Big East 2024 Offseason

[MuggsyB]

I expect Wright to coach again.  Maybe in the NBA.

[Uncle Rico]

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Whitmore look elsewhere in this day and age.

Yes, the NBA

[Newsdreams]

Yes, the NBA

Mistake

[Uncle Rico]

Mistake

Guys didn’t leave school when Jay Wright was there. 

[Scoop Snoop]

If they aren’t finished, then they are on life support. We’ve lost to DePaul enough times to know that’s it’s very difficult to make that one up as far the metrics go.

I predicted Nova to go 7-0 in January and even that would have only just put them in the conversation. Too steep a hill to climb, imo. I guess that’s what you get when you get lazy with your coaching search.

Yeah, but I think they were too focused on continuity with their very successful program. Neptune may pull this off in the next season or two, but I think they would have been better to hire a well proven coach and let him take over and establish his own system.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

It is odd that Jay seems to have surprised the administration with his retirement. I would have thought he’d spend a little more time succession planning to avoid this type of drop off.

I predicted Nova to go 7-0 in January and even that would have only just put them in the conversation. Too steep a hill to climb, imo. I guess that’s what you get when you get lazy with your coaching search.

I think Kyle Neptune was always their succession plan.  Is promoting the long-time assistant of a head coach "lazy?"

I'm not ready to go there yet. That system takes time and they don't have three proven point guard that was there for a decade before. He didn't try to do what Jerome Tang or Dennis Gates are doing. I want to see what he does recruitment and development wise, particularity at the 1, before writing him off.

Exactly. He may not be the guy, but we are halfway through year one.

[Scoop Snoop]

I get what you are saying Sultan, but question if a system-in this case Wright's- can be successfully passed on to another coach, even if he was the designated heir? It has worked for UW, but it will take a while to see if it will also work at Nova. I think Gillespie's absence is a huge factor, but even so- this year's team does not look polished and in control like Jay's teams did. 

[tower912]

As has been observed, lamented, and obsessed over here for years,  PG play is important.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I get what you are saying Sultan, but question if a system-in this case Wright's- can be successfully passed on to another coach, even if he was the designated heir? It has worked for UW, but it will take a while to see if it will also work at Nova. I think Gillespie's absence is a huge factor, but even so- this year's team does not look polished and in control like Jay's teams did. 

Look, I get all that. And Neptune might not be the guy in the long run. But think about the most successful college basketball coaches over the course of history. Almost all of them are replaced by a long time assistant with various degrees of success. (And yes I realize that Neptune spent a year at Fordham.)

Duke, UNC, Villanova...  None of them were ever going to hire outside their program.  The players don't like it, the boosters don't like it, the former coach doesn't like it.  And coaches who are hired from the outside often have a REAL tough time.  Gene Bartow at UCLA is an example.

It's just easier to hire the in-house guy, and if it doesn't work look elsewhere.

[MU82]

Gard, Izzo and Few worked out tremendously as coaches-in-waiting. Plenty of others have failed miserably.

It wasn't at all shocking that Nova hired in house, and it's far too early to say whether or not he will succeed IMHO. Neptune inherited a team with no PG and with its heart-and-soul player hurt. Fairness (for lack of better word) dictates that he get at least a couple of recruiting classes before he's judged.

Wright is always mentioned in reverential tones -- and deservedly so -- but he was a combined 52-46 in his first three seasons, with losing BE records in each one. He didn't win an NCAAT game until his 11th season as a head coach. I'm sure there were observers opining that he was lacking, too.

[Its DJOver]

As much as we've talked about our close games, Nova is in a similar situation.  If Whitmore is healthy, I'd bet that they win at least 2 out of MSU, ISU and Temple.  If Moore was healthy, they probably add another 2 wins in there.  There's a reason that 5 years to judge was a thing, let's actually see how Neptune does developing his own players.  While he most likely won't be at Wright's level, I think there's every chance that he gets them consistently in the tournament.

[Dr. Blackheart]

What's the best way to replace a legend? Historically, most schools have gone internal/alumni tree. Guys like Cunningham, Gutheridge and Hank did very well but it wasn't enough for restless alumni. Others like Ollie and Davis rode the wave and then flamed out. You might add Joey Meyer to that. Then there are others as 82 pointed out like Gard, Few and Izzo who have kept the success up with the keeping it in house approach.

Louisville and Kentucky have had mostly success going outside to hire a proven coach, with the exception of Billy the Kid and Mack. Yet, Joe B Hall was successful following Rupp. (Sutton was a success, with the help of a briefcase).

