Karen Aston was the mid-major experiment (having coached a couple of years at UNC-Charlotte, and one season at North Texas). That's not happening again, IMO.
The mid-major experiment? Many of the top coaches in the game were previously HCs at mid-majors -- including such obscure names as Muffet McGraw, Dawn Staley, Gary Blair and Kelly Graves.
And, those hires worked out for those schools. Texas' recent hire of a mid-major head coach did not work out, and that's with her having come with familiarity with UT and recruiting ties within the state.
That's fine. I'm simply saying that not every "power 5" conference coach is worth going after. To me Close and CTT are in that category.
Fair enough.
Every hire comes with risks. Goestenkors was probably the closest thing to a sure thing in the history of WCBB coaching hires -- and she flopped.
Texas needs a big personality to take on Kim. Mike White did that for them to take on Patty Gasso of Oklahoma. Both JTT and Cori Close have that personality factor from the PAC12. As for other PAC12 coaches,, Scott and Adi aren't leaving their alma maters, although they may leverage a discussion to get a better salary. I doubt Graves would leave no matter the money given what he's built, although I am sure he'd take a raise too. Tara's not leaving and the other 6 don't make as big an impact as JTT or Close. If it' a PAC12, it's one of those 2 or possibly Gottlieb (ex Cal HC) leaving the NBA to get back to college.
It's a basketball game, not a popularity or ratings contest. They need a competent coach who can recruit and develop players, implement a system, and coach in game.
I agree with you, and have found that universities in general tend to defy ordinary economic logics, both ADs and central campuses. However, Stanford's provost just announced hiring freezes, salary freezes, pay cuts for senior staff, and a suspension of all capital outlays (i.e. new buildings). I would be shocked if the athletic department isn't also making major adjustments going forward, since at the moment, roughly 50% of Stanford's revenue is contingent on the resumption of ordinary sporting events. That amount is much higher at many schools. And I suspect most donors are going to have to scale back their giving this year. And Stanford has the fourth largest endowment in the world, and is not dependent on the state for revenue.
Well Miss state had to pay a lot more money to bring Leach from the PAC12 for their football so they couldn't counter for Vic. The PAC12 still helped Texas get their coach. Good news for us PAC12 WBB fans, we keep all our good coaches and SEC gets even worse.
Guess its good that they are elevating the top assistant coach. 