Early Coaching Hotseat Edition

[Puppy Love]

Yeah being the only team to lead UConn in the 2nd half this year; what a disaster.

After today’s fiasco, the Vols should cut their losses.

 

[JstVisiting]

Yeah being the only team to lead UConn in the 2nd half this year; what a disaster.

*yet. The only team yet. 😀

 

[JstVisiting]

Well, I spoke too soon. They just beat #7 UK a week ago. Still not super confident they’re on the track for greatness though.

Vic Schaefer isn’t walking through that door.

Mississippi State needs to be realistic. Below average facilities, poorest AD in their conference, no in state talent development at the HS level. Purcell is maxing out what that program can do without a top 5 coach.

 

[Vowelguy]

Pitt has been awful, and now 6 former players are suing the coach (this is only his 3rd year). The reported incidents are NOT good.
I know that coaches yell and scream (yes Geno Pat Kim) and this is part of the process, but the awful things certain ones say -- what makes anyone think this is going to be effective (or is appropriate)?

 

[cancontent]

Pitt has been awful, and now 6 former players are suing the coach (this is only his 3rd year). The reported incidents are NOT good.
I know that coaches yell and scream (yes Geno Pat Kim) and this is part of the process, but the awful things certain ones say -- what makes anyone think this is going to be effective (or is appropriate)?



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It's very disheartening. For me, it's a tad personal as I'm familiar with a couple players on the roster as they played for a prep school program I really respect called Capital Courts. To see that they're in an environment is just.............ugh.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Pitt has been awful, and now 6 former players are suing the coach (this is only his 3rd year). The reported incidents are NOT good.
I know that coaches yell and scream (yes Geno Pat Kim) and this is part of the process, but the awful things certain ones say -- what makes anyone think this is going to be effective (or is appropriate)?



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This is insane.

 

[Vowelguy]

University claiming that allegations are false and they will "vigorously defend" against them.

 

[Dynastic]

With roughly one third of the season done and the bulk of the Out Of Conference games, there are certainly some coaches who have to be concerned.

The P4 teams will usually pad their win columns against the weaker sisters so when you have 3 or more losses against these programs before the heart of your conference play starts, you have to be under scrutiny.

With that as a pre-amble, here is my list and the reasoning.

• Boston College Joanne Bernabe-McNamee whose team sits 4-7 with some bad mid major losses. This is her 8th year and frankly, she should have been let go last year. She's had just 2 winning conference seasons (2021-22 at 10-8 7th; 2019-20 at 11-7 4th) and the recent editions have been brutal. The school does not put money into the program but still, the results have not been good.
• Penn State Carolyn Kieger in her 7th year but while at 6-3, losses to Princeton, ASU and Nebraska don't look all that bad except the games weren't close. She was 1-17 in the Big 10 last year and I expect more of the same this year. The problem is 2 years ago, she had her only winning season at 22-13/8-8 so she will be trying to parlay that into another year but given the roster, if I were the AD, it's time to move on.
• Pittsburgh Tory Verdi, while only the 3rd year of his contract, the early results this year are not good. Losses to Drexel, Lafayette, Ball State and D3 Scranton are NOT good. He will be given more time but the writing is clearly on the wall.
• UCF Sytia Messer in her 4th year and again, not exactly a great start with losses to Charlotte, Stetson and a much over rated Wake Forest team (sorry my Decons colleague @DemonDeac22). Her first two years in the Big 12 have not gone well and this year I expect more of the same. I doubt she gets 4 wins.
• Purdue Katie Geralds in year 5 is off to a horrific start. What does a school do with a former star player? Losses to Purdue Fort Wayne, Central Michigan and absolute blow out losses to Kentucky and Michigan shout a need for a change. After a good 1st two years, the last two have been abysmal. Not sure which team is worst between PSU, Purdue or Northwestern.
• Northwestern Joe McKeown will be in his last year as he announced his retirement last year with one final season goodbye. The school allowed him that but I think will regret that decision. At least all 3 of this seasons losses have been to descent P4 teams but I just think the roster and trajectory is still not good. He's had a great career but this swan song will not be a storybook ending.
• Texas A&M Joni Taylor with a loss to UT Arlington already despite wins over depleted Colorado or a rebuilding Georgia Tech, I think this year will be a rough year for her in the SEC. A&M is paying her an exorbitant amount of money and it is only year 4 but still...lots of transfers out, non-competitive games...I just don't see her turning this thing around.

Any other teams that should be listed? Normally I would look to @azfan for his assistance but he's in wonderland with the new ASU coach and the fashionista failing miserably at SMU thus far, so I will have to look elsewhere for support.

