Carla Berube would have to be front runner to replace Geno | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Carla Berube would have to be front runner to replace Geno

Status
Not open for further replies.
I like Dawn but she has it made at South Carolina. She has made herself and the school a success story. She is an awesome conference. She can recruit with the best of them. She attracts people to games like no other at this time. Not to say that UConn would not be a fit. But, why on earth would she want to leave one of the two money conferences to coach in the Big East? No way…
 
uconnfan68 said:
Don’t want to upset anyone, but I just don’t see either of them coming here. They’re both in highly stable environments, and UConn is anything but in today’s conference alignment and realignment. Who knows what tomorrow brings?
Expand ...
Agree for sure re Shea she has built the winning program in three years and
She is starting to get some highly recruited players
And can see her teams being perennially in the tournament
To leave that for UConn after Geno and all that comes with that would not seem to be a good career move

Re CB leaving Princeton could possibly see it
But she is in a great situation where she could coach there for the next 20 years
Maybe the idea of competing on the national level
Would be of interest

Maybe the current coach a Fairfield would be a possibility but I suspect she will be moving to
A higher level very soon
Unlike the men’s game there are not a lot of candidates for a top position like Uconn

Anyway ENJOY THE RIDE WHILE GENO HERE
as it will be uncharted territory when he leaves
I hope after the season the signs a new 4 year
Contract!!
 
I know most of us want to keep it within the UConn family, but I am one who thinks we should be more open to those outside.
 
Carla has proven herself to be an excellent, winning coach at all the levels in which she has participated.
Her team plays like a Jr. varsity UConn.

Shea is doing well, but the jury is still out.

Listen to Carla's post-game interviews: a model of rationality and reasonableness...she even sounds like Geno.

if the decision was to be made soon...next few years...Carla clearly would get the call.

A word about Dawn's recruiting...the Olympic coach has huge advantages.
 
.-.
msf22b said:
Carla has proven herself to be an excellent, winning coach at all the levels in which she has participated.
Her team plays like a Jr. varsity UConn.

Shea is doing well, but the jury is still out.

Listen to Carla's post-game interviews: a model of rationality and reasonableness...she even sounds like Geno.

if the decision was to be made soon...next few years...Carla clearly would get the call.

A word about Dawn's recruiting...the Olympic coach has huge advantages.
Expand ...
Except Staley is not the Olympic coach. Cheryl Reeve is. And she's a WNBA coach.
 
As interesting as the names of Shea Ralph, Carla Berube, Jeff Walz, to replace Geno Auriemma sounds, all 3 are well respected and built their current programs to really being successful and in the case of Shea to follow a horrible year of injuries and loses to being competitive in the SEC, where Vandy used to be!
I don't see Jeff Walz leaving Louisville! He's a God there!
They may not want to give up a program they've worked really hard to build up for the frying pan that the UConn job is!
Then again for Shea and Carla to take over their old school might be the ultimate challenge!
Usually following a LEGEND doesn't work out well!
 
.-.
we need to clone Geno and CD....NOW! So they will be ready when the time comes.
 
A lot of people seem to be discounting coaching motivation. Why do they coach? To prove they are better than other people doing it. Shea will NEVER win a national championship at Vanderbilt and Carla will NEVER win a national championship at Princeton. You go to UConn because you can win it all there. My other thing is many posters are assuming the new coach keeps any of the assistants. It's probable they want their own staffs and clean house completely. None of the current coaches are likely to end up on the new staff.
 
Hist-teacher said:
Aside from when Shea was at UConn what big-time recruits has she brought to Vandy? And I'm not sure which UConn recruits she was responsible for bringing to UConn? So it's difficult to say which of the two would be the better recruiter (to my mind anyway). I'd lean towards Carla.
Expand ...
SHEA RALPH is making a point with turning around the Women's Program!
Check the team's record... They are playing in the SEC! (as an additional point).
I like Shea and Carla.
 
superjohn said:
You get the best coach out there. Go after Dawn Staley.
Expand ...
I guess UConn really blew it when they went after Calhoun, Auriemma or Hurley, all of whom showed potential but had not yet demonstrated their recruiting or coaching ability as head coach in a major conference.

Head coaches that successfully build major programs do not tend to leave them, save for their alma mater. You might get a Pitino, but not a Calhoun or Auriemma. Daley is no Pitino.
 
.-.
Hist-teacher said:
Aside from when Shea was at UConn what big-time recruits has she brought to Vandy? And I'm not sure which UConn recruits she was responsible for bringing to UConn? So it's difficult to say which of the two would be the better recruiter (to my mind anyway). I'd lean towards Carla.
Expand ...
Just got the commit last month

82336F21-C373-4C8D-8670-A497F7D8DFE0.jpeg
 
veryolddog said:
I would like to see Dawn Staley. SHE can really recruit, especially the bigs and take less than great players and turn them into championship contenders in a tough league.
Expand ...
That would be like Geno going to Tennessee to replace Pat Summit. She won't leave what she has for what she would think was a lateral move at best.
 
