If you were AD Dave, what would you do... ? | The Boneyard

If you were AD Dave, what would you do... ?

EdgewoodNHV

EdgewoodNHV

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I'm curious what you'd do about our basketball program right now. Things are obviously in a pretty tough situation currently. We lost three talented players to transfer and our best incoming recruit. We removed Glen Miller, ostensibly because either a) he couldn't' seal the deal with Diallo, or b) lack of progress in big men like Enoch, Brimah.

So what do you do at this point? How long of a leash do you think Ollie has? If he misses the tournament, is he gone? If so, who are you hiring? If not, how long do you wait it out and what sort of progress do you need to see this year to make you think it's working?

Given our spot in the AAC and the uphill battle in recruiting, I don't think we have years to figure this out. The optics are bad. The trend is downward.

So if you were in charge: What would you do?
 
It would not surprise me if Ollie got a variation of the talk that Diaco got. In essence that the results were not acceptable and what is the plan for fixing them?

Remember that Diaco would still be here in all likelihood if he had accepted the Offensive Coordinator was gift wrapped and left for him.
 
I know this is a different era and coaches didn't have to deal with social media but upon researching Connecticut kids who played at UConn I came upon s stsrtling fact
In JC 's
first three seasons in the Big East his record was worse than Perno's last three and worst Big East years.
To quote some on the board if he doesn't catch lightning in a bottle and win the NIT his second year with Perno's players. Who knows ? If there was a BY then some crazies would have been clamoring for his firing

Just aside in our first Big East Season 3-3 our 5 leading scorers were all Connectict Kids .
Thats the most in modern times
 
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I'd give him another year or two to show some stability and improvement. We should be able to do better than 5th/6th in the AAC. I don't think you can set a hard target, but we should at least make the NIT. If we're looking at more transfers, more staff turnover, and more losses, then I clean house and go hard after Hurley at URI or a top assistant somewhere.

No disrespect to our staff and the alum, but (and I think Ollie has learned this) we can't keep bringing in former Huskies just because they are family. We need experienced proven coaches/recruiters. Benedict so far has been a great hire, I trust him to pull the right strings.
 
CL82 said:
It would not surprise me if Ollie got a variation of the talk that Diaco got. In essence that the results were not acceptable and what is the plan for fixing them?

Remember that Diaco would still be here in all likelihood if he had accepted the Offensive Coordinator was gift wrapped and left for him.
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Wouldn't surprise me if AD Dave and KO had an honest discussion about the program and KO's performance but KO is in no way in the same position as Diaco. There's about 2348723984723 reasons why Diaco should have been and was fired that aren't applicable to KO.
 
I'm assuming that AD David Benedict sat down with KO, had a conversation, agreed to make some changes and then set some expectations. Did they talk specific goals and specific time frames? I doubt it...but if I'm AD I'm thinking KO has two seasons to get the program trending back upwards or I have to make a change.
 
Irish Loop said:
For how long?
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Oh forever. Ollie has this job as long as he wants it. 0-33 next year? He is back. Holding up the AAC? He's back. After all he was a coach on the floor when he played and he won a championship in his 2nd year.
 
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brasssbonanzaa said:
Wouldn't surprise me if AD Dave and KO had an honest discussion about the program and KO's performance but KO is in no way in the same position as Diaco. There's about 2348723984723 reasons why Diaco should have been and was fired that aren't applicable to KO.
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Don't disagree, except for the notion that that the status quo ante wasn't an option for either.
 
Nothing. Ollie has been through a lot since taking over with what Calhoun and the NCAA left him with. Then this past season with injuries and this offseason. I'd give him about three years. If there's no improvements and no advances in the tourney then we talk. But if that happens then you need a replacement which is proven on the recruiting trail and in coaching(deep tourney runs and great regular seasons)
 
brasssbonanzaa said:
Wouldn't surprise me if AD Dave and KO had an honest discussion about the program and KO's performance but KO is in no way in the same position as Diaco. There's about 2348723984723 reasons why Diaco should have been and was fired that aren't applicable to KO.
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You only need 1 and missing a 2nd straight NCAA tournament might well be it. A losing record with multiple losses to teams like Wagner, Northeastern ECU and the like could be too.
 
