Coaching Carousel 2017 (merged threads) | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Coaching Carousel 2017 (merged threads)

Nothing like a clean sweep, and a fresh start to right the ship. The atmosphere in and around the Illinois women's program has got to be better beginning this summer, once a new coaching staff is hired.
 
I am only slightly surprised. The buyout total (for all sports) continues to escalate here in chilly central Illinois.

On the other hand, the apathy toward U of I sports here is quite noticeable. Whitman had to do something. I just thought he might wait another year to pull the plug.
 
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When I first saw the thread title, I thought: "Great, now if they can eject their fans and their very conditional support, they'll have a shot."
 
Illinois hasn't even been remotely relevant since Theresa Grentz was at the helm. She's back coaching now, at Lafayette College; I wonder if she'd consider returning to Illinois.
 
LETTERL said:
Illinois hasn't even been remotely relevant since Theresa Grentz was at the helm. She's back coaching now, at Lafayette College; I wonder if she'd consider returning to Illinois.
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She was a darling of the local media and fans - at first. But, she became overbearing and downright arrogant during the latter phase of her employment here. This wouldn't have been so much of a problem had she won more games. Attendance dwindled, fans looked at other UI sports (Volleyball, MBB, and football enjoyed brief surges of success), and the WBB program started on a downhill trajectory from which it obviously has never recovered. So, no. I doubt she'd be welcomed back. Of course, I could be wrong.
 
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JordyG said:
Bollant's firing should have happened before the season started. This firing didn't take any kind of prescience.
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Very true. My angle was simply that the AA was up to its posterior in contract buyout expenses. They wait one year, they save two million. They didn't wait, for reasons that we and they thought reasonable enough. So be it.
 
The University of Illinois may be the most financially-stressed of all the top-tier public universities and now they're paying more for fired coaches. Bread and circuses.
 
bags27 said:
The University of Illinois may be the most financially-stressed of all the top-tier public universities and now they're paying more for fired coaches. Bread and circuses.
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Correct, yet they would tell us that the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is funded without state money. This may or may not be 100% true, but even if it is true, it seems to me that there is a tremendous waste of scarce resources happening here. And it's been happening here with notable frequency.
 
vowelguy said:
Hmm, just noticed that the Long Beach St coach has done a good job AND she was an assistant and recruiting coordinator at USC in the mid-00s.
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That Long Beach St coach is really enhancing her resume with today's performance.
 
vowelguy said:
That Long Beach St coach is really enhancing her resume with today's performance.
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Maybe she gets a look for the USC job?
 
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Plebe said:
Maybe she gets a look for the USC job?
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Maybe. However, I dont think she gets it. One of the "preferred requirements" that USC was looking for(on the job listing they had) was NCAA Tournament experience. Today was Wynn's first and only game in the Dance. Probably not enough.
I did hear a name of someone USC is considering, and I am not mentioning who until the entire tournament is done(dont want any distractions out there) of a person who has tournament experience and has some experience in the State of Connecticut.
If USC makes the change before the entire tournament is over I would be surprised.
 
bags27 said:
The University of Illinois may be the most financially-stressed of all the top-tier public universities and now they're paying more for fired coaches. Bread and circuses.
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Rutgers. Although they probably pay less for their coaches - most are near the bottom of the B1G (except CVS, who I think is 3rd for WBB coaches). And also paying buyouts.
 
BigBird said:
She was a darling of the local media and fans - at first. But, she became overbearing and downright arrogant during the latter phase of her employment here. This wouldn't have been so much of a problem had she won more games. Attendance dwindled, fans looked at other UI sports (Volleyball, MBB, and football enjoyed brief surges of success), and the WBB program started on a downhill trajectory from which it obviously has never recovered. So, no. I doubt she'd be welcomed back. Of course, I could be wrong.
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That is TG's issues to a "T". The game has passed her by (something I rarely say about a coach, but her style was always suited to the A10 that RU was in for years, not the power conferences. And it isn't suited to her current job either.

Overbearing more-so than arrogant from what I've been told (I started following RU in person only in her last season and bought season tix CVS's first year). But basically she wanted certain things at RU (including possibly an AD job) and wasn't getting it. She didn't attend many practices and was somewhat disinterested her last year or 2 at RU, or so I have been told. Of course, it was a long time ago.
 
