Goodman: Hurley to UConn (not official) | Page 7 | The Boneyard

Goodman: Hurley to UConn (not official)

the Q said:
I don’t know where he lives but Narraganset to Storrs is probably about 90 minutes. If he lives closer towards providence than that itll be rather manageable.
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He has a house in South County, RI and spends a lot of time there.
 
Uconnfanatic said:
I call that overpaying. There are likely better young coaches than Hurley out there that would jump at the chance to bring UConn back to its former status and would would see $1.5 million as a very good offer and a big step up in pay. Otzelberger and Konkol are two and I'm sure there are many others and they could prove to bhe better coaches than Hurley. I'm not against Hurley. I just want DB to be thorough and disciplined and not just go with the popular choice, particularly if it involves a bidding war. I am also not suggesting we settle. I just think that there are several good, young coaches out there. We just have to find them.
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Benedict knows everyone who is a possibility and he has been doing his homework from whenever it was he knew he was going to fire Ollie. Benedict is not an idiot.
UConn is still a major brand and Benedict should hire the coach he thinks will do the best job. Basketball is too important to the UConn in many ways to hire some bargain basement coach. Right now Hurley appears to be the guy but he is going to get market value.
 
the Q said:
Oh good. This game is fun.
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If this is sarcasm, how do you evaluate candidates?

now try Oats and CB McGrath on for size.
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Nate Oats: 3 years HC experience. Took over a successful program from Bobby Hurley and has managed to sustain it. 1 conference championship. Two conference tournament championships. Going to second NCAA this year.

I like his success at Romulous High School. Provides a good base. He can obviously coach and developed some college players there. I'm unsure about his ability to recruit at this level.

Oats is an intriguing candidate, but I don't think he's leaving Buffalo short term, he just extended his contract last week, indicating he'd like to stay. An important point is that his wife loves it there, got her cancer treatments and is currently being monitored there.

CB Mcgrath: 1 year HC experience. 11-21 for UNC Wilmington. Just not enough experience or record to base anything off of. No idea if he can run a program well. Needs to get a quality mid major after his stop at Wilmington.

Long time high major assistant who is familiar with those recruiting circles. That's a plus. Why didn't he get (or maybe pursue) a HC position in those 14 years at UNC?

Too many unknowns. Proven nothing.
 
intlzncster said:
If this is sarcasm, how do you evaluate candidates?



Nate Oats: 3 years HC experience. Took over a successful program from Bobby Hurley and has managed to sustain it. 1 conference championship. Two conference tournament championships. Going to second NCAA this year.

I like his success at Romulous High School. Provides a good base. He can obviously coach and developed some college players there. I'm unsure about his ability to recruit at this level.

Oats is an intriguing candidate, but I don't think he's leaving Buffalo short term, he just extended his contract last week, indicating he'd like to stay. An important point is that his wife loves it there, got her cancer treatments and is currently being monitored there.

CB Mcgrath: 1 year HC experience. 11-21 for UNC Wilmington. Just not enough experience or record to base anything off of. No idea if he can run a program well. Needs to get a quality mid major after his stop at Wilmington.

Long time high major assistant who is familiar with those recruiting circles. That's a plus. Why didn't he get (or maybe pursue) a HC position in those 14 years at UNC?

Too many unknowns. Proven nothing.
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Not sarcasm at all.

I've been dying for ANYONE to discuss Oats on this board. So I thank the now 3 people total who have discussed him beyond just a name drop.
 
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Chief00 said:
I don’t want to be too specific, but closer to Kingston than Westerly.
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But between those 2?

Ok so yeah he's looking at 3.5-4 hour commute everyday (home and back).
 
Huskyforlife said:
Of course "not a dime back,' but does anyone think Calhoun might contribute to Hurley's contract? Speculation makes it seem like he's in on this deal, plus he knows we need financial support.
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LOL - No chance - I would be shocked - but he is very, very generous to charities.
 
businesslawyer said:
You can't have two head basketball coaches. If you hire one while KO is technically head basketball coach, you may be viewed as having violated his agreement.
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That’s a tricky issue. KO is not going quietly into the night.
 
