Joni Taylor leaving UGA to be Texas A&M’s new HC | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Joni Taylor leaving UGA to be Texas A&M’s new HC

SECbbfan24 said:
Georgia has some good young talent (Richardson and Hollingshead) but that team didn't make sense to me this year. They played hard and had their moments but given expectations, it felt like a big let down.

Feels like a safe hire... Joni isn't bad at all, she will recruit well and get to the NCAAT but not sure she will elevate the program either. She is still young so maybe she grows.
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How do we know she'll recruit well? Recruiting Texas is a different beast and has she ever coached in Texas? Recruited much in Texas?
 
Dwilliams02 said:
Ole Miss gonna have to do some convincing and drop a bag she may not resist. She made some strong statements post game of LSU. Statements I love btw. I pray for her success wherever it lands.
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What did she say?
 
HuskyMJ said:
How do we know she'll recruit well? Recruiting Texas is a different beast and has she ever coached in Texas? Recruited much in Texas?
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She very well could fall flat on her face recruiting but lets look at her recent recruiting classes at Georgia.

2017:
Que Morrison- 5 star recruit
Gabrielle Connally- 5 star recruit
Murray Bates- 4 star recruit
Maya Caldwell- 4 star recruit

2018:
Kaila Hubbard- 3 star
Donnetta Johnson- 3 star

2019:
Chloe Chapman- 5 star
Javyn Nichlson- 5 star
Jordan Issac- 3 star

2020:
Ashlee Barker- 4 star
Zoesha Smith- 3 star

2021:
Reigan Richardson- 4 star
Jillian Hollingshead- 4 star

2022:
Janiah Barler- 5 star
Sydney Bowles- 4 star

While not at the levels of UCONN/SC/Louisville/NC St/Maryland/Stanford etc she has recruited talent solidly. In addition to bringing in some good transfers (Coombs and Staiti). Has she maximized and gotten the most out of the talent? Probably not.... I am not 100% sold on her coaching per say but Joni seems likable and like a lovely person. She will probably recruit fine. Can her coaching get A&M where they want to go? That is the question...
 
SECbbfan24 said:
She very well could fall flat on her face recruiting but lets look at her recent recruiting classes at Georgia.

2017:
Que Morrison- 5 star recruit
Gabrielle Connally- 5 star recruit
Murray Bates- 4 star recruit
Maya Caldwell- 4 star recruit

2018:
Kaila Hubbard- 3 star
Donnetta Johnson- 3 star

2019:
Chloe Chapman- 5 star
Javyn Nichlson- 5 star
Jordan Issac- 3 star

2020:
Ashlee Barker- 4 star
Zoesha Smith- 3 star

2021:
Reigan Richardson- 4 star
Jillian Hollingshead- 4 star

2022:
Janiah Barler- 5 star
Sydney Bowles- 4 star

While not at the levels of UCONN/SC/Louisville/NC St/Maryland/Stanford etc she has recruited talent solidly. In addition to bringing in some good transfers (Coombs and Staiti). Has she maximized and gotten the most out of the talent? Probably not.... I am not 100% sold on her coaching per say but Joni seems likable and like a lovely person. She will probably recruit fine. Can her coaching get A&M where they want to go? That is the question...
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She also lost SEVERAL Top 10 recruits from Georgia.
 
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sweetspot said:
I think they did go after bigger names. Just didn't land them.
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No disrespect to TAMU and its location but leaving a city like Louisville to live in College Station? :eek::eek::confused::confused:

Plus its alot easier to remain on top of the ACC than fight through Staley, Mulkey, and Schaeffer.
SECbbfan24 said:
She very well could fall flat on her face recruiting but lets look at her recent recruiting classes at Georgia.


While not at the levels of UCONN/SC/Louisville/NC St/Maryland/Stanford etc she has recruited talent solidly. In addition to bringing in some good transfers (Coombs and Staiti). Has she maximized and gotten the most out of the talent? Probably not.... I am not 100% sold on her coaching per say but Joni seems likable and like a lovely person. She will probably recruit fine. Can her coaching get A&M where they want to go? That is the question...
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It will be interesting to see how she recruits. Again, no disrespect to College Station, but I imagine its alot easier to convince kids to go to school in Athens than College Station. No disrespect to College Station.
 
TC22 said:
She also lost SEVERAL Top 10 recruits from Georgia.
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That is true.... but we both know a select few schools basically cherry pick the top 10 recruits every year it seems to be fair.