Pitt coach is probably done, and the and the rest probably won’t get their contracts renewed.

 

[DefenseBB]

I find it a bad public relations release to claim 6 players are all lying. What is their motive? Abuse victims endure far too much emotional and social media hate, it makes no sense to think this is phony. Time will tell but my guess is Tory is toast.

BC has to be a lock to be moving on and PSU has to be 99.9% ready to move on again from a failed selection.

Purdue has to be also assessing their situation. Katie just has not shown ANY improvement. So now that the season is winding down, I am curious how @nwhoopfan wants to assess Indiana (with a strong freshman class) looks compared to Purdue (who they now have beaten o their home court), Rutgers, PSU and Northwestern?

I am not saying Indiana is good, but Moren does have young squad with talent and has had success whereas the other 4 coaches are not showing signs of any potential nor any real talent.

 

[Vowelguy]

I find it a bad public relations release to claim 6 players are all lying. What is their motive? Abuse victims endure far too much emotional and social media hate, it makes no sense to think this is phony. Time will tell but my guess is Tory is toast.

.

Pitt is such a mess that I’m inclined to believe bad stuff is going on. BUT I think it is very dangerous to say “no one would ever lie about that.” So anyone can make a claim and be believed and get a payout?

I’d also note that players have changed. Geno and others have said there are things they used to do/say that they wouldn’t anymore. So I think there can be some fuzziness about what is acceptable yelling and what is verbal abuse.

The good coaches know. And the bad ones go so far beyond the line. I suspect Verdi is the latter.

 

[cancontent]

I find it a bad public relations release to claim 6 players are all lying. What is their motive? Abuse victims endure far too much emotional and social media hate, it makes no sense to think this is phony. Time will tell but my guess is Tory is toast.

BC has to be a lock to be moving on and PSU has to be 99.9% ready to move on again from a failed selection.

Purdue has to be also assessing their situation. Katie just has not shown ANY improvement. So now that the season is winding down, I am curious how @nwhoopfan wants to assess Indiana (with a strong freshman class) looks compared to Purdue (who they now have beaten o their home court), Rutgers, PSU and Northwestern?

I am not saying Indiana is good, but Moren does have young squad with talent and has had success whereas the other 4 coaches are not showing signs of any potential nor any real talent.

Agreed. Believe that Moren has a good recruiting class coming in as well. Can't see her being on a lukewarm seat, let alone hot.

 

[GoChips20]

Agreed. Believe that Moren has a good recruiting class coming in as well. Can't see her being on a lukewarm seat, let alone hot.

Yup, no way. Moren just won National Coach of the Year in 2023, when Indiana was the #2 overall seed.

 

[BigTenGuy]

Yup, no way. Moren just won National Coach of the Year in 2023, when Indiana was the #2 overall seed.

IU is poised for a big step forward next year. This year was a re-tool to get more athletic. Against SC this week in Los Angeles, without Ciezki, the young Hoosier backcourt (Beaumont (so.), Caffey (fr.) and Makalusky (fr.)) more than held their own. Next year they add McDonald's AA Addie Nyemchek and top 35 Gigi Battle to the perimeter. They need some portal help inside, but their perimeter is poised for a multi-year uptick.

 

[LETTERL]

Agreed. Believe that Moren has a good recruiting class coming in as well. Can't see her being on a lukewarm seat, let alone hot.

Indiana has won a flurry of games recently...showing her team seems to be finally coming together here near the end of the season. They'll be a factor again soon. Moren's a good coach.

 

[DRR25]

I find it a bad public relations release to claim 6 players are all lying. What is their motive? Abuse victims endure far too much emotional and social media hate, it makes no sense to think this is phony. Time will tell but my guess is Tory is toast.

BC has to be a lock to be moving on and PSU has to be 99.9% ready to move on again from a failed selection.

Purdue has to be also assessing their situation. Katie just has not shown ANY improvement. So now that the season is winding down, I am curious how @nwhoopfan wants to assess Indiana (with a strong freshman class) looks compared to Purdue (who they now have beaten o their home court), Rutgers, PSU and Northwestern?

I am not saying Indiana is good, but Moren does have young squad with talent and has had success whereas the other 4 coaches are not showing signs of any potential nor any real talent.

I believe the university said that the claims of emotional/psychological abuse were "without merit." I am not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure that in legalese "without merit" doesn't necessarily mean the players are being accused of lying.

 

[JstVisiting]

I find it a bad public relations release to claim 6 players are all lying. What is their motive?

Hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. We are one year removed from an investigation of a prominent men’s coach revealing unfounded public accusations.

 

[DefenseBB]

Hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. We are one year removed from an investigation of a prominent men’s coach revealing unfounded public accusations.

I am still dubious given the whole societal stigma and derision thrown at women when accusations are made and often discounted. False accusations do occur but given the number of plaintiffs, I am siding with them. Usually a "smoking gun" of past bad behavior would exist or other players would be counter-claiming that Tory did not behave in such a manner. None of which has appeared so it is interesting.

The school, who hired him, has to show full support at this time otherwise, they look like they did a poor job overseeing the situation.

 

[Puppy Love]

As long as Quentin Hillsman is coaching, I’ll believe that many schools don’t care about athletes and if coaches can get away with something , they will do it. Until dangerous coaches face criminal prosecution, change seems unlikely.

 

[DefenseBB]

While looking at the potential conference tournament bracket match-ups, I was reminded that the ACC and Big 10 do not let all their teams participate (only 15 of the 18 teams) so in theory, after Sunday, some teams could be moving on with their coaching searches.

In the ACC, the 3 teams not making the ACCT are Pitt, SMU and BC. SMU just hired Adia Barnes so she is safe but I really think she will continue to be abysmal in this job. Pitt is in finishing year 3 of Tory Verdi era of a 5 year deal. He has shown no improvement so while I doubt they would get rid of him now, I put it at 50/50.
BC will have to move on from Bernabei-McNamee as it has be really, really bad the past two years.

In the Big 10, Northwestern, Penn St and Rutgers are the bottom dwellers. Uncle Joe is retiring at NW so I would have they already have a plan in place to target someone outside the program. If they hire from within, they are doomed to be a bottom dweller. PSU has to move on from Kieger. Rutgers is now in year 4 of the Coquese Washington experiment and it has also just been a failure. They really need to move on from her.

While Purdue has made the tournament, Geralds has gone 5-13; 3-15; 3-15 in her last three years in the conference. This is her 5th year. I just think they will move on from her as well.

There are some other curious teams I have been monitoring-Cal and Charmine Smith, while 17-12, I am not sure if they are really showing the improvement in year 7 of this. Last year was her only year above .500 in conference play at 12-6 (prior was 17-62) so does 9-9 really show improvement in weak league?

Kate Paye is only in year 2 for replacing Tara but they are not likely to make the NCAAT for the 2nd straight year which is really not a good look. They are 17-12 but will likely finish 7-11 in conference play. They won't fire her but the signs are clearly there she isn't the answer. When has the top assistant who was designated to replace the legend ever been the answer?

Speaking of "designated heirs", Niele Ivey seems to have ND playing much better ball now and could make some noise in the ACCT and even make the Sweet 16. She is NOT on the Hot Seat.

Any other P4 thoughts?

As @Vowelguy has correctly noted, the mid-major talent is noticeably down this year so the P4 schools will get 30-34 of the 37 "At-large" bids this year so teams like Oregon, Nebraska, Miss State could all get bids that normally would not and thus save their coaches from scrutiny.

 

[Vowelguy]

As somoene noted earlier, key issue is when the contracts end. I think a bunch of schools -- BC, Rutgers, for example -- are unlikely to pay buyouts and will allow the current coach to run her course barring something unethical.

 

[DefenseBB]

As somoene noted earlier, key issue is when the contracts end. I think a bunch of schools -- BC, Rutgers, for example -- are unlikely to pay buyouts and will allow the current coach to run her course barring something unethical.

My understanding is BC didn't get rid her last year due to the 1 remaining year on the contract so this should be it for her. Same for PSU who had given Kieger one more year but this should be her last year. I think Washington has 1 more year left so Rutgers fans will have to suffer one more year. .

Purdue has Geralds signed until April 2029 but has a buy-out of $1.6 million after this season. Not likely to invoke that but they do have oodles of money now so who knows. She's made 1 NCAAT play-in game in 2023 and two NIT tournaments in 2022 and 2024. Again, the roster is bereft of talent without any notable recruits in the top 100 in any of the last 3 years 2024/2025/2026. She has not done well in the PORTAL so why they would keep her is not logical. It has to be about the money....

 

[Vowelguy]

My understanding is BC didn't get rid her last year due to the 1 remaining year on the contract so this should be it for her. Same for PSU who had given Kieger one more year but this should be her last year. I think Washington has 1 more year left so Rutgers fans will have to suffer one more year. .

