Becky Hammon Turns Down Florida Job

[Charliebball]

Per Raul:

Report: Becky Hammon turns down Florida women's basketball job

 

[Vowelguy]

On the one hand, FL has the resources to pay a lot more, but on the other, it's pretty ballsy for someone who has never coached women and never coached college to expect to be among the highest paid at the jump. If she's so confident, she should've requested mega performance incentives.

 

[BigBird]

Wowzers. This surprises me.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think Becky was deserving of mid-tier salary despite her lack of college coaching experience. She has the San Antonio Spurs on her resume.

 

[DefenseBB]

Something seems off about this. I think there is small plausibility on the Pay concern however, something else must be behind it as well. We don't know if the source is Hammon or Florida talking to SEC reporter. If it's a pay raise, while still in some tier of SEC pay, I think other things come into play. Jimmy Dykes at Arkansas was given far too much money for someone who hadnt coached women and how did that work out. Holly who was a long time assistant at Tenn is in the lower tier of SEC pay at $625k.

This report allows both parties to keep pride and it sets the bar for the next coaches pay expectation.

 

[JordyG]

Something seems off about this. I think there is small plausibility on the Pay concern however, something else must be behind it as well. We don't know if the source is Hammon or Florida talking to SEC reporter. If it's a pay raise, while still in some tier of SEC pay, I think other things come into play. Jimmy Dykes at Arkansas was given far too much money for someone who hadnt coached women and how did that work out. Holly who was a long time assistant at Tenn is in the lower tier of SEC pay at $625k.

This report allows both parties to keep pride and it sets the bar for the next coaches pay expectation.

Interesting food for thought.

 

[DefenseBB]

Also a curious thing I discovered over the weekend, you know how we see "coaches resign vs. being fired" and then given a severance package? Well, if a coach resigns voluntarily, the school gets out from further year obligations to the assistants. If they fire the coach and the assistants have more years remaining, they also have to pay them, or keep them.

 

[JordyG]

On the one hand, FL has the resources to pay a lot more, but on the other, it's pretty ballsy for someone who has never coached women and never coached college to expect to be among the highest paid at the jump. If she's so confident, she should've requested mega performance incentives.

Perhaps she did and those incentives were shot down. As DefenseBB said it's entirely possible some other things are in play here. For a first coaching position even at that rate of pay Florida would have been a sweet launching point.

 

[UcMiami]

I suspect it was the whole package - she is a smart person, and would be looking at more than just salary, so the vibe she got from the athletic department, the commitment of the school administration, etc. She has one shot to cash in and she needs to be sure she takes the right job, or after 4 years she may not ever have the same opportunities - finding a job in a situation where she feels she can succeed is more important than the starting money.

 

[hjoerring]

I too agree that the entire story is unknown thus far. If the School went after her they must have been some preliminaries about a minimum base. Thereafter come all the things about assistants and incentives, etc. A lack of head coaching is irrelevant in her case, she is a brand. And as a brand she cannot go cheap and cannot afford not to be successful. Better to stay in the NBA.

 

[Adios]

Imagine if she takes over for Popovich.

 

[oldude]

My best guess is that she got input from Pop and others, and there may be another position on the horizon that better aligns with Hammon's goals.

 

[Huskylove3]

I think Becky's goal is to be the first female NBA Head Coach. She knows she is a trailblazer and can continue as one.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Hearing Cameron Newbauer from Belmont now.

 

[Charliebball]

Hearing Cameron Newbauer from Belmont now.

Newbauer Agrees To Deal To Become Florida Head Coach

 

[Orangutan]

I wonder if it's a case of - "I'm happy where I am, so you're going need to make me a 'Godfather' offer to get me"

 

[Vowelguy]

Newbauer Agrees To Deal To Become Florida Head Coach

Hmm, I forget who the 3rd candidate was, but I believe Newbauer was the least flashy of the bunch. May be fine/good; it just seems as though a school like Florida could really get home run hire if it wanted to.
Compare, say, Vanderbilt, which was down to Stephanie White and Niele Ivey.

 

[noirwestern]

I thought it was ridiculous from the start. Going from her folding chair on the sidelines at San Antonio to Florida seemed like a step backwards.

