Coaching hires
- Thread starter azfan
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Yep. Just saw the announcement. Her Buffalo team looked amazing in winning the WBIT and I suspect the dirty t will love her.
Should be a very interesting upcoming year as she and Molly Miller face imposing challenges of NIL and the transfer portal.
As I've said elsewhere the State of Arizona and alumni is from the dirty t and the Sun Devils generate nowhere near a fraction of the money that texas, cali, most Big ten schools and all SEC schools generate.
This is going to prove a tremendous challenge for these two young coaches both of who. demonstrated exceptional leadership and skill in the mid majors.
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It will have to if the ponies have any expectation of competing in Texas and beyond.
I don't think the kitties had agents beating down their doors. I think one of the considerations although hopefully not one of the top five was they could get Burke for 50% of what they were paying the 1.2 million dollar fashionista.
nwhoopfan
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I'm gonna keep asking: why isn't Lindy La Rocque's name coming up AT ALL, anywhere, for any of these jobs? There seems to be some kind of huge disconnect going on. She's done more than most of these young coaches who are jumping past her into P4 jobs in several cases. I just don't get what's going on. Is she blacklisted or something?
I think I mentioned this in a reply to an earlier post but I spoke to a UNLV booster when I was up for the Mountain West tournament and he indicated that Lindy has family in the area, very young children, and an extraordinarily supportive administration. I suspect once everything finishes shaking out with the Mountain West that she may be more open to moving.
nwhoopfan
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If she's happy where she's at and wants to stay that's great, but I think it's weird that I haven't been seeing her name floated at all as a possible candidate for any of these openings in the latest round of coaching carousel. But I guess we don't see the names of coaches who were approached and turned down jobs, we only see an announcement once the position is filled.
TheFarmFan
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Lady Rebels coach commits to future at UNLV amid Arizona rumors
UNLV women’s basketball coach Lindy La Rocque quelled speculation about the job opening at Arizona saying she isn’t going anywhere.
www.reviewjournal.com
It appears she was floated for Arizona before she publicly put the rumors to rest over the weekend.
Smart move, on many levels.Lady Rebels coach commits to future at UNLV amid Arizona rumors
UNLV women’s basketball coach Lindy La Rocque quelled speculation about the job opening at Arizona saying she isn’t going anywhere.
It appears she was floated for Arizona before she publicly put the rumors to rest over the weekend.
KnightBridgeAZ
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Oh, be real. Probably reason #2. Successful history (if short) - check. Comes cheap - check. Will talk to us - check. You're hired.
Incidentally if you didn't see it, her buy out is less than 1/2 of Adia's salary, and I doubt she was hired at more than half Adia's salary (she was making in the $400K range at Buffalo. And she only won the somewhat sad WNIT, Minnesota won the WBIT.
I'll share that one thing that came out that I suspected but didn't know is that yes, Adia was monetized to wear the outfits and they were posted to social media as part of the deal. I assumed she was paid, but didn't know it. NIL for coaches???
KnightBridgeAZ
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Yes, Adia posted a thank you to fans (separate from her farewell announcement) where she wished the new coach great success, but acknowledged that Arizona (as you say) was financially challenged and simply could not compete to retain players when their value went up. She said (if I understood the quote correctly) that in the current climate, it is a coach's responsibility to develop players for the team that will next have them.
Separately, and reinforcing your comment, I read an article yesterday or today that was not Arizona specific by any means, but used Arizona (and ASU and by extension many Big 12 teams) as financially unable to compete. Ouch. They didn't think much of the ACC either.
Yep! Glaring insight into the obvious....the money available in Az to pay athletes is a tiny, tiny fraction of: SEC, BIG10, Texas, Florida, Cali....
Whyle AzState will no longer Delaware stink....neither school will be .500 in conference
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Ikr.
I should have been specific....no agents for P4 schools......the agents for coaches looking for a stepping stone may have flocked to the dirty t.
Soooooo Burke may have been plucked out of a flock of mid majors. Although I am skeptical.
The kitties are now financially more stable in the AD with the fashionista gone?
SMU as a private school didn't disclose Barnes' salary/contract.
Over/under 1.5 mill a year?
Dallas over dirty t may generate more fashion revenue for Barnes as Mulkey lite.
WBBTakeover
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Listening to this makes me think that Mariah Car--er--Adia Barnes is willing to get into a bidding war for a player like Sa'Myah Smith. She sounds so happy to have resources and believes that SMU can make a significant jump in one season. We'll see. The ACC can be unkind to the unprepared.
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Adia please...
WBBTakeover
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Perfect! Sooooooooooo good on sooooooo many levels.
Unsurprising comment from the double bird lady
Mariah Carey this is such an apt, hilarious, accurate depiction of the double bird lady.
It is reflective of the exact opposite attitude that coaches of character and class hold of members of their profession. I'm thinking that Geno if he had nothing positive to say would say nothing. But given Geno's leadership within the coaching profession he would be encouraging and supportive of coaches moving from mid major to P4 schools.
It is clear that the fashionista coach has an inflated sense of self coupled with an inflated salary. This is an unfortunate trend in professions in which the rewards far out pace ability.
So every Christmas we have an opportunity to hear the tired over worn Mariah who continues to receive attention despite decades of mediocrity.
