OT: 2021 Coaching Carousel

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I do worry that if MU waits a year, Craig Smith will be off the board. He would be my top choice.

[Uncle Rico]

All make more sense then them thinking they could lure Mussleman.

Medved makes a lot of sense as their top target. I like Saunders but that seems like a disaster. He got a raw deal with the TWolces given the mess up there, but I think he still needs more seasoning as a coach, much less no recruiting experience or track record to sell.

I think Dutcher uses Minnesota to get a nice raise at SDSU. He's been there for 20 years, has a nice thing going, is on the wrong side of 60, seems like an inopportune time to jump to a challenging job in a brutal conference, especially if SDSU bumps him to mid $1MM range.

I should have checked Dutcher's age.  I know he's been around a long time.  That's too old for Minnesota IMO. 

Medved has a good track record.  Think he'd have a chance to succeed at Minnesota.  First thing he'd need to do is, figure out how to keep more local kids home. 

[shoothoops]

I should have checked Dutcher's age.  I know he's been around a long time.  That's too old for Minnesota IMO. 

Medved has a good track record.  Think he'd have a chance to succeed at Minnesota.  First thing he'd need to do is, figure out how to keep more local kids home.

Dutcher has an out clause in his
San Diego St. Contract to coach at U Minnesota. His buyout if he goes there is reduced to $1 Million. His dad Jim coached there (won a Big Ten Title) and many of his relatives went there. He will be in the mix several others that also have ties to Minnesota, as well as some who don't. It would be difficult to leave a good situation at San Diego St.

[Uncle Rico]

Dutcher has an out clause in his
San Diego St. Contract to coach at U Minnesota. His buyout if he goes there is reduced to $1 Million. His dad Jim coached there (won a Big Ten Title) and many of his relatives went there. He will be in the mix several others that also have ties to Minnesota, as well as some who don't. It would be difficult to leave a good situation at San Diego St.

Thanks for the info.  If he ever had a desire to take that job, now is the time.  Seems like the Gophers have a lot of real good options.

[shoothoops]

Thanks for the info.  If he ever had a desire to take that job, now is the time.  Seems like the Gophers have a lot of real good options.

Sure. And, yes, they do.

[brewcity77]

Thanks for the info.  If he ever had a desire to take that job, now is the time.  Seems like the Gophers have a lot of real good options.

That's a job I wonder if some will be hesitant to take. Juwan Howard, Chris Holtmann, Matt Painter, Fred Hoiberg, and Greg Gard are all 50 or younger. Brad Underwood, Steve Pikiell, and Mark Turgeon are all under 60. That's a lot of proven relatively young coaches. Guys like Archie Miller, Richard Pitino, and Chris Collins have gone from promising to hot seats. That's a really tough league for up and coming coaches.

[Uncle Rico]

That's a job I wonder if some will be hesitant to take. Juwan Howard, Chris Holtmann, Matt Painter, Fred Hoiberg, and Greg Gard are all 50 or younger. Brad Underwood, Steve Pikiell, and Mark Turgeon are all under 60. That's a lot of proven relatively young coaches. Guys like Archie Miller, Richard Pitino, and Chris Collins have gone from promising to hot seats. That's a really tough league for up and coming coaches.

Going against Greg Gard and Mark Turgeon shouldn't scare anyone. 

[GoldenWarrior11]

Minnesota alum, Ryan Saunders, is a dark horse candidate for the Gophers. He's been to a number of high school games since being fired from the Timberwolves. It's rumored that he's been connecting with college coaches for a possible move.

[Billy Hoyle]

All make more sense then them thinking they could lure Mussleman.

Medved makes a lot of sense as their top target. I like Saunders but that seems like a disaster. He got a raw deal with the TWolces given the mess up there, but I think he still needs more seasoning as a coach, much less no recruiting experience or track record to sell.

I think Dutcher uses Minnesota to get a nice raise at SDSU. He's been there for 20 years, has a nice thing going, is on the wrong side of 60, seems like an inopportune time to jump to a challenging job in a brutal conference, especially if SDSU bumps him to mid $1MM range.

Dutcher just got one, but he does have a lower buyout for Minny. In talking to my buddy who broke the Pitino news, Dutcher's age is an issue. Also, he's comfortable in SD, he's got his own Ed Martin out there, and zero pressure.

Minnesota alum, Ryan Saunders, is a dark horse candidate for the Gophers. He's been to a number of high school games since being fired from the Timberwolves. It's rumored that he's been connecting with college coaches for a possible move.

