Coaches to watch in 2023-24; Hotseat edition

[YoDore]

A bit of followup on the Robin Pingeton situation. The seat sounds pretty hot to me.

https://twitter.com/Raoul_000/status/1714847897731178590?s=20

 

[Dillon77]

Well, this is a bit of counterintuitive thread placement. These are coaches who are on a list, but because they are pre-season favorites for the Mid-Major Coach of the Year (the Kathy Delaney-Smith award). The 20 coaches listed in the linked article in HerHoopsStats might be considered for openings if predicted outcomes for some coaches in this thread come true.

Most are known names to BYer's. Nominees run from the Far West (Lisa Fortier of Gonzaga and Lindy LaRocque of UNLV) and Midwest (Kristen Gillespie of Illinois State and Tricia Cullop of Toledo) to Florida (Jose Fernandez of USF and Karl Smesko of FGCU) to the Ivy League (Carla Berube of Princeton and Megan Griffith of Columbia).

Let's see how the season plays out.

2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year presented by Her Hoop Stats Preseason Watch List

20 coaches named to inaugural preseason watch list

herhoopstats.substack.com

 

[nwhoopfan]

Well, this is a bit of counterintuitive thread placement. These are coaches who are on a list, but because they are pre-season favorites for the Mid-Major Coach of the Year (the Kathy Delaney-Smith award). The 20 coaches listed in the linked article in HerHoopsStats might be considered for openings if predicted outcomes for some coaches in this thread come true.

Most are known names to BYer's. Nominees run from the Far West (Lisa Fortier of Gonzaga and Lindy LaRocque of UNLV) and Midwest (Kristen Gillespie of Illinois State and Tricia Cullop of Toledo) to Florida (Jose Fernandez of USF and Karl Smesko of FGCU) to the Ivy League (Carla Berube of Princeton and Megan Griffith of Columbia).

Let's see how the season plays out.

2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year presented by Her Hoop Stats Preseason Watch List

20 coaches named to inaugural preseason watch list

herhoopstats.substack.com

Interesting list. Gobrecht at Air Force is kinda like a Johnny Cash song--she's been everywhere.

Smesko seems like he doesn't want to leave FGCU. Is Fernandez similar? He's been at USF quite a while.

A few of the names I'm unfamiliar with, but I gotta think La Rocque is the youngest, and maybe the biggest up and comer.

 

[bbsamjj]

How the heck did I miss this? Hangover from the last-second loss to OSU in football? Watching pro basketball? In any case, great job @DefenseBB . Think you identified some very viable candidates for the proverbial hot seat. Some comments on a few:

- Carolyn Kieger, Penn State. Kieger has to know patience is beyond thin in Happy Valley, so she's brought in two three-time transfers in Ashely Owusu and Tay Valladay (from Va. Tech/Maryland and UVA,/Marquette respectively) to make a last stand with Leilani Kapinus and Makenna Marisa. Shay Ciezki comes back from an injury as does perpetually injured Alli Campbell. Who knows, Kieger could make stew of it.
- Joe McKeown, Northwestern. The Wildcat's version of Uncle Joe has had a great gig at GW and N'Western, but since Valerie Burton has graduated, this team looks like it's not going anywhere to fill up the relatively new facility.
Early Dillon druthers. If Penn State and N'Western bomb out, you could see something interesting.
If Marquette has a decent year, I could see Megan Duffy chasing/being courted for N'Western. And Kieger could end up back at Marquette.
- Joanna Bernabei-McNamee-BC. Have no idea what happened/continues to happen at Chestnut Hill. She started so well, but has been losing top players year after year. How long is that contract? If things go like they have the last two years, another new coach at Chestnut Hill.
- Kyra Elzy-Kentucky. Didn't someone extend her after one or two years of winning with the previous regime's players, even when there were some warning signs? Well, As D-BB says, program is a shell of what it was. This is Kentucky. Cut ties, eat the money and get someone new in there.
- Doug Bruno, DePaul. As an ND fan, have loved Coach Bruno for the rivalry games the two teams had for so long. But things haven't been quite right for awhile. A lot of transfer guards (including Anaya Peoples and Katlyn Gilbert, former ND teammates, and Michelle Sidor, who never took flight at Michigan) there. Could be mediocre. Could be ugly. At the least, get the transition plan in place.

Curious dillon why you think Duffy would be more likely to end up at Northwestern than PSU, should both jobs be open? I'd think PSU is a much more enticing job given its history of success.

 

[Dillon77]

Curious dillon why you think Duffy would be more likely to end up at Northwestern than PSU, should both jobs be open? I'd think PSU is a much more enticing job given its history of success.

Thought about this awhile.

As for Penn State:
- "History of Success" might be a past-due description to current prospects and, even, their parents.
Believe it or not, the last time the Nittany Lions made the NCAA tourney was in 2014, capping off a great multi-year run by Coach Coquese Washington, led by Maggie Lucus and Alex Bentley, if memory serves me correctly. Coach Q had a good team a few years later that went 21-11 and made the 3rd round of the WNIt, but that's been pretty much it. No tournaments, let alone, winning seasons since then.

