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I Don't Want to Shaka

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All the uproar and confusion over the next head coach to me is simply pointless and silly. We already have another hall of fame coach on campus right now. I know most yarder's hate the thought, but one day he is going to coach men's college basketball and it would be an insult if the school he has built an unequaled dynasty doesn't even offer. Geno should be the next coach if he wants it. he can coach hands down, he can recruit hands down, and his record regardless of what gender he coached speaks for itself. If it turns out to be KO that would be great, he is UCONN, but no longer should we disrespect Geno, he and Calhoun built UCONN
 
ElmCity40th said:
All the uproar and confusion over the next head coach to me is simply pointless and silly. We already have another hall of fame coach on campus right now. I know most yarder's hate the thought, but one day he is going to coach men's college basketball and it would be an insult if the school he has built an unequaled dynasty doesn't even offer. Geno should be the next coach if he wants it. he can coach hands down, he can recruit hands down, and his record regardless of what gender he coached speaks for itself. If it turns out to be KO that would be great, he is UCONN, but no longer should we disrespect Geno, he and Calhoun built UCONN
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This is great. Calhoun would set fire to Gampel if Geno ever got the men's job. And, I highly doubt Geno would ever want it
 
caw said:
Fair enough, though I'm much more impressed with what Grant has done than what his predecessor did at VCU and after VCU.

I don't disagree on Smart, I think he would be a fine hire, but he's not #1 on my list (not that I have a say).

If for some reason Ollie isn't the choice made, I'd put Grant on a "yes" list, especially if he has a good year this year (which he should). He's only 46, he has 10 years as an assistant at Florida, was first in the conference all three years at VCU and has Alabama moving in the right direction. If he has a run in the NCAAT this year, that just solidifies his pedigree, IMO. I also think he is more realistic than Donovan or Miller.
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The problem with Grant last year was he should have presented a Resolution to Prevent Reefer Madness with his key players Mitchell and Greene et al. When he couldn't get these guys to produce other than at the Friday night ganga parties Alabama took a turn for the worse last year.
 
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ElmCity40th said:
All the uproar and confusion over the next head coach to me is simply pointless and silly. We already have another hall of fame coach on campus right now. I know most yarder's hate the thought, but one day he is going to coach men's college basketball and it would be an insult if the school he has built an unequaled dynasty doesn't even offer. Geno should be the next coach if he wants it. he can coach hands down, he can recruit hands down, and his record regardless of what gender he coached speaks for itself. If it turns out to be KO that would be great, he is UCONN, but no longer should we disrespect Geno, he and Calhoun built UCONN
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I really don't think Geno would coach Men's college ball, or at least anytime soon.
 
ElmCity40th said:
All the uproar and confusion over the next head coach to me is simply pointless and silly. We already have another hall of fame coach on campus right now. I know most yarder's hate the thought, but one day he is going to coach men's college basketball and it would be an insult if the school he has built an unequaled dynasty doesn't even offer. Geno should be the next coach if he wants it. he can coach hands down, he can recruit hands down, and his record regardless of what gender he coached speaks for itself. If it turns out to be KO that would be great, he is UCONN, but no longer should we disrespect Geno, he and Calhoun built UCONN
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Geno has already gone on record as saying he wouldn't want to coach the men's team. I believe he said the only men's team he would consider coaching was Duke if that job somehow opened up.
 
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Geno at Duke:

Coach postgame hug coach?

Uh, no

C'mon its a tradition.

Seriously get the off me.
 
Go_Huskies said:
(sorry about the title to the thread, apparently you cannot edit the title)

I am not a big fan of Shaka. I think his success maybe more a function of the university and luck than his coaching talent. If you look at the two previous coaches at VCU they all had great success and were heralded as the next big thing. They then landed big time coaching gigs only to fail or have modest success.

Jeff Capell II had a 79–41 record at VCU and won the league title once and placed 2nd twice in four years. He parlayed that success to a gig at Oklahoma were he was fired after 4 years.

His successor Anthony Grant has a similar story. He won the CAA three years out of three years. That catapulted him to a job at Alabama where he has had modest success.

Shaka has never even won the CAA with VCU something his predecessors were able to do. Anthony Grant won it 3 years out of 3 years. Yes, Shaka had a great tournament run. Was that a fluke? How come he can't win the league title? Is there something about VCU that allows it to attract better talent than other CAA schools that can make a mediocre coach look great?