The older alumni are pushing for him because of the Flip connection. The kid was hired with the Wolves for the same reason.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Utah State has a very good history.  The end of the Stew Morill era, the program stagnated as they moved into the MWC.  Smith jumped in and started winning.

I like his track record and what his teams do.  It'll be interesting his trajectory

Shouldn't you have used the legendary Stu Morrill description here?

[brewcity77]

Going against Greg Gard and Mark Turgeon shouldn't scare anyone.

In 6 years, Gard has been to 4 tournaments (5 if not for COVID) & had 4 top-25 kenpom finishes. His league finishes have been T3, T2, 9, 4, T1, T6. He's not Bo, but he's been consistently good & can be there another 15-20 years.

Turgeon has been top-50 in kenpom 8 years running with tourney caliber teams 6 of the last 7 years and won 12+ league games 5/7 years.

It's easy to crap on other programs, but anyone here would kill for the results those two guys have had in that timespan. They're consistently running their programs at a top-25 level, and neither are probably in the top-5 coaches in the league. That's pretty daunting.

[Uncle Rico]

In 6 years, Gard has been to 4 tournaments (5 if not for COVID) & had 4 top-25 kenpom finishes. His league finishes have been T3, T2, 9, 4, T1, T6. He's not Bo, but he's been consistently good & can be there another 15-20 years.

Turgeon has been top-50 in kenpom 8 years running with tourney caliber teams 6 of the last 7 years and won 12+ league games 5/7 years.

It's easy to crap on other programs, but anyone here would kill for the results those two guys have had in that timespan. They're consistently running their programs at a top-25 level, and neither are probably in the top-5 coaches in the league. That's pretty daunting.

Maybe so, but it's not impossible to overcome, even at Minnesota.  They've been producing buckets of talent that haven't been staying home.  Put a dent into that Madison pipeline a bit and things can even out.  Illinois has been a
middling program since Self left after 2003.  Underwood came in and righted that ship quick. 

[JWags85]

In 6 years, Gard has been to 4 tournaments (5 if not for COVID) & had 4 top-25 kenpom finishes. His league finishes have been T3, T2, 9, 4, T1, T6. He's not Bo, but he's been consistently good & can be there another 15-20 years.

Turgeon has been top-50 in kenpom 8 years running with tourney caliber teams 6 of the last 7 years and won 12+ league games 5/7 years.

It's easy to crap on other programs, but anyone here would kill for the results those two guys have had in that timespan. They're consistently running their programs at a top-25 level, and neither are probably in the top-5 coaches in the league. That's pretty daunting.

We'll see now that Gard is fully on his own, no recruits or remnants left from Bo.  They literally start 3 RS seniors and another senior who is almost 23.  I don't know if anyone is staying, but if not, they better hope Davis makes a historic leap.  Outside him, they return less than 10 points in their next 4 highest scorers. 

I'm not convinced Gard has that guaranteed "someone always steps up".  And their recruiting is...fine.  I don't see anyone that's gonna come in and be a difference maker right away.  Next year I think they are gonna STRUGGLE.

[Galway Eagle]

Maybe so, but it's not impossible to overcome, even at Minnesota.  They've been producing buckets of talent that haven't been staying home.  Put a dent into that Madison pipeline a bit and things can even out.  Illinois has been a
middling program since Self left after 2003.  Underwood came in and righted that ship quick.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you mean when Self's guys left. 37-2 with two 26-7 years sandwiched around it seems above middling to me.

[Uncle Rico]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you mean when Self's guys left. 37-2 with two 26-7 years sandwiched around it seems above middling to me.

Yes, that would be correct.  Weber had 3 good years post-Self but that was still a Self team of players.  It went downhill quickly

[The Sultan]

We'll see now that Gard is fully on his own, no recruits or remnants left from Bo.  They literally start 3 RS seniors and another senior who is almost 23.  I don't know if anyone is staying, but if not, they better hope Davis makes a historic leap.  Outside him, they return less than 10 points in their next 4 highest scorers. 

I'm not convinced Gard has that guaranteed "someone always steps up".  And their recruiting is...fine.  I don't see anyone that's gonna come in and be a difference maker right away.  Next year I think they are gonna STRUGGLE.

Bo Ryan made it past the Sweet 16 three times in his fourteen years as a head coach.  In every case, he had highly rated high school talent / NBA first round picks / Big Ten POY on his roster.  Yes what he did with Kaminsky was impressive, but by and large his success was with guys who were considered very good even before they stepped foot on campus.