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Irish Loop said:
I'm curious what you'd do about our basketball program right now. Things are obviously in a pretty tough situation currently. We lost three talented players to transfer and our best incoming recruit. We removed Glen Miller, ostensibly because either a) he couldn't' seal the deal with Diallo, or b) lack of progress in big men like Enoch, Brimah.

So what do you do at this point? How long of a leash do you think Ollie has? If he misses the tournament, is he gone? If so, who are you hiring? If not, how long do you wait it out and what sort of progress do you need to see this year to make you think it's working?

Given our spot in the AAC and the uphill battle in recruiting, I don't think we have years to figure this out. The optics are bad. The trend is downward.

So if you were in charge: What would you do?
Expand ...

I think that if you are AD David Benedict, you evaluate KO like you do all of your other coaches, on a year to year basis. Men's Basketball is a tremendously high profile program and there have been outside forces (transition from Big East to AAC being the biggest one of them...the emergence of the "one and done" culture being another one) which have hurt the program in the eyes of recruits. I would assume that AD David Benedict will continue to monitor the KO and his program and look for substantial improvement in the immediate future.

I think that UCONN's presence in the AAC has hurt its image with recruits and with fans, alike. You don't get jazzed up for the meeting with South Florida the way you used to get jazzed up for Syracuse, G'Town, Villanova, or even Providence. The "one and dones" are looking to head to schools which will give them maximum exposure for the year that they are there. That league is not the AAC. Not enough big match-ups. It is worth noting that the AAC has not hurt the Women's team at all...yet. They continue to get the access to the best of the best players and GA schedules as many prime out of conference games as he can. This is a testament to the program he has built and the fact that players will stay for four years and not one.

Admission to the Big Ten or ACC, and even the Big 12 would cure what is ailing KO and his program. Once the caliber of the conference is improved, the caliber of recruits making us their first choice will improve.
 
I think AD and KO both know the program cannot handle another disappointing season and that next year is make or break. That said, if we fall short again next year (fail to make tournament), but there is obvious light at the end of the tunnel (bubble team with good recruits coming in the next year), I would be in favor of another year. As others have mentioned, I do think a serious conversation took place already between AD and KO. On the one hand I feel like he's a dead man walking given the past few years and now the challenges ahead with the obvious loss of Ashton Langford, Vance Jackson, Steve Enoch, Juwan Durham, not to mention loosing experienced players to graduation like Purvis, Facey and Brimah. But on the other hand, my optimism lies in KO's sheer determination and ability to persevere when his back is against the wall. And there is no doubt his back is against the wall
 
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Any Conversation about Kevin Ollie that doesn't acknowledge that it's going to be hard to get an exciting replacement for him if/when the time comes isn't really based in reality.
 
walkrightier said:
Any Conversation about Kevin Ollie that doesn't acknowledge that it's going to be hard to get an exciting replacement for him if/when the time comes isn't really based in reality.
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Who said it would be easy?

Difficult =/= impossible.
 
walkrightier said:
Any Conversation about Kevin Ollie that doesn't acknowledge that it's going to be hard to get an exciting replacement for him if/when the time comes isn't really based in reality.
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Thsts a great point ,given the conference situation who would come? A screwing over a guy who won a NC
We got JC because we were close to Boston and probably his last chance to get on a big stage. He was rejected by BC . Thst left only PC and us I believe they had Pitino.
The cure is to have a great 2017-18 but even then the narrative will switch back to KO going to the NBA
 
AZHuskiePop said:
Thsts a great point ,given the conference situation who would come? A screwing over a guy who won a NC
We got JC because we were close to Boston and probably his last chance to get on a big stage. He was rejected by BC . Thst left only PC and us I believe they had Pitino.
The cure is to have a great 2017-18 but even then the narrative will switch back to KO going to the NBA
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That's not at all true about Calhoun and it wouldn't be screwing over Ollie if he doesn't produce. He was handpicked by Calhoun with zero head-coaching experience and only a few years as an assistant. At this level it's produce or you're shown the door. The championship was awesome but he's made a real mess of things lately and needs to turn it around in a hurry.
 
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