- And, as good as Renee Portland, had during her 25+ years, many people remember the "anti-lesbian" stance as much as the "w's" she racked up.

- Outside of Maggie Lucus and McKenna Marisa, how many Pennsylvania players head to State College? Maddie Burke had a great first year, flamed out the second year and transferred to Villanova. Alli Campbell came in from ND and encountered injury after injury.

But the main reasons for Duffy:

- Current Penn State Coach Carolyn Kieger chose to leave Marquette -- where she was really successful -- for the potential (and $$$) of Penn State. And Kieger is on the hottest of seats. So Megan Duffy would have to see that leaving Marquette for a big public university isn't a guarantee for a lot of W's.

- Duffy knows the Midwest: she's from Ohio, went to school in Indiana, and coaches in Wisconsin. She recruits those areas.

- And she knows private schools: attended ND; assistant coach at St. John's and GW, head coach at Marquette. I think she'd feel comfortable at Northwestern, emphasizing both the Midwest connections and the type of kids she knows from Marquette and knew from ND.

- Joe McKeown hasn't been killing it at NW since Burton left for the pro's so the ceiling is pretty low. But the facilities were upgraded...

(That said, we all know where Megan Duffy would ultimately want to end up. But that's not going to happen as long as Niele Ivey continues her upward trend...unless Niele returns to the pro ranks at some point.)

 

[bbsamjj]

all excellent points and now that I think of it, I can't imagine PSU would want to go back to the Marquette HC well if it doesn't work with Krieger.

 

[Dillon77]

all excellent points and now that I think of it, I can't imagine PSU would want to go back to the Marquette HC well if it doesn't work with Krieger.

Yes...there's that, too

 

[DefenseBB]

My two cents is Meg is a much more of a “rah, rah” /positive coach whereas Ms.Kieger is… not and leave it at that.

While we all know Dillon is Ms.Duffy’s publicist, I am not so sure she’s as keen to leave for the Big Ten for these 2 main reasons:
1. Marquette has upped its compensation for Meg and pays significantly more than when Carolyn was there
2. The Big Ten is now arguable deepest of conferences with UCLA and Oregon joining along with USC and UW so making headway with either PSU or NW will not be easy, whereas she is primed to be fighting for 2nd regularly against Dillon and Flannery.
But hey, keep pushing for Meg to go for all the P4 jobs cuz, that is what we expect and we know you hate disappointing…

 

[Dillon77]

My two cents is Meg is a much more of a “rah, rah” /positive coach whereas Ms.Kieger is… not and leave it at that.

While we all know Dillon is Ms.Duffy’s publicist, I am not so sure she’s as keen to leave for the Big Ten for these 2 main reasons:
1. Marquette has upped its compensation for Meg and pays significantly more than when Carolyn was there
2. The Big Ten is now arguable deepest of conferences with UCLA and Oregon joining along with USC and UW so making headway with either PSU or NW will not be easy, whereas she is primed to be fighting for 2nd regularly against Dillon and Flannery.
But hey, keep pushing for Meg to go for all the P4 jobs cuz, that is what we expect and we know you hate disappointing…

Hey, hey, hey...I haven't brought this up this academic year
But since my esteemed colleague from Rutgers brought this up, I felt compelled to do so. However, N'Western doesn't seem to mind their Uncle Joe having a down year or three, so this might be a moot point.

 

[DefenseBB]

BTW, nice job by Meg last night and by Jim Flannery at Creighton. Gotta keep my Big East alliance supported on this thread.

 

[Dillon77]

BTW, nice job by Meg last night and by Jim Flannery at Creighton. Gotta keep my Big East alliance supported on this thread.

Former Dookie Lee Volker had a solid first game for Marquette off the bench (5-10 from the field) while MacKenzie Hare (in her first start) hits 4-8 from three-point land en route to 17 points.

 

[LETTERL]

Clemson will not be firing Amanda Butler; they are light years better now than when Butler took over. She has the Tigers competitive now.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Clemson will not be firing Amanda Butler; they are light years better now than when Butler took over. She has the Tigers competitive now.

Somehow she has been getting in with some nice recruits.

 

[DefenseBB]

Clemson will not be firing Amanda Butler; they are light years better now than when Butler took over. She has the Tigers competitive now.

"light years better"? Better yes compared to their prior coaches but the actual numbers suggest that while she is the tallest kid in kindergarten, that does not mean she is tall. Her ACC record over 5 years is 27-60 and her overall record is 69-87. Her first year was the outlier at this point at 20-13 and 9-7 when she finished 7th. Since then she's finished 14, 11, 13, 10 and 18-43 in ACC play.

Sure, I guess the AD could say, with all my money I have spent on this program, I am happy but I would be surprised. Maybe this year will be different....