 

[Dillon77]

Hmm, I forget who the 3rd candidate was, but I believe Newbauer was the least flashy of the bunch. May be fine/good; it just seems as though a school like Florida could really get home run hire if it wanted to.
Compare, say, Vanderbilt, which was down to Stephanie White and Niele Ivey.

A LITTLE MORE ON NEWBAUER

As we know, Florida announced the hiring of Cameron Newbauer to take the reins of its Women's Basketball Team. His hiring came after San Antonio Spur's assistant Becky Hammon reportedly turned down the post to stay in the NBA. Regardless of that, it looks like the Gators got a good one: Newbauer was hired from Belmont in Nashville, TN, where he produced a 79-50 record over four seasons. He led them to the NCAA tourney this year and they lost their first-round game to Kentucky, 73-70.

Newbauer graduated from IPFW in 2001 while working as a HS assistant JV coach. He knows Indiana WBB and recruited former Canterbury High School standout Darby Maggard, a sophomore guard, at Belmont. She averaged 14.5 ppg this season for the Bruins.

Interestingly, Homestead senior Karissa McLaughlin is among five recruits who had previously committed to Florida. She reopened her recruiting after Florida fired former HC Butler. She has not ruled out sticking with Florida and I'll bet Newbauer has hit that phone line already.

His hiring may make Indiana HS recruiting areas even more competitive. Now that Indiana and Purude are also doing well, there will be competition for hoopsters. Indiana and Purdue were also finalists for McLauglin, so we'll get a test of this right off the bat. Newbauer can offer them an Indiana presence and a Florida climate.

Nancy Fahey accepted the Illinois job last week and we'll see how the former Washington U. of St. Louis coach does at the D1 level (she won 5 DIII championships at Wash U).

So that leaves two major DI P5 schools with coaching slots open -- Arkansas and USC. For those Irish fans worried if and when Niele might leave for a HC post, Dillon's druthers are feeling pretty good that she won't be heading south to Arkansas or west to southern California. The Irish don't recruit much on the left coast and I'm guessing Niele does not want to be that far away from the midwest.

BTW, the Belmont job looks like a pretty attractive one for a young coach like Newbauer. Top three scorers (including Maggard and two tall folks, one of whom a Vandy transfer) are back and Belmont has more than a pretty fine reputation and mid-school size (7,700 undergrads).


Fort Wayne's Cameron Newbauer named Florida women's coach - News-Sentinel.com

 

[UcMiami]

Wow - from a headliner to a decent mid major coach with little 'cache' - I know nothing about him, and they certainly scared KY this year, but if Florida was such a plum job, I am a little surprised at the hire. Seems they would have had a bunch of coaches with better resumes knocking in the door. Maybe they did and just loved this guy, but I do wonder. And I wonder if this might explain Hammon's decision a little more.

 

[Dillon77]

Wow - from a headliner to a decent mid major coach with little 'cache' - I know nothing about him, and they certainly scared KY this year, but if Florida was such a plum job, I am a little surprised at the hire. Seems they would have had a bunch of coaches with better resumes knocking in the door. Maybe they did and just loved this guy, but I do wonder. And I wonder if this might explain Hammon's decision a little more.

I went back to the "Coaching Carousel" Thread and found that Vowelguy and others listed these other two coaches besides Becky Hammon as the other prime candidates: Charlotte Smith from Elon
Cam Newbauer from Belmont. Apparently, Florida AD Scott Stricklin saw Newbauer's Belmont team in one their previous NCAA experiences (he's been at Belmont 4 years), and made a note of it.

Seems like he initially wanted to go "HUGE splash" with Becky Hammon, but the final choice and the coach from Elon certainly point to the mid-majors as the next option.

While I have not scoured the internet for all articles, Newbauer has coached around the country, from SEC country (Georgia) and the Bluegrass State (Louisville) to the northeast (Siena) and is from northern Indiana, which gives him access to the Indiana-Ohio HS scene (Ft. Wayne being pretty much on the border). He's got experience, but is still young (just under 40).

The hire seems similar to that of Mike White, the young coach of the Men's team who came from Louisiana Tech (after 4 years) to replace Billy Donovan. Maybe Stricklin figures it will work out well again.