The fashionista has an accelerating trend toward mediocrity and it'll certainly be interesting how the ponies perform..... Maybe her players will all be singing All I want for Christmas is a new head coach.
I do think these types of villains are very healthy for women's basketball. There are any number of narratives that make our sport intriguing and interesting. I think that's one of the reasons why Kim Mulkey a multi-dimensional and winner is a very important part of our sport. I also think those that are mediocre and have inflated egos and are trending toward loser status serve an important role in our sport if for nothing else as a cautionary tale. What is apparent is the fashionista's breathtaking lack of awareness. Maybe this will help her fit in in Texas and the Big D?
I will have to say that I do have a son who like the fashionista doesn't burn bridges they nuke them. I think the dirty t while still reflecting memories of Barnes playing in McKale will certainly reevaluate her time as a coach and perhaps reflect on the level of character she demonstrates.
I have to say: what a strong example of hypocrisy on the part of the fashionista. She begins her self-destructive analysis by saying she wants to support women in sports.
Really.
So bad-mouthing the coach who has the opportunity to succeed you is supporting women in sports?
Now let's think about this a little bit. When the fashionista received her head coaching offer down in the dirty t she had far less experience than Burke.
So according to the hypocrisy that underlies the fashionista's clear philosophy of supporting women the kitties were wrong to hire an underqualified coach who only had experiences as an assistant at the University of Washington.
This is really amazing and I think when the fashionista crashes and burns in the Big D she will have an opportunity, I think, to go to Hollywood where her kind of philosophy and expectations for reward inform everything. My wife listened to the press conference with me and she said that the fashionista's voice reminded her of the head lawyer from the TV series Suits.... Slick, self assured, very confident.
If I were in the administration at SMU I would really be questioning this hire. Because inevitably Barnes will be gone from the Big D and I would be wondering if she is going to be saying the same thing about the institution that gave her a chance? This is breathtaking hypocrisy.
She certainly demonstrates a lack of gratitude, self-awareness, and common sense when the ponies ride off and leave her. She will probably be listening and singing along to Bruce Springsteen .... Glory Days.
Really telling was her analysis of conferences indicating the level of play in the old pac-12. The excellent play in the Big 12 and she seemed to be saying the ACC with focus on guards and not posts was an easier league. I love the way she characterized saying it fits our style.
And what is that style? Having seen the kitties play in person it appears that her style is to have underdeveloped underprepared players who are very inconsistent in their motivation. I'm wondering if that's the style she's referring to. With the turnover in rosters coming from the portal and nil it still remains to be seen what kind of team the Barnes trademark lack of development and lack of preparation will be. She later goes on to Crow that her connections with the WNBA and previous playing career will provide opportunities for her players. Really since McDonald who has Barnes helped get and stay in the wnba?
Barnes agent deserves to be in the agent Hall of Fame and I think the fashionista should start doing self-help videos on how to creatively represent and elevate past performance.
Now this will be interesting how much money the SMU ponies give the fashionista to hire players. I have a strong suspicion it's going to need to be a very large budget if she's going to have success. She talks about how focused she's going to be going out to pay players to fill her roster. And she actually spoke of specific schools and a desire to have top five players. Hum...... Love to know which billionaire is going to bankroll her. SMU clearly will not have the budget of SEC schools and in fact while it is Texas I'm wondering even with a doubled payroll will Barnes be able to put together consistently a team that will a stay and win.
I will say I love listening to this press conference and her responses and I'm guessing that the administration at SMU probably wishes they'd heard this kind of analysis before they hired her.
I love how she claims that she developed players: they got better and left. She also indicated how hard it is to keep players in this era of the portal. The first is patently false and the second is the only partially accurate.
Hopefully there's some detectives that follow the ponies and maybe the ACC who can determine how big a sucker SMU was. I'm wondering would they have given her a 5-year contracted a million per?
I also love her ability to give a bald face lie with a smile. Near the end of the interview she indicated I wasn't looking for a job when SMU came. It's very interesting in terms of the issue of credibility. Geno has it. Barnes doesn't.
Barnes really set herself up for a termination when she said we have enough resources here to achieve the plan. So we'll all be watching closely will next year be a .500 team? Will the ponies be .500 within the next 4 years? Will the fashionista lead the ponies into the ACC championship game in the next 7 years?
We may never know as I will be surprised if she's given more than 4 years? And she basically said she doesn't need four years because they've given her everything she needs right now.
This is one of the reasons I can't wait for the 2025-2026 season.
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If like me you felt soiled and dirty after listening to the hypocrisy of the fashionesta this press conference 180° in perspective and tone will inspire you.
As a Sun Devil fan I have a rivalry based view of the kitties. With that said the dirty t is now a much better place with the departure of the fashionista and the arrival of Becky Burke.
This conference was a celebration of women, exemplary of true support of women, rather than the delusion under which Barnes operates as articulated in her SMU comments.
The search committee included former player Sam Thomas and as they outlined the process and welcoming of Coach Burke to the dirty t which included former coaches and players and conspicuous by her absence in welcoming of the new coach well you know who I'm referring.
While there's no love for the kitties I know which coach I'm rooting for to be successful in the upcoming years.
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