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Chief00 said:
Sorry - I can’t comment at the moment - things are sensitive given circumstances. Let Hurley complete his season with his team - I am old school that way.
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Confirme_?
 
Chief00 said:
I can say this - you are correct about the money.
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I know the anonymity of boosters is personal preference, some are known to the fanbase and others are not, but I gather some deeper pockets have entered the fold outside of the normal consortium. I'm not here to unmask anyone. Diaco was wiped with the snap of the finger. From what I'm hearing the brinks truck will be backed up for the next hire. This is Benedict's legacy. He's a football guy but he knows this is a basketball school. He has tapped a wider syndicate. @Chief00 and i can agree that the money aspect is covered here. Benedict needs to get his man.
 
the Q said:
Not sarcasm at all.
I've been dying for ANYONE to discuss Oats on this board. So I thank the now 3 people total who have discussed him beyond just a name drop.
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At the end of the day, If we ended up with Nate Oats, I wouldn't be sad. I'm going to be worried no matter who it is. I'd be even more uneasy about the prospects of him running a college program, simply because of the lack of track record. But when it comes down to it, I know he can coach. I read that Bobby Hurley was recruiting one of Nate's players at Romulus and ended up being so impressed with his coaching that he offered him an assistant gig when Bobby took over Buffalo. So Nate definitely has something.
 
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Rico444 said:
If Hurley gets Pitt to consistently be 4th in the ACC every year, he's going to be in the top 25 every season and he's getting a big raise. They have a pretty strong history, too, and you don't have to go back too far for them to have been a very strong program. I think we're the better job, but if Pitt literally doubles what we're offering like some here are suggesting, I seriously doubt Hurley turns down that much money. He could buy his family plane tickets every weekend if the commute is that rough.
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Be careful, I've tried to make this argument here and it doesn't end well.

People forget how good Pitt was in the Big East. I went back 20ish years and they were typically ranked between 5th and 10th in the country. They were the Cincinnati of the Big East, always floundering in March. But from November to February, they were one of the top 10 teams in the country for a solid 15 years. And they did it out of one of the toughest/deepest conferences in the country. The ACC today is not much tougher, if at all, than the Big East was from 2000-2012.
 
intlzncster said:
At the end of the day, If we ended up with Nate Oats, I wouldn't be sad. I'm going to be worried no matter who it is. I'd be even more uneasy about the prospects of him running a college program, simply because of the lack of track record. But when it comes down to it, I know he can coach. I read that Bobby Hurley was recruiting one of Nate's players at Romulus and ended up being so impressed with his coaching that he offered him an assistant gig when Bobby took over Buffalo. So Nate definitely has something.
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Agreed.

And this year Oats landed 2 guys who were 4* by ESPN in Segu and Jeenathan Williams. So now he's showing he can recruit a bit.

He could easily be next year's Hurley.
 
Danzz said:
Benedict knows everyone who is a possibility and he has been doing his homework from whenever it was he knew he was going to fire Ollie. Benedict is not an idiot.
UConn is still a major brand and Benedict should hire the coach he thinks will do the best job. Basketball is too important to the UConn in many ways to hire some bargain basement coach. Right now Hurley appears to be the guy but he is going to get market value.
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I never said take a lesser coach. I am just not convinced that Hurley is a better coach than some of the other possibilities. There is more to evaluating a coach besides the past year's won lost record. if Danny Hurley was head & shoulders better than other candidates then sure it might make sense to pay up but I'm not sure that's the case. I won't be at all surprised if one or two or three of the other candidates end up being at least as good or better. People tend to lock in on one guy as if he's the one we have to have. Hurley is certainly the popular choice. Let's not forget it was only a a few short years ago that many on here wanted to pay whatever we had to to make sure ollie stayed and didn't go to the NBA.
 
