1 out of those 4 years.

Get the right guy in here and everything changes. Set the bar high.
I would love to see this but let’s be realistic. We have never had that type of program. Tubby was competing in a totally different environment than the present time. Until we boost our NIL payouts no game changer Coach is going to come here
 



1) .500 or better in conference play, every year.
2) .625 or better overall record every year.

In other words, make this program respectable again, even to be feared occasionally.

I'm also the guy who expects:
30% 3pt FG
85% FT
30% 3 pt is reasonable, but is there a team in the world that shoots FTs at 85%?
 



I would love to see this but let’s be realistic. We have never had that type of program. Tubby was competing in a totally different environment than the present time. Until we boost our NIL payouts no game changer Coach is going to come here
4 out of 5 has not happened. But Clem made 6 in his last 11 years and two Sweet 16s. That is not an unrealistic level.

The NIL $ is chicken and egg. No a "game changing coach" is probably not coming right now. But the NIL situation has zero chance of improving at all until there is a new coach. We need a competent coach to return us to respectability. Then we can work on the NIL/replacing the Barn etc.
 
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I would love to see this but let’s be realistic. We have never had that type of program. Tubby was competing in a totally different environment than the present time. Until we boost our NIL payouts no game changer Coach is going to come here
I may be overly optimistic, but don't you think a winning season or two where we just make the tournament would significantly help our NIL?

I feel like there's NIL to be had, we have just been so atrocious under Ben during the NIL era that donors have zero interest in investing in the program. I'm hoping that will change with a winning team.
 

Best ever in the NBA has been 84%, so let me grab that mic for you quick 😄
So you set your standards based on fitting in not excelling? No wonder we're not considered a blue chip school and have struggled ever since 1997.

You probably think the administration is doing the right thing not raising the 1997 Final Four banner, too.

Low standards equals low results.

*sound system drop*
 


So you set your standards based on fitting in not excelling? No wonder we're not considered a blue chip school and have struggled ever since 1997.

You probably think the administration is doing the right thing not raising the 1997 Final Four banner, too.

Low standards equals low results.

*sound system drop*
I should set my expectations higher. We need to have the first 50 win season in college basketball history. You're going to run out of things to drop soon
 

I should set my expectations higher. We need to have the first 50 win season in college basketball history. You're going to run out of things to drop soon
What? I'm not gonna threaten my standing in the Merry Marvel Curmudgeon Society. Do you think I'm insane? 😆
 

If I am interpreting correctly, this data shows we are 10th in NIL contributions within our conference.
Ahead of Rutgers, Purdue, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska, UCLA. (No data for private schools NW and USC.).

How the funds are distributed within each athletic dept is another issue of course.

Not sure how this is calculated but it sounds like this is the estimated payout of the proposed revenue sharing plan if it becomes a reality.

If it becomes reality like you stated how it is disbursed is critical.
 
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Match the football program short term. Match the Volleyball next and finally get to the Hockey level.
 






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