Poll You're an AD At an Elite P5 School Do you Hire Becky Hammon

[Wbbfan1]

VolNation has a thread stating Becky Hammon makes $100K to be a Coach for the San Antonio Spurs. Some say she would be a good hire to replace Holly You're an AD at an ELITE P5 School, do you hire Becky Hammon. Great Reputation as a Player. San Antonio thinks she can coach and she coached their D League Team. No Experience Recruiting. Do you hire Her as your Women's Head Basketball Coach?

Not sure if Becky takes the job, might have her sights on an NBA Head Coaching Job or even a Men's Head Coaching Position in College.

 

[Carnac]

It is a no brainer. Hammond played at an elite level in college and the WNBA. She knows the X's and O's of women's basketball as well as anyone. You know she mentored and coached younger players on her teams while she was still playing.

She has coaching experience at a high level (NBA). What qualifications could you require in a potential D-1 college coach that she does not have? I'd hire Hammond in a heartbeat, and personally pick her up at the airport!!

 

[noirwestern]

I find it fascinating that people over there think that anyone would drop everything and come running to any job opening that may come up. It's not as if their program is an orange ferarri that's been collecting dust for a few years now.

 

[UcMiami]

I voted yes, but I doubt she would even interview in the next say five years. I don't think she needs the money - she made enough playing to have a good nest egg - and she is trail blazing a new path that I think she wants to continue pursuing to see where it leads. It would be backtracking to return to the women's game right now. Five years from now she might be ready to run her own program and leave the men's game. She certainly isn't currently making college HC type money, but money isn't everything.

I think a more interesting question will be - you are three years down the line and the AD of a mid-major and need a men's coach, do you interview Becky assuming she continues to be an assistant on an NBA team and coaching a mens D-league team.

 

[Txhoopsalot]

I do not know whether Hammond would have any interest in coaching at the college level, but I would certainly hire her if I could get her! And I do not say this about every former great player.

 

[msf22b]

Yes, yes, yes
The next top-flight coach in woman's BB
Even appropriate for (gasp) us

 

[DefenseBB]

While Becky is a trailblazer, there is really only 1 or 2 NBA Coaches who could hire a women for their staff-Poppovich and maybe Kerr. Old bias' die hard and she will not be received well as a HC in the Men's game. She could always hire a top recruiting assistant coach (Holly's for example) but ultimately she will need to prove she can coach. There are a few cautionary tales of stars not doing well in college- Sheryl Swoops was an abject failure and Chris Mullins is still lacking. Her knowledge of team ball with the Spurs would be a huge plus.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

No.

No experience coaching college kids. No experience building a team on her own. No experience recruiting. No experience dealing with a Conference or the NCAA. Tennessee needs someone with experience to rebuild that program, NOT an experiment.

Jim Foster from Chattanooga, Doug Bruno from DePaul, or Jeff Walz from Louisville (I doubt he'd move). In that order. You want a woman? Carolyn Peck (if there isn't a Competition clause in her contract).

...maybe Anne Donovan, if I want to keep the program down...

 

[easttexastrash]

In a heartbeat. But I think her future may be bigger than WCBB. I truly think she could be a head coach of a men's DI team if she wanted to be.

 

[huskeynut]

As an AD I would definitely want to talk to her. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

I doubt at this point in her career Becky would be interested in an NCAA woman's position. She is successful were she is and is respected. If she were interested, she can be very selective. And there are not many, if any, prime spots open.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Absolutely. Not only does she have NBA coaching experience, she has San Antonio Spurs coaching experience. She made herself a star after being underrated.

I'm skeptical about the $100K number. A few top assistants earn $750K+. My guess is that Becky's salary is $250K or so. The NBA has lots of money. Head coaches make $5M+ and players make $1-30M.

 

[BigBird]

An AD doesn't generally jeopardize his (sic) administrative post by making one bad coaching hire. But make a gender-related hiring mistake and the potential error, no matter how unlikely, would be magnified. That said, if an AD could posess enough onions to hire Becky, I believe she would be a major success. For the AD, it's risk versus reward.

Let me bend the question this way: If Geno and CD retired at the end of this season (and no, I can't imagine it either), and if Shea and Marissa took other jobs (and no, I can't imagine that either), would Becky Hammon be a great fit for UConn?