Matrim55 said:
What makes Hurley so appealing are three things:

1. He has a track-record as a head coach. URI have gotten progressively better, but he's shown he can have guys graduate and/or get hurt and still produce a winning team. He's not a "got lucky with one group of recruits and rode them to a few good years" coach. There's a level of certainty there that doesn't exist with most of the other guys being rumored.

2. He has a track-record as a program re-builder. He turned Wagner around in two years and turned URI around in three.

3. He has a track-record as a recruiter. Dude's not Calipari, but he's won his share of 4-star recruits and has recruited in the Big East before. He won't be out of place going after the types of guys that we want.

Is it a guarantee that we get him, or that he's the right pick? Nope. But he checks more boxes than any other realistic candidate, balancing certainty (the guy can clearly coach and recruit) and upside (he's at a stage where his best years are probably ahead of him).

I also like that his guys don't transfer. I want some stability back in the program, and hopefully he brings that with him.
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Another of couple small additions:

He also built St Benedict's Prep into a machine. Lost only 21 games in nine years. I think there's value in having been a high school coach in terms of understanding and relating to young guys. That probably serves him well in both recruiting and developing guys.

Shouldn't discount the fact that he has the Hurley name. One, because it resonates in the basketball community and two, because he and Bobby learned from one of the best, and it's showing.

What stands out for me in hearing him talk, watching him coach, and from everything I've read, is that the guy is passionate as hell. There's no doubt in my mind he'll die trying at UCONN. And his players run through walls for him. I love that.

A part of this is looking for qualities in guys, not simply track record. When a lot of us talk about JC's greatest skill, we mention his ability to impose his will on his players and have it show on the court. It's that intangible. Danny's passion and drive, his willingness to learn, relatability, maturity, etc tick a lot of boxes as well.
 
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Uconnfanatic said:
State institutions should not be allowed to be reckless with taxpayers. money, especially in a state as broke as Connecticut. It is not like Hurley stands head & shoulders above other alternatives. Hopefully DB learned a lesson with Ollie's contract the need to negotiate well and not overpay but I don't have a lot of confidence given this administration's track record. $1.5 million or move on to other candidates. I bet Otzelberger or Konkol would be excited to sign a $1 million contract and either one might prove to be a better choice in the long-term. Hurley is the most obvious choice but not necessarily the best choice.
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The state budget is $3.5 billion.

if this is correct:
Jaybird65 said:
According the State of CT Transparency website, his 2016-2917 salary from taxpayer monies was $342k including fringe benefits. The remainder is from funds generated from fundraising efforts by the UConn Foundation.
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Then the taxpayer's portion of Kevin Ollie's yearly salary was .0093% of the budget.

Even if the taxpayer's paid the whole salary (and we don't) it's .086% of the budget.

The full $10 million buyout is .29% of the state budget.

If Hurley is the guy, then you pay him. Taking a risk on a coach without a proven record because you can get him for $2M instead of $3M thereby saving the state between .0029%(taxpayers pay $250k instead of $350k) and .029% ($2M vs. $3M) is immensely shortsighted when you consider the revenues a winning coach can bring in with NCAA appearances, and tournament championships, etc.

Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Could another coach do the same or better than Hurley? Yes. Is it worth the risk (if after your evaluation you think Hurley is the best fit for the position). Not in a million years. Not if you're doing it because you're worried about the taxpayers. You're talking about a fraction of a percent of the overall budget in a state that requires so much administrative spending we can't afford to fund the pensions we've committed to.

Argue for someone else because you think he's a better coach, if you're concerned about wasting taxpayer's money, write your legislators. They're the ones wasting our money.
 
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WingU-Conn said:
Argue for someone else because you think he's a better coach, if you're concerned about wasting taxpayer's money, write your legislators. They're the ones wasting our money.
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This. Should be best coach available based on whatever metrics you want to use. Dunno what those will be for Benedict. Then you do what you have to to lock him up.

