It is apparent the coaching situation will be moving forward rapidly with the Final Four weekend now upon us and if true as the media stated, two of the coaching targets are going to be offered substantial salary increases to stay at their current schools. Where does that leave MU? Of course here are the names that have been mentioned through various new sources and on the board. I am only going to mention the logical choices, ones that would appear to actually be potentially offered and consider the job. There are some of you who would add other names, but here they are:
Probably Out
Bennett - stays at WSU
Miller - stays at Xavier
In the Mix
Brad Brownell from Wright State. His ties are in Indiana, to include his alma mater and assistant coaching experience. Prior head coach at UNC-Wilmington and did a nice job with that program before Wright State, where he also has done well. Nice resume, but has not worked in a major basketball college environment, which I think is a must here, but I think he is a real candidate from MU's prospective.
Chris Lowery from So. Illinois. Don't know too much about him, except he is a defensive style coach which would fit in with the current players. Nice that he is a coach of a mid major program that has made it to the NCAA, so experience is there. Real down year for So. Illinois this year and maybe his stock has fallen abit. Midwestern ties to recruiting is nice.
Buzz Williams. Former head coach at New Orleans, but left his position as head coach. Has had success in MU's recruiting in the south, but I hope the MU AD is not going to hire him based upon 2008's recruiting class and a quick fix to the problem. I don't see this happening, but???
Anthony Grant from VCU. He has 12 years as an assistant under Billy Donovan, two years at Marshall and 10 at Univ of Florida. Has been the VCU coach the past 3 years and has NCAA tournament experience with VCU beating Duke last year in the first round. When Donovan was leaving for Kentucky last year, Grant was the favorite to be named his replacement. He supposedly was on the Univ. of Florida's jet to a press conference when Donovan changed his mind. Was Donovan's top assistant and chief recruiter. Florida recruited very, very well during his tenure there.
Grant's attributes and his potential contributions to the MU program:
1) 12 years experience under Donovan as an assistant, 10 of which was at a major college program (U of Fl). Thats college basketball experience.
2) Head coach at a mid major university with NCAA tournament experience as both an assistant and head coach.
3) With his background as a recruiter, he has the knowledge of the AAU programs across the country. Huge benefit, especially in MU"s current situation.
4) Was probably going to be named head coach at Florida, but Donovan stayed. Thats shows you the confidence a major program had in him only a year ago.
5) Winning program at VCU.
6) Could be the first African American coach at MU.
Since the departure of Crean, I have been an advocate of Grant since day one. I watched VCU a few times this year and they were an uptempo team like MU, with an outstanding point guard in Eric Maynor. Based upon the above, I just believe this is the right guy, at the right time. We'll see how this all turns out soon.
I think this guy would be a great hire. Besides proving he can recruit while at florida, he also shows a willingness to play a pressure style defense, which he did last year against duke. I think his style of play would mesh well with what we currently implement at MU. Even better, I think he'd utilize our many guards to apply full court pressure and bring in a little 40 minutes of hell...
I'm in complete agreement. I've tried to be consistent in wanting someone with a pedigree and Grant's ties to Billy Donovan certainly qualify him in that regard. Add to the that the fact that he has shown he can win on his own, and I think he would be the ideal choice of the realistic candidates.
This seems to make a lot of sense. How does he look on the academic side of things?
Yup.
If it's not Buzz then this guy is it.
I agree with all of you. And Buzz shoudlnt' even be on the list. GRant shoudl be there #1 target. It woudl show how far Marquette has come as a university, in hiring him as coach. He built a program form scratch with Donovan. Remember before Donovan go there Florida had made a final four appearance but by no means was a national power.
I agree that if we can't land a guy with a Sean Miller-type splash, Grant would be the best fit. I'd be happy with the hire.
Any chance Buzz stays as a well paid assistant if we hired someone like Grant?
Put me down in the hire Grant camp too.