Gard's recruiting has not been great.  Right now they have four guys, none of them in the top 100.  (And none from Wisconsin.)  Will a couple of them punch above their weight?  Undoubtedly.  But I doubt this Gard is running a consistent second weekend program.

[Uncle Rico]

Bo Ryan made it past the Sweet 16 three times in his fourteen years as a head coach.  In every case, he had highly rated high school talent / NBA first round picks / Big Ten POY on his roster.  Yes what he did with Kaminsky was impressive, but by and large his success was with guys who were considered very good even before they stepped foot on campus.

Gard's recruiting has not been great.  Right now they have four guys, none of them in the top 100.  (And none from Wisconsin.)  Will a couple of them punch above their weight?  Undoubtedly.  But I doubt this Gard is running a consistent second weekend program.

Kaminsky was an unicorn.

[MU82]

Kaminsky was an unicorn.

When I saw this, I thought "an unicorn" looked right but sounded funny. So I used the googles and discovered that the correct article is "a" not "an" when the following word starts with a "consonant sound."

http://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/a-grammatical-note-about-umbrellas-and-unicorns

So ... "a unicorn."

And yes, Kaminsky was.

Also a mediocre (at best) pro.

[Uncle Rico]

When I saw this, I thought "an unicorn" looked right but sounded funny. So I used the googles and discovered that the correct article is "a" not "an" when the following word starts with a "consonant sound."

http://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/a-grammatical-note-about-umbrellas-and-unicorns

So ... "a unicorn."

And yes, Kaminsky was.

Also a mediocre (at best) pro.

I was going to look up the correct usage there but flipped a coin, lol

[GoldenWarrior11]

Mark Turgeon's seat went to flamin' hot after back-to-back losses to Northwestern and Penn State (swept by PSU this year).  Unless they have a deep run in the B1GT, they are likely out of the NCAAT.

I always thought Maryland would have been a nice elevation for Wojo, if the time was right.  If Maryland did open now, I don't think Wojo would be in their top-5 IMO. 

[shoothoops]

Mark Turgeon's seat went to flamin' hot after back-to-back losses to Northwestern and Penn State (swept by PSU this year).  Unless they have a deep run in the B1GT, they are likely out of the NCAAT.

I always thought Maryland would have been a nice elevation for Wojo, if the time was right.  If Maryland did open now, I don't think Wojo would be in their top-5 IMO.

Maryland is still comfortably in the NCAA Tourney right now.

[WarriorPride68]

Dwayne Killings finalist for Albany job per Goodman

[brewcity77]

We'll see now that Gard is fully on his own, no recruits or remnants left from Bo.  They literally start 3 RS seniors and another senior who is almost 23.  I don't know if anyone is staying, but if not, they better hope Davis makes a historic leap.  Outside him, they return less than 10 points in their next 4 highest scorers. 

I'm not convinced Gard has that guaranteed "someone always steps up".  And their recruiting is...fine.  I don't see anyone that's gonna come in and be a difference maker right away.  Next year I think they are gonna STRUGGLE.

We will see. I've written UW off too many times before. We thought Gard's first season was doomed and he rallied to a Sweet 16. He's just kept chugging along, largely similar to Bo's first half dozen or so seasons, maybe just short of that. Until they string a couple failed seasons together, I've seen too much consistent winning to predict a downfall.

Mark Turgeon's seat went to flamin' hot after back-to-back losses to Northwestern and Penn State (swept by PSU this year).  Unless they have a deep run in the B1GT, they are likely out of the NCAAT.

Maryland is still pretty comfortably in. I'd stop just short of calling them a lock, but they're very close to it. It would take a lot of bid thieves to knock them out.

[NorthernDancerColt]

Dwayne Killings finalist for Albany job per Goodman

So they finally got Cuomo, hey?

[JWags85]

We will see. I've written UW off too many times before. We thought Gard's first season was doomed and he rallied to a Sweet 16. He's just kept chugging along, largely similar to Bo's first half dozen or so seasons, maybe just short of that. Until they string a couple failed seasons together, I've seen too much consistent winning to predict a downfall.

I hear you, but that first team still had an upper classman Koenig, Nigel Hayes who got talked about leaving early, and Vitto Brown. All who had played on those FF teams. That next year he had all them back plus an emerging Happ who was already almost 21.

The next two years, barring transfers, he won't have much in the way of upperclassman, much less experienced contributor ones, and mid level recruiting classes behind them.

I totally hear your point and it's substantiated by the past, but they have a majorly unbalanced roster and lacking talent