 

[Gamecockfan77]

"light years better"? Better yes compared to their prior coaches but the actual numbers suggest that while she is the tallest kid in kindergarten, that does not mean she is tall. Her ACC record over 5 years is 27-60 and her overall record is 69-87. Her first year was the outlier at this point at 20-13 and 9-7 when she finished 7th. Since then she's finished 14, 11, 13, 10 and 18-43 in ACC play.

Sure, I guess the AD could say, with all my money I have spent on this program, I am happy but I would be surprised. Maybe this year will be different....

Seriously, it's Clemson and they chose to hire Amanda Butler.

I don't think the expectations are very high.

 

[Geew1992]

Kind of a roundabout post on Mackenley Randolph, who has not committed to either Louisville, Michigan State or Notre Dame yet, but is supposed to do so (by the 13th)?

I'm guessing ND is still in the running and this is why: ND's biggest (well, only so far for 2024) is Ukrainian Post Kate Koval from Lutheran High School. There has been no announcement from Notre Dame, which has posted tweets on signings on every other sport, from Men's Hoops to both soccer programs, volleyball, etc.

So, why the hold-up on Koval? My gut was Coach Ivey was waiting for Randolph to announce, then ND will put out an announcement: either on both (knock on wood) or on Ms. Koval alone. How can I be so certain about Koval? LuHi beat ND to the punch on Koval signing (thanks to IrishFan2008 for the legwork).



So, like a somewhat play with a somewhat similar name, this continues to drag on. . If news about the 13th are true, we'll know soon enough. Stay tuned.

I think this is in the wrong thread

 

[Dillon77]

I think this is in the wrong thread

That's what I get for posting early on Saturday morning. I'll switch them to the right area. Thanks.

 

[triaddukefan]

 

[YoDore]

A bit of followup on the Robin Pingeton situation. The seat sounds pretty hot to me.

https://twitter.com/Raoul_000/status/1714847897731178590?s=20

Robin Pingeton might have gotten the biggest break of her career this week when it was announced AD Desiree Reed-Francois is leaving to accept the AD job at Arizona. She had said in pre-season that she expected the women's basketball program to make the NCAA tourney, which was an obvious shot across the bow of ship Pingeton. Well, the Tigers are 2-10 in the conference and 11-14 overall, and chances of an NCAA appearance are pretty much nil.

It's doubtful a new AD will fire the women's coach before they even get their seat warm. Possible, I guess, but I doubt it. Pingeton might just be safe for another year. Unfortunately, she loses all-everything Hayley Frank after this season, and she's the player that has led the program since Sophie Cunningham left.

 

[azfan]

It's doubtful a new AD will fire the women's coach before they even get their seat warm. Possible, I guess, but I doubt it. Pingeton might just be safe for another year. Unfortunately, she loses all-everything Hayley Frank after this season, and she's the player that has led the program since Sophie Cunningham left.

I get that this is true.....for Mizzu.

It is my hope that the mandate for the new AD whenever hired at Arizona State includes dismissing Adair and bringing in a coach with the ability to recruit a power five program and change the culture.

If Adair is not on the hot seat now, there's no such thing as a hot seat As she closes them on her second year in Tempe and another 20 loss season there's really no hope for improvement in the program as currently staffed.

In my view moving to the new conference is a perfect time for house cleaning in the woman's program

 

[nwhoopfan]

I get that this is true.....for Mizzu.

It is my hope that the mandate for the new AD whenever hired at Arizona State includes dismissing Adair and bringing in a coach with the ability to recruit a power five program and change the culture.

If Adair is not on the hot seat now, there's no such thing as a hot seat As she closes them on her second year in Tempe and another 20 loss season there's really no hope for improvement in the program as currently staffed.

In my view moving to the new conference is a perfect time for house cleaning in the woman's program

Hey wait your turn, Washington is in Year 3 under Langley and going the wrong direction. And they lost to your team twice this year.

 

[Vowelguy]

It's doubtful a new AD will fire the women's coach before they even get their seat warm. Possible, I guess, but I doubt it. Pingeton might just be safe for another year. Unfortunately, she loses all-everything Hayley Frank after this season, and she's the player that has led the program since Sophie Cunningham left.

Depends. New ADs often want to make their mark. LSU got a new AD and soon after they hired CFB Brian Kelly from ND and Mulkey.

 

[Plebe]

Hey wait your turn, Washington is in Year 3 under Langley and going the wrong direction. And they lost to your team twice this year.

Didn't Washington make a deep run in the WNIT last year?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Didn't Washington make a deep run in the WNIT last year?

They did, which makes this year all the more frustrating. That is usually a springboard for the following season. Not really working so well for Kansas either.

 

[Plebe]

They did, which makes this year all the more frustrating. That is usually a springboard for the following season. Not really working so well for Kansas either.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, it hasn't worked so well for Oregon either.