I think UCONN should try to go big. Try to get someone like Sean Miller. A proven success at a big time school. If you can't get Miller try for Buzz Williams, Mark Few, or Brad Stevens. If you can't get a big name then go with Ollie.
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Even though there was some inaccuracy with Grant, your premise is interesting.
I'll add one more tidbit. No one knows for sure how things will play out no matter who replaces JC. There have been successes and failures no matter what parameters are utilized. We all have our preferences but no one knows for sure how things will turn out if our preference was chosen.
I find it interesting that so many of us confuse our opinions and conjecture as absolutes. I always believed in a single Diety. But after one minute on any forum of opinion, I realize how wrong I've been.
 
I got to page 4 of this thread, and all of a sudden, my eyes started bleeding.
 
ElmCity40th said:
All the uproar and confusion over the next head coach to me is simply pointless and silly. We already have another hall of fame coach on campus right now. I know most yarder's hate the thought, but one day he is going to coach men's college basketball and it would be an insult if the school he has built an unequaled dynasty doesn't even offer. Geno should be the next coach if he wants it. he can coach hands down, he can recruit hands down, and his record regardless of what gender he coached speaks for itself. If it turns out to be KO that would be great, he is UCONN, but no longer should we disrespect Geno, he and Calhoun built UCONN
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Coaching is pretty much coaching and the man can coach no doubt and he would probably be successful at some point in the mens game I'm sure.......recruiting is NOT recruiting when comparing the 2 at all as he ws in the womens game where the players were dying to go to UConn, Tenn or a couple others and by the way I said women not boys/men....different world and no idea if he could recruit successfully in the men's game.....again eventually I'm guessing yes but a whole different world!!!.............not going to happen and he wouldn't want it to even as arrogant as he is........has it made and walking into a bigger shadow isn't all that interesting I'm sure!!
 
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I think Grant will go to UF when Billy D makes his next move, probably to NBA.

caw said:
I think you are underestimating the job Grant is doing at Alabama.

Before he arrived they went:

05-06: 18-13
06-07: 20-12
07-08: 17-16
08-09: 18-14

Since he arrived they have gone:
09-10: 17-15
10-11: 25-12
11-12: 21-12

This is a big year for him, similar to how this is a big year for Shaka Smart at VCU. Now both have all their own players. If he can take Alabama on a decent run, I'd want him ahead of Smart, but wouldn't mind Smart either. I'm not sure I would take either over Ollie right now though (next year...)
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HuskyfanDan said:
we dont need a JC now. we have a built top 8 all time powerhouse program. back then we had not much and JC built us. its a different time. in order for us to keep momentum 1 of 2 things need to happen.
1) you go in family or who JC wants and keep that JC culture for ever. This is the KO/Kayleigh Heckel pick.
2) you make a huge splash coach wise who is going to win and recruit all day. the fanbase will love it and fun times ahead but the family aspect will die off over time and UConn will become just like every other school program wise.

so far ihave seen enought family/jc stuff where #1 is the answer. JC wants to be around JT style or more which i am 100% fine with and i think its a great thing. he couldn't do that type of thing if they go for a big splash. the new facility has a extra locker room for alums to use, thats the family type stuff u have to look for.

the 3 i said no 2 are great coaches. but each of them has ?'s that make them not huge splashes. we need either a huge splash or a family guy. KO/Kayleigh Heckel is it.

-buzz has had several issues the past few years with behavior. no thanks
-shaka and brad may be great coaches but neither fits uconn. we recruit lenght for the pros etc....shaka is a young JC, let him go build a program somewhere into a heavyweight. were already built, we dont need that type of 10 year stretch. i don't see it in brad. maybe its just me but hes not the type of guy i want in the war room.
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As an outside perspective, I think somebody like Brad Stevens is perfect for UConn. He's a Mark Few or Jamie Dixon type, but isn't so deeply established where he is. He made deep runs in the tournament not once, but twice. He is young and his teams play great, Big East caliber defense, without Big East caliber athletes. He would have a better platform to sell, on a bigger stage. He could grow into a coach you keep for 20 years, and he is still affordable, compared to the glamour names. Shaka is too unproven compared to what you need.

And no offense to Kevin Ollie, but he's only been there 3 years, didn't I read that in this thread? We, too, have an inexperienced "coach in waiting", but Mike Hopkins has held that title for several years now, and has been with the program for over a decade as a top recruiter. He's been an assistant at the Olympics and he runs the SU elite camp. Ollie may be a great guy that kids can relate to, and presents well for the university, but he's really, really green. This is a huge risk to you guys if Calhoun decides to retire at the last minute. There's a lot of organizational stuff, media relations and other stuff that goes into being head coach of a high profile program that Kevin Ollie is probably not prepared for after so little time as a coach.
 