Purdue has Geralds signed until April 2029 but has a buy-out of $1.6 million after this season. Not likely to invoke that but they do have oodles of money now so who knows. She's made 1 NCAAT play-in game in 2023 and two NIT tournaments in 2022 and 2024. Again, the roster is bereft of talent without any notable recruits in the top 100 in any of the last 3 years 2024/2025/2026. She has not done well in the PORTAL so why they would keep her is not logical. It has to be about the money....

Agreed that it hasnt worked out. Unclear if they have "oodles of money." Rutgers athletics somehow is running a deficit despite B1G payouts. And it's not like they're paying big money to get 5 star FB or MBB recruits.

 

[WBBTakeover]

In the ACC, the 3 teams not making the ACCT are Pitt, SMU and BC. SMU just hired Adia Barnes so she is safe but I really think she will continue to be abysmal in this job. Pitt is in finishing year 3 of Tory Verdi era of a 5 year deal. He has shown no improvement so while I doubt they would get rid of him now, I put it at 50/50.
BC will have to move on from Bernabei-McNamee as it has be really, really bad the past two years.

It's hard to say what direction SMU goes in. Adia has shown herself to be at least a competent coach in the past (though she clearly has her issues) and SMU has pumped significant amounts of cash into other programs (including volleyball, which is barely a cut below the top shelf in the ACC--Pitt, Louisville, and Stanford). Maybe if there are signs next season that she can bring the team to the middle of the pack, the donors will pump in more cash. I'd wait and see with this one.

Pitt? He's done whether the administration is willing to admit or not. He's not getting any ACC-caliber players from here on out.

BC--it's a shame that COVID wiped out Bernabei-McNamee's best chance at an NCAA tournament berth. I thought last year's team underachieved (they did make the WBIT). Once the mass exodus took place after they exited the WBIT, I knew that her time was up. This year's team looks like a high school team. It's awful to watch.

PSU has to move on from Kieger.

She'll be gone. The better question here is, "who will they pull to replace her?"

Kate Paye is only in year 2 for replacing Tara but they are not likely to make the NCAAT for the 2nd straight year which is really not a good look. They are 17-12 but will likely finish 7-11 in conference play. They won't fire her but the signs are clearly there she isn't the answer. When has the top assistant who was designated to replace the legend ever been the answer?

Last season, I thought Stanford's biggest issue (besides Paye) was that their roster wasn't built to the demands of the ACC. This season, I see that they have better athletes yet they are still terrible. It's Paye. She's the issue.

Speaking of "designated heirs", Niele Ivey seems to have ND playing much better ball now and could make some noise in the ACCT and even make the Sweet 16. She is NOT on the Hot Seat.

I agree that she's not on the hot seat, but I disagree that they're set up to make any type of NCAA Tournament run.

As @Vowelguy has correctly noted, the mid-major talent is noticeably down this year so the P4 schools will get 30-34 of the 37 "At-large" bids this year so teams like Oregon, Nebraska, Miss State could all get bids that normally would not and thus save their coaches from scrutiny.

With Colorado coming on strong and both UVA and Clemson making late season pushes themselves, I'm not so sure that those teams (in bold) make it. Oregon maybe--because they can finish with a 0.500 conference record. The other two teams are going to finish well below 0.500 in their respective conferences.

There are some other curious teams I have been monitoring-Cal and Charmine Smith, while 17-12, I am not sure if they are really showing the improvement in year 7 of this. Last year was her only year above .500 in conference play at 12-6 (prior was 17-62) so does 9-9 really show improvement in weak league?

Charmin Smith was on the hot seat when Cal played in the Pac 12 because she didn't seem like she had the pieces to figure out that league. By contrast, she's figured out enough of the ACC to at least be a middle of the pack team. She'll be fine unless they fall out of the middle tier.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I largely agree with @WBBTakeover with 2 comments -

If Rutgers does not replace Washington after this nauseating season - then they have proven that they no longer care about women's basketball. Of course, there was always some doubt - even in the best of Vivian's years, school support was probably stronger for the mediocre men's team. Just sayin, it is the case at plenty of schools.

Adia Barnes will certainly improve over this season. She has issues that we saw first hand - my opinion was that they involved outdated treatment of athletes (nothing bad, just old school, wait your turn, etc.) and a spoken comment that she doesn't understand why you should play any decent teams OOC as it doesn't seem to help you??? Adia is very likable and can probably recruit, but I'm not sure she can retain and not sure how successful she will be. As I've said several times, her players generally liked her, they just in the end didn't want to play the roles she expected them to.

I don't follow Rutgers or Adia - or a lot of other past WBB interests all that closely, but in general, I want Rutgers to have success (it is my alma mater) and I wish Adia well.