If UCONN basketball becomes successful, that success will reap financial rewards that will make up for the extra 500k-1m you spend per year on the coach. And who knows, having a successful BB program might help with a P5 invite eventually. Certainly can't hurt.
 
WingU-Conn said:
The state budget is $3.5 billion.

if this is correct:


Then the taxpayer's portion of Kevin Ollie's yearly salary was .0093% of the budget.

Even if the taxpayer's paid the whole salary (and we don't) it's .086% of the budget.

The full $10 million buyout is .29% of the state budget.

If Hurley is the guy, then you pay him. Taking a risk on a coach without a proven record because you can get him for $2M instead of $3M thereby saving the state between .0029%(taxpayers pay $250k instead of $350k) and .029% ($2M vs. $3M) is immensely shortsighted when you consider the revenues a winning coach can bring in with NCAA appearances, and tournament championships, etc.

Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Could another coach do the same or better than Hurley? Yes. Is it worth the risk (if after your evaluation you think Hurley is the best fit for the position). Not in a million years. Not if you're doing it because you're worried about the taxpayers. You're talking about a fraction of a percent of the overall budget in a state that requires so much administrative spending we can't afford to fund the pensions we've committed to.

Argue for someone else because you think he's a better coach, if you're concerned about wasting taxpayer's money, write your legislators. They're the ones wasting our money.
Expand ...
 
intlzncster said:
Another of couple small additions:

He also built St Benedict's Prep into a machine. Lost only 21 games in nine years. I think there's value in having been a high school coach in terms of understanding and relating to young guys. That probably serves him well in both recruiting and developing guys.

Shouldn't discount the fact that he has the Hurley name. One, because it resonates in the basketball community and two, because he and Bobby learned from one of the best, and it's showing.

What stands out for me in hearing him talk, watching him coach, and from everything I've read, is that the guy is passionate as hell. There's no doubt in my mind he'll die trying at UCONN. And his players run through walls for him. I love that.

A part of this is looking for qualities in guys, not simply track record. When a lot of us talk about JC's greatest skill, we mention his ability to impose his will on his players and have it show on the court. It's that intangible. Danny's passion and drive, his willingness to learn, relatability, maturity, etc tick a lot of boxes as well.
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Great post intlzncster.

Hurley appears to have the power to motivate his players which is just so crucial, for morale, for chemistry, for effort, for toughness. This wins games.

There is a coaching bloodline here that maybe should not be underestimated seeing as how all three Hurleys have proven themselves as very successful coaches.
 
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WingU-Conn said:
The state budget is $3.5 billion.

if this is correct:


Then the taxpayer's portion of Kevin Ollie's yearly salary was .0093% of the budget.

Even if the taxpayer's paid the whole salary (and we don't) it's .086% of the budget.

The full $10 million buyout is .29% of the state budget.

If Hurley is the guy, then you pay him. Taking a risk on a coach without a proven record because you can get him for $2M instead of $3M thereby saving the state between .0029%(taxpayers pay $250k instead of $350k) and .029% ($2M vs. $3M) is immensely shortsighted when you consider the revenues a winning coach can bring in with NCAA appearances, and tournament championships, etc.

Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Could another coach do the same or better than Hurley? Yes. Is it worth the risk (if after your evaluation you think Hurley is the best fit for the position). Not in a million years. Not if you're doing it because you're worried about the taxpayers. You're talking about a fraction of a percent of the overall budget in a state that requires so much administrative spending we can't afford to fund the pensions we've committed to.

Argue for someone else because you think he's a better coach, if you're concerned about wasting taxpayer's money, write your legislators. They're the ones wasting our money.
Expand ...

How many times can I like this?
 
How would you like to be players for URI trying to get ready for your first NCAA tournament and reading that your Coach is gone??
 
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