Played on a Dayton team that got to the Elite Eight, was team captain his Senior year. Assistant at Florida with two trips to the Final Four, including the 2006 NCAA Championship. 52-14 in two years at VCU, finishing 1st in the regular season both years. Coached VCU to an upset of Duke in the 1st round last season.
Only drawback would be if he wants to take over for Donovan at Florida eventually. He was supposedly going to take over for him if he had taken the Kentucky job last year. Then again, prior to his abrupt departure, we got 9 good years out of a coach he was waiting to take over Izzo's job.
I'm bestowing my blessings on Grant as well.
I've posted that I want Anthony Grant from the moment Crean left for Indiana.
He makes way, way too much sense to be our next coach that it will be fucked up somewhere along the road.
I could be down with him.
One thing to consider is we do need a coach who can be comfortable at a private school.
While MU gets a lot of love nationally, in our own state we are often viewed as 2nd fiddle by John Q. Public.
In the long run, it shouldn't really effect the program... but it can be a little frustrating for a coach to work hard, win games, and still not be liked in his own state.
Duke gets way more love nationally than they do locally... and obviously over the years Coach K has been good with that.
Quote from: 2002mualum on April 04, 2008, 11:24:51 AM
I could be down with him.
One thing to consider is we do need a coach who can be comfortable at a private school.
While MU gets a lot of love nationally, in our own state we are often viewed as 2nd fiddle by John Q. Public.
In the long run, it shouldn't really effect the program... but it can be a little frustrating for a coach to work hard, win games, and still not be liked in his own state.
Duke gets way more love nationally than they do locally... and obviously over the years Coach K has been good with that.
MU will not be getting that national pub anymore. The guys who promoted MU (Seth Davis, Jay Bilas, and others) were Crean's friends, not supporters of the program.
I believe with TC gone, their praise for the program will also disappearance. IMO, it will be very important for the new HC to reestablish a good relationship with the local media.
Quote from: RJax55 on April 04, 2008, 11:32:13 AM
Quote from: 2002mualum on April 04, 2008, 11:24:51 AM
I could be down with him.
One thing to consider is we do need a coach who can be comfortable at a private school.
While MU gets a lot of love nationally, in our own state we are often viewed as 2nd fiddle by John Q. Public.
In the long run, it shouldn't really effect the program... but it can be a little frustrating for a coach to work hard, win games, and still not be liked in his own state.
Duke gets way more love nationally than they do locally... and obviously over the years Coach K has been good with that.
MU will not be getting that national pub anymore. The guys who promoted MU (Seth Davis, Jay Bilas, and others) were Crean's friends, not supporters of the program.
I believe with TC gone, their praise for the program will also disappearance. IMO, it will be very important for the new HC to reestablish good relationship with the local media.
I think that this is part of why a home run hire is so important here. It will keep our name prominent in the mainstream media.
I agree Ahoya06, but I don't see that happening.
Sounds like he would be a solid choice. I'm on the Grant bandwagon.
I am on the Grant bandwagon as well. But is the BoT?
How about Bobby Hurley? is he on board with Grant?
I would be very pleased with Grant, I think he would mesh very well with our current roster. Grant, Lowery, or Buzz, in that order. I have thought more level-headedly about Buzz, and if we lose recruits by not keeping him, so be it. Hopefully they can put together something to keep him here (like one of those "associate" head coach deals?).
I think the other two can put together some recruits/JUCOs quickly. I think with Grant and Lowery, you're getting younger, energetic guys, who can build while at the same time do well with this current group, if not better, than Judas.
wow, it seems near unanimous. This board wants Grant, me included. Is he on the the administrations list?
I like him too...someone hire the guy already!
Quote from: RJax55 on April 04, 2008, 11:32:13 AM
Quote from: 2002mualum on April 04, 2008, 11:24:51 AM
I could be down with him.
One thing to consider is we do need a coach who can be comfortable at a private school.
While MU gets a lot of love nationally, in our own state we are often viewed as 2nd fiddle by John Q. Public.