Plebe said:
Two coaches who will probably be discussed as potentials for the Florida job:
  • Karl Smesko of Florida Gulf Coast: 3 NCAA tournament appearances in the past 5 years, and in the WNIT every other year since he took the FGCU job in 2007. His program graduated most of the important players from last year's team, and they still went 23-8 and 12-2 in conference this year.

  • Carolyn Kieger of Marquette: She's taken Marquette from 9-22 (4-14) in 2015 to 14-16 (9-9) in 2016 to 24-7 (13-5) in 2017, including a Big East tournament championship and a likely #7 seed in the NCAA tournament. She spent 6 years as an assistant to Katie Meier at Miami, so she's probably familiar with Florida's high school and AAU scene. She's 33 years old and will surely be a hot commodity for P5 coaching vacancies this year.
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Smesko offers the first "I'm not going anywhere" comment in regards to these openings, but the reporter did a good job of showing that he has -- in the past -- interviewed for these positions, including the one at Illinois (he apparently is from Ohio).

Stay tuned....

College basketball: Bright future ahead after FGCU women impress again
 
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I'm waiting to hear about Joanne Boyle at UVA. She has 1 year left on her contract and hasn't made the NCAA's in her 6 years at UVA. Team was better this year and only loses 1 player to graduation. But no major recruits for next year. Last year the AD issued a statement at season's end that she'd be back. Nothing yet this year. I'm thinking of writing him and suggesting he go after Shea. She'd be a great fit with UCONN experience and coming from the South.
 
Sources: Becky Hammon emerging as serious target for Florida


​
 
VA Huskie said:
I'm waiting to hear about Joanne Boyle at UVA. She has 1 year left on her contract and hasn't made the NCAA's in her 6 years at UVA. Team was better this year and only loses 1 player to graduation. But no major recruits for next year. Last year the AD issued a statement at season's end that she'd be back. Nothing yet this year. I'm thinking of writing him and suggesting he go after Shea. She'd be a great fit with UCONN experience and coming from the South.
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I think we were among some posts that touched on this year. She was, in effect, saved by her contract after 2015-16, with the possibility that her freshman class would pan out.
It did....Jocelyn Willoughby and Dominique Toussaint both made the All-ACC frosh team.
Toussaint, Willoughby Named to ACC Coaches All-Freshman Team

They finished up 20-13 and lost to James Madison University. They might have lot that battle but gotten a win at JMU's expense in that
Brianna Tinsley, a 5'6" point guard from St. Anne's decommitted from JMU and is headed to UVA. Willoughby and Toussaint are a wing and off guard, respectively, so Tinsley should help with the ball-handling. However, they didn't help themselves up front (Danielle Patterson, headed for ND, listed UVA as a finalist.)

STAB's Tinsley commits to UVa women's hoops team

They played ND tough both times they faced them this year and a lot of folks they were on the bubble for the NCAA (perhaps over Auburn). Does the AD think that it's worth finishing the contract out? Or get someone whom he thinks can get more out of what Boyle has now? I think someone like Shea would do fantastically there. And UVA's not in your conference.
 
So who are the other 2 finalists at Florida?

As for Boyle, I would give her another year. VA seemed to be coming on. She may have finally turned the corner?
 
Dillon77 said:
I think we were among some posts that touched on this year. She was, in effect, saved by her contract after 2015-16, with the possibility that her freshman class would pan out.
It did....Jocelyn Willoughby and Dominique Toussaint both made the All-ACC frosh team.
Toussaint, Willoughby Named to ACC Coaches All-Freshman Team

They finished up 20-13 and lost to James Madison University. They might have lot that battle but gotten a win at JMU's expense in that
Brianna Tinsley, a 5'6" point guard from St. Anne's decommitted from JMU and is headed to UVA. Willoughby and Toussaint are a wing and off guard, respectively, so Tinsley should help with the ball-handling. However, they didn't help themselves up front (Danielle Patterson, headed for ND, listed UVA as a finalist.)