Ollie's experience in the game of basketball more than matches Mike Hopkins. (e.g. Ollie's experience in dealing with the media gallops past whatever experience Hopkins has had talking to Donnie Webb in that one-horse media wasteland.)

That is of zero concern to me.

Both guys are high-risk hires - it's hard to be the guy who follows The Guy. Hopkins may well struggle trying to become the head guy after spending all these many years as the players' 'friend' on staff. Might not be so easy doing things the Jim Boeheim way when he ain't Jim Boeheim.
 
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IthacaMatt said:
As an outside perspective, I think somebody like Brad Stevens is perfect for UConn. He's a Mark Few or Jamie Dixon type, but isn't so deeply established where he is. He made deep runs in the tournament not once, but twice. He is young and his teams play great, Big East caliber defense, without Big East caliber athletes. He would have a better platform to sell, on a bigger stage. He could grow into a coach you keep for 20 years, and he is still affordable, compared to the glamour names. Shaka is too unproven compared to what you need.

And no offense to Kevin Ollie, but he's only been there 3 years, didn't I read that in this thread? We, too, have an inexperienced "coach in waiting", but Mike Hopkins has held that title for several years now, and has been with the program for over a decade as a top recruiter. He's been an assistant at the Olympics and he runs the SU elite camp. Ollie may be a great guy that kids can relate to, and presents well for the university, but he's really, really green. This is a huge risk to you guys if Calhoun decides to retire at the last minute. There's a lot of organizational stuff, media relations and other stuff that goes into being head coach of a high profile program that Kevin Ollie is probably not prepared for after so little time as a coach.
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I would take Ollie over Stevens any day of the week. Its all about style of play. Stevens is a great coach but not for UConn. JMHO
 
Kevin Ollie already deals with the media better than Jim Calhoun ever did. Anything involving people skills would not be a problem.
 
Im really hoping jc retires in a couple weeks. he deserves to enjoy the remaining years of his life with his family while hes still upright. he has absolutley nothing to prove or to lament in his time here as coach. the job should absolutely go to KO because we need to find out what we have with him and the sooner the better. shaka is a great choice i think will be a big time coach someday at a major program and it may be uconn but for now the best decision for this program is to go in house and let the chips fall where they may.
 
HuskyBballFan said:
Kevin Ollie already deals with the media better than Jim Calhoun ever did. Anything involving people skills would not be a problem.
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Are you kidding me? Does Ollie have an ESPN guy in his back pocket?
 
Just make Ollie the asssistant coach already, if JC stays on board, why keep Blaney if Ollie is going to be the man? Why not let Ollie get some coaching experience, JC always misses a game or two for health reasons. Let's see what the kid can do.
 
Waquoit said:
Are you kidding me? Does Ollie have an ESPN guy in his back pocket?
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I'm sorry, you're right. Jim Calhoun is dearly beloved by the national and local media. He's a regular media darling.
 
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HuskyBballFan said:
I'm sorry, you're right. Jim Calhoun is dearly beloved by the national and local media. He's a regular media darling.
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I accept your apology. You clearly overestimate the hate and underestimate the respect JC gets and has gotten over the years from the media. The NY media loves him. "Media" encompasses more than Yahoo sports and Jeff Jacobs.
 
Fishy said:
Ollie's experience in the game of basketball more than matches Mike Hopkins. (e.g. Ollie's experience in dealing with the media gallops past whatever experience Hopkins has had talking to Donnie Webb in that one-horse media wasteland.)

That is of zero concern to me.

Both guys are high-risk hires - it's hard to be the guy who follows The Guy. Hopkins may well struggle trying to become the head guy after spending all these many years as the players' 'friend' on staff. Might not be so easy doing things the Jim Boeheim way when he ain't Jim Boeheim.
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Of course you're right - most guys who follow a legend don't last more than 2 or 3 years and then wash out. But where did Ollie get the experience to match Mike Hopkins - by sitting on the end of the bench in the NBA for 13 years ?
 
IthacaMatt said:
Of course you're right - most guys who follow a legend don't last more than 2 or 3 years and then wash out. But where did Ollie get the experience to match Mike Hopkins - by sitting on the end of the bench in the NBA for 13 years ?
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You answered it......he played for the likes of Calhoun and then Larry Brown, certainly 2 of the best minds basketball has seen and Larry asked to get him back at least twice because he was a student of the game along with being a hard worker. Does this mean he'll be a better coach than Hopkins...hell no...but if he learned anything more than a 2-3 zone over the years I'm guessing that experience will help eventually!
 
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