Georgetown is mostly a failure keeping it within a tree. Nova hired Lappas and Wright out of their tree after Rollie, but both like Neptune went elsewhere first. One was a dud and one a stud. Arizona transition was a mess from Lute, going internal/interim then with cheater Miller. Kansas went external with Self after Roy returned to UNC after Doherty's flame out. Larry Brown was a short term fix at many programs/teams. Jimmy B has stayed on for too long. 

End of the day, most programs go first within their trees, with mixed success. 

[Scoop Snoop]

Look, I get all that. And Neptune might not be the guy in the long run. But think about the most successful college basketball coaches over the course of history. Almost all of them are replaced by a long time assistant with various degrees of success. (And yes I realize that Neptune spent a year at Fordham.)

Duke, UNC, Villanova...  None of them were ever going to hire outside their program.  The players don't like it, the boosters don't like it, the former coach doesn't like it.  And coaches who are hired from the outside often have a REAL tough time.  Gene Bartow at UCLA is an example.

It's just easier to hire the in-house guy, and if it doesn't work look elsewhere.

Yeah, you're right. I hate when that happens.

[PGsHeroes32]

Gotta say,

Genius scheduling putting your only two league games on at the exact same time. Compounded more when its 4 of the top 5 teams in the league.

[TallTitan34]

Will their 14 fans be storming the court?

Surprisingly, on TV it looked and sounded like they actually had a great crowd. 

[Herman Cain]

Gotta say,

Genius scheduling putting your only two league games on at the exact same time. Compounded more when its 4 of the top 5 teams in the league.

I agree with this analysis

[Herman Cain]

Creighton up 4 second half over X

[Herman Cain]

Creighton gave it all it had but X prevails in the end .

Tough year for The Blue Jays relative to expectations .   They need to go on a multi game winning streak soon.

[IrwinFletcher]

Creighton has played 3 of the 4 top teams in the conference... Marquette, UConn and X.  All 3 on the road.

We have played 3 of the top teams in the conference... Creighton, Providence and UConn.  2 at home, 1 on the road.

Creighton will be just fine.

[mugrad_89]

Creighton gave it all it had but X prevails in the end .

Tough year for The Blue Jays relative to expectations .   They need to go on a multi game winning streak soon.

I thought Creighton would be a much better shooting team than they’ve been so far.

[Uncle Rico]

I thought Creighton would be a much better shooting team than they’ve been so far.

Their real shooting % is 54.0%.  That’s actually better than their 50% of a year ago.

Kaluma is 33% from 3 which is better than his 27% last year.  Nembhard is the same shooter.  Scheierman is the problem.  38% is fine but it’s well below his career averages.  Step up in competetion has certainly been tough for him overall 

[Carl]

Creighton gave it all it had but X prevails in the end .

Tough year for The Blue Jays relative to expectations .   They need to go on a multi game winning streak soon.

Agreed. Single game winning streaks haven’t been effective

[mugrad_89]

Their real shooting % is 54.0%.  That’s actually better than their 50% of a year ago.

Kaluma is 33% from 3 which is better than his 27% last year.  Nembhard is the same shooter.  Scheierman is the problem.  38% is fine but it’s well below his career averages.  Step up in competetion has certainly been tough for him overall

I think those percentages have been inflated by some easy wins.  Trey Alexander has been hot and cold all season.  And with limited production from the bench, Scheierman and Alexander’s struggles get magnified.

[Jables1604]

Guys didn’t leave school when Jay Wright was there.

I know this is somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek comment but one of my closest friends played on the Villanova 1985 National Championship team (that beat Ewing and Georgetown). He’s stayed close to the program and is still extremely tight with Jay.

What he told me was that Jay was tired of having to re-recruit all of his players at the end of every season. The change in the transfer rules has made it something of the Wild, Wild West where pretty much every single one of the players will listen to any and all offers.

Also, as a side note, last year I went to the game at the Finn. Before the game and prior to the National Anthem they had a professor, who was a minority, sing a song of unity. The entire Nova team was on the floor linking arms. The National Anthem immediately followed. Only about half a dozen players remained on the floor for the that. The rest went back into the locker room and returned prior to the tip.

My buddy remarked that another friend, who works in the Nova development department and was also a walk-on on that 1985 team, was constantly fielding calls after every game from angry alumni who wanted to know why Jay was “letting them get away with that.”

I think in the end it just got to be too political for Jay and he was in a position where, even with his proven track record of success, someone was always unhappy with the going-ons in the program.

[Herman Cain]

Sean Miller post game press conference On X win over Creighton. Very complimentary toward Creighton and The Fans at X
https://247sports.com/college/xavier/Article/sean-miller-postgame-press-conference-creighton-bluejays-202751247/Amp/