Following Geno will be no picnic regardless of who they choose. Look at how the fans (myself included) when Geno loses a couple games, could you imagine a new person coming and the opinions? I don't know who they will pick but one requirement is they have to be from a school that at least recruits the same level of athlete as UConn.

If it is Carla or Shae I would think the results will be about the same. Both would be great coaches but to UConn fans great just might not be good enough.
 
diggerfoot said:
I guess UConn really blew it when they went after Calhoun, Auriemma or Hurley, all of whom showed potential but had not yet demonstrated their recruiting or coaching ability as head coach in a major conference.

Head coaches that successfully build major programs do not tend to leave them, save for their alma mater. You might get a Pitino, but not a Calhoun or Auriemma. Daley is no Pitino.
Expand ...
See post #28, Calhoun and Hurley were absolutely the best coaches out there UConn could get and they honed in on them and got them. They didn't focus in on alums, they hired the best coach out there in both cases. I know way less about women's basketball but my guess is Geno was the best coach out there at the time and they didn't focus in on hiring from within.
 
Carla has proven outstanding at recruiting (given her university's requirements) and then at developing her recruits within her conference's guidelines. I'd trust her with developing UConn into her personal model of excellence, building on what Geno would leave behind.
 
.-.
superjohn said:
See post #28, Calhoun and Hurley were absolutely the best coaches out there UConn could get and they honed in on them and got them. They didn't focus in on alums, they hired the best coach out there in both cases. I know way less about women's basketball but my guess is Geno was the best coach out there at the time and they didn't focus in on hiring from within.
Expand ...
UConn didn’t care about women’s basketball back then. I interviewed Chris Gedney, UConn’s first scholarship player, and she said the coach at the time didn’t care about the team and didn’t even try to make it better. The players staged a revolt to force the coach out. Due to Title 9 scholarship requirements, UConn needed the women’s team and reluctantly fired the coach , Wanda somebody

In replacing the coach, UConn hired an assistant from University of Virginia that applied for the job , Geno, who had never been a head coach and whose intention was to use the job as a stepping stone to a men’s coaching position. He must be a great interview because he was hired. But it turns out he was pretty good at coaching women and the rest is history

UConn didn’t pursue who they thought was the best candidate, they got lucky.

On edit: After Wanda Flora left, Jean Balthazar was coach, then Geno. If you read my article linked below, once you get past Chris’s admirable bio, she talks about Geno and the team

connecticut.rivals.com

Chris Gedney: A cornerstone of UConn basketball

Once upon a time, there were no crowds of 10,000, no television coverage or horde of reporters. Once upon a time, there weren't even any scholarship p
connecticut.rivals.com connecticut.rivals.com
 
Last edited:
All I know is I want them to cast the net far and wide when it comes to a replacement. And I want it to be genuinely based on ability to coach, recruit, and win -- not based on any sentimentality or just a big name at another program. But actual proven results. I want a Danny Hurley coming in. If that's an alum, great. If not, also great.
 
Any number of competant coaches should be able to run the UConn WBB program & be successful.
That's because the UConn brand has become much more important than the personality of any particular coach.
In part that's Geno's legacy to have made it that way.
If a coach were hired that didn't work out after the initial honeymoon period is over then their contract can very easily not be renewed.

The BE is a fairly easy conference for a new coach to develop their competitive sea legs within.
The real challenge will come if & when UConn WBB eventually joins a new athletic conference.
That would even present a challenge for Geno to be successful at this point in his coaching career considering all of the bad luck injuires that has affected the program in recent years.
There's always using the transfer portal instead of being a successful high school recruiter.

The UConn brand has become the most single important symbol of the program which should help to keep the program self-sustaining for years to come no matter who is selected as coaches in the future.
I doubt that UConn will be paying mad salary money to a new coach right off the bat. either.
I think that it will take some years & a high level of success by the new coach before that happens.
 
superjohn said:
See post #28, Calhoun and Hurley were absolutely the best coaches out there UConn could get and they honed in on them and got them. They didn't focus in on alums, they hired the best coach out there in both cases. I know way less about women's basketball but my guess is Geno was the best coach out there at the time and they didn't focus in on hiring from within.
Expand ...
Lol. No one could have known or predicted the assistant coach Auriemma would be the best head coach when they hired him. Granted, they were not in a position to hire the best head coach out there, but they could have gone after a proven head coach at least. Calhoun was the best local head coach from a local mid-major out there, did folks know that made him the best nationally from a mid-major, or equipped to duplicate mid-major success at the Big East level? Hardly, they took well informed chances.

Though this undermines your premise, that’s besides the point. Even if UConn was prestigious enough to go after a Pat Summitt for the women’s, or Bob Knight for the men’s, it turned out they were better off by not landing the Dawn Staley’s out there.
 
.-.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,142
Messages
4,554,567
Members
10,438
Latest member
UConnheart


Top Bottom