In the long run, it shouldn't really effect the program... but it can be a little frustrating for a coach to work hard, win games, and still not be liked in his own state.
Duke gets way more love nationally than they do locally... and obviously over the years Coach K has been good with that.
MU will not be getting that national pub anymore. The guys who promoted MU (Seth Davis, Jay Bilas, and others) were Crean's friends, not supporters of the program.
I believe with TC gone, their praise for the program will also disappearance. IMO, it will be very important for the new HC to reestablish a good relationship with the local media.
I agree with you... TC did provide MU with a lot of national exposure... but I'm even saying that locally MU is really never going to be the "popular choice". MU's popularity will always have to come from the national scene.
I hate to use the term never, because certainly anything is possible... but it would be EXTREMELY rare for a small catholic school to be as popular or as favored as the large state institution.
It's not a huge deal, but certainly we want a coach that can come in and understands what MU athletics deal with in this market.
I agree, but I'm fine with that. I don't think we want to start catering to the "great unwashed." The fact that we are successful without that huge fan base that has no ties to the school is part of our charm! I don't think it really matters if a coach buys into that. They won't be able to change it.
someone might have said this--and it shouldn't really matter i suppose--but i think the prospect of Grant being the first African-American coach at MU is pretty cool
Quote from: bs4173 on April 04, 2008, 02:29:12 PM
someone might have said this--and it shouldn't really matter i suppose--but i think the prospect of Grant being the first African-American coach at MU is pretty cool
I think the prospect of MU getting the best coach possible would be pretty cool. Who cares what color he is!!!!
Quote from: 2002mualum on April 04, 2008, 02:22:44 PM
Quote from: RJax55 on April 04, 2008, 11:32:13 AM
Quote from: 2002mualum on April 04, 2008, 11:24:51 AM
I could be down with him.
One thing to consider is we do need a coach who can be comfortable at a private school.
While MU gets a lot of love nationally, in our own state we are often viewed as 2nd fiddle by John Q. Public.
In the long run, it shouldn't really effect the program... but it can be a little frustrating for a coach to work hard, win games, and still not be liked in his own state.
Duke gets way more love nationally than they do locally... and obviously over the years Coach K has been good with that.
MU will not be getting that national pub anymore. The guys who promoted MU (Seth Davis, Jay Bilas, and others) were Crean's friends, not supporters of the program.
I believe with TC gone, their praise for the program will also disappearance. IMO, it will be very important for the new HC to reestablish a good relationship with the local media.
I agree with you... TC did provide MU with a lot of national exposure... but I'm even saying that locally MU is really never going to be the "popular choice". MU's popularity will always have to come from the national scene.
I hate to use the term never, because certainly anything is possible... but it would be EXTREMELY rare for a small catholic school to be as popular or as favored as the large state institution.
It's not a huge deal, but certainly we want a coach that can come in and understands what MU athletics deal with in this market.
I agree .... MU is not going to challenge UW in terms of local media pub and will never be number one in the State. However, I think it is possible for MU to obtain a better relationship with the local media. Will it be a challenge, yes, but its worth doing.
Quote from: BadgerKiller on April 04, 2008, 02:37:50 PM
Quote from: bs4173 on April 04, 2008, 02:29:12 PM
someone might have said this--and it shouldn't really matter i suppose--but i think the prospect of Grant being the first African-American coach at MU is pretty cool
I think the prospect of MU getting the best coach possible would be pretty cool. Who cares what color he is!!!!
I don't think anyone here cares what color the next coach is (at least I hope nobody here does) but unfortunately we can't assume that everyone else is as open-minded as the members of this board. For some people (fans, recruits, etc) the color of the coach's skin may make a huge difference. Let's face it... MU is not the most racially-diverse institution on the planet, and not entirely representative of its surroundings.
It shouldn't matter what color the next guy's skin is, but I'm not sure we can dismiss race as a factor.
But you're right as far as the bottom line goes. If Anthony Grant is the best man for the job, then hire him. If it's somebody else, hire him.