STAB's Tinsley commits to UVa women's hoops team

They played ND tough both times they faced them this year and a lot of folks they were on the bubble for the NCAA (perhaps over Auburn). Does the AD think that it's worth finishing the contract out? Or get someone whom he thinks can get more out of what Boyle has now? I think someone like Shea would do fantastically there. And UVA's not in your conference.
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I agree with most of what you say. From my perspective, I'd rather see her replaced. I'm not happy with her intensity level and feel that they run a very poor offense. Defense, however is quite good. Long ago UVA was a top program. I realize times are different now, but see no reason they can't be a top program again - along the lines of Stanford and Duke.
 
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Phil said:
Illinois hires Nancy Fahey - good move.

Link
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WHOA! I assumed she was a lifer at Wash U.

I believe she is the fastest coach to 600 wins - even faster than Geno.

Will be interesting to see how she does in the recruiting game, and also dealing with a different kind of kid -- a move to Northwestern, say, might have been a more logical move.
 
VA Huskie said:
I agree with most of what you say. From my perspective, I'd rather see her replaced. I'm not happy with her intensity level and feel that they run a very poor offense. Defense, however is quite good. Long ago UVA was a top program. I realize times are different now, but see no reason they can't be a top program again - along the lines of Stanford and Duke.
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I hear you and distinctly remember the Debbie Ryan years.
As per UVA being like a Duke or Stanford, I bet whatever athletic administrator at UVA that hired her thought that's what they were getting. Boyle is, after all, a Duke graduate and was an assistant there before heading off to California and then back to east to UVA. You'd think she'd know/be able to get the kind of kid/player that would be a good fit there. Yet, her program has had some prominent transfers. Wrong fits with coaches/campus?
And even the news with Toussaint is tempered by the fact that she was suspended for the St. Joe's game in the WNIT for a violation of team rules. Could be just a frosh "growing" moment, but given the other transfers, makes you take notice.

Willoughby is a really solid player and kid...I watched her at Newark Prep in Essex County, NJ, and she'll be a rock for you. Maybe Boyle has turned a corner after a few years or maybe this is one of those "cha-chas" that won't go much of anywhere. But you can bet a coach like Shea or Niele Ivey could light that place up.
 
vowelguy said:
WHOA! I assumed she was a lifer at Wash U.

I believe she is the fastest coach to 600 wins - even faster than Geno.

Will be interesting to see how she does in the recruiting game, and also dealing with a different kind of kid -- a move to Northwestern, say, might have been a more logical move.
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On most fingers of my hand, I agree with you, then hit the websites to look around.

- Regarding a school like Northwestern, yup!, that would be a good landing place for a coach like her,but Joe McKeown is still doing pretty well and there's a lot of loyalty to what he has accomplished. Plus they're working on new facilities up there and figure he deserves to be the beneficiary of them.
Yes, he's getting up there in years, but looks pretty chipper and the Wildcats are doing well enough.

- And there are only so many schools like that in which they look like logical steps for a WashU coach. While I could see a leap to Northwestern (maybe), I don't think she'd get the nod at a Duke or ND simply because there are too many DI candidates and members of the coaching trees that would be interest. So what does that leave her as an option? If Evanston isn't open, why not Champaign? Heck, it's a P5 program and should be better. Last I checked, Breanna Beal and Peoples are from there and maybe they would be interested in resurrecting a program with a proven coach.

- Interestingly, she' spent time professionally in Illinois and went to Wisconsin.

"Fahey came to WashU from Johnsburg High School in McHenry, Ill., where she guided the Skyhawks to two regional championships, a sectional final, two 20-win seasons and was named the coach-of-the-year in 1986 by the Northwest Herald. As a player, Fahey was a four-year letterwinner at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She started two years at point guard for the Badgers, and served as a captain her senior season. Fahey graduated with honors from Wisconsin in 1981."

Her current WashU rosters has kids primarily from the midwest. Yes, they might be a bit different from what she needs at Illinois but the contacts at the schools are in place and you just shift your eyes from player A to player B.
 
Don't understand the reason why this would be, but interesting nonetheless (via retweet from Raoul):
 
Fahey is probably a very good choice for a program that had 'coaching' issues and lawsuits - she will I suspect run a clean and tight program and take the stench off a bad few years at Illinois. Whether she can get the recruits necessary to really make them relevant in the B10 is secondary, she should get the program headed in the right direction and playing good basketball, and that would appear to be good enough to at least be middle of the pack in the weakest of the P5.
 
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