I personally don't think A&M will be at the level they want to be with Joni but I guess they could have done worse
 
triaddukefan said:
No disrespect to TAMU and its location but leaving a city like Louisville to live in College Station? :eek::eek::confused::confused:

It will be interesting to see how she recruits. Again, no disrespect to College Station, but I imagine its alot easier to convince kids to go to school in Athens than College Station. No disrespect to College Station.
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Depends on what recruits want. It's my understanding that Georgia's basketball facilities aren't all that. I believe A&M just recently had some practice facility or the like built just for women's hoops.

While it won't be easy, Joni will find more elite recruits in Dallas, Houston, and Central Texas than she would in the state of Georgia and local states. The question is can she convince them to go to A&M over regional schools like Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma, and LSU?
 
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Do we know if it was an offer this fast after Joni left? Maybe she pulled a Walz and just leveraged interest into more money.
 
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SECbbfan24 said:
She very well could fall flat on her face recruiting but lets look at her recent recruiting classes at Georgia.

2017:
Que Morrison- 5 star recruit
Gabrielle Connally- 5 star recruit
Murray Bates- 4 star recruit
Maya Caldwell- 4 star recruit

2018:
Kaila Hubbard- 3 star
Donnetta Johnson- 3 star

2019:
Chloe Chapman- 5 star
Javyn Nichlson- 5 star
Jordan Issac- 3 star

2020:
Ashlee Barker- 4 star
Zoesha Smith- 3 star

2021:
Reigan Richardson- 4 star
Jillian Hollingshead- 4 star

2022:
Janiah Barler- 5 star
Sydney Bowles- 4 star

While not at the levels of UCONN/SC/Louisville/NC St/Maryland/Stanford etc she has recruited talent solidly. In addition to bringing in some good transfers (Coombs and Staiti). Has she maximized and gotten the most out of the talent? Probably not.... I am not 100% sold on her coaching per say but Joni seems likable and like a lovely person. She will probably recruit fine. Can her coaching get A&M where they want to go? That is the question...
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Coombs was not a good transfer. She got pub because she came from UConn. Shaky and a big handicap offensively
 
This just doesn't feel like a fit to me. I felt like Joni was a perfect fit at Georgia.
 
Don't understand why some don't think JT can do the job and immediately start comparing her to Blair. If you have to make such comparisons, then at the very least compare his first 7 years as HC to her first 7 years...not his 32 years! Can she get a chance or no?
 
SECbbfan24 said:
I like Joni but not understanding this as well.

I guess A&M could have done worse but I’m not exactly sure I saw anything that made me think she’s going to elevate A&M.
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Yeah it feels pretty lackluster… not sure it’s warranted at an elite school and good program as A&M is … Baylor and Oklahoma got saved here.
 
LwrcasefaN said:
Don't understand why some don't think JT can do the job and immediately start comparing her to Blair. If you have to make such comparisons, then at the very least compare his first 7 years as HC to her first 7 years...not his 32 years! Can she get a chance or no?
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Well, #1 is Joni already inherited a very good program with Hoop Pedigree from Andy Landers so she didn't have to build or rebuild a program. #2, Her post-season results have been mixed at best and poor at worst. She drastically underachieved with this years team who had everyone returning from last years SEC runner up.
#2 her SEC W/L record was a bit underwhelming as well 63-48
#3 Her best SEC finish was 2017-18 when she came in 3rd. I know SC and MSU had dominated but other than that her finishes were (in years coached order) 6th, 8th, 3rd (already mentioned), 4th, 6th, 4th, 6th
#4 Her postseason were Yr1 NCAAT 1st Rd;
Yr 2 No postseason;
Yr 3-NCAAT 2nd Rd;
Yr 4-No Postseason;
Yr 5-No Tourney not sure if she would have made it at 17-14 and 9th place in SEC;
Yr 6-NCAAT 2nd Rd;
Yr 7 NCAAT 2nd Rd

So yes, color some of skeptical and/or happy that Texas A&M hired and overpaid her.
 
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LwrcasefaN said:
Don't understand why some don't think JT can do the job and immediately start comparing her to Blair. If you have to make such comparisons, then at the very least compare his first 7 years as HC to her first 7 years...not his 32 years! Can she get a chance or no?
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I think it goes beyond that, and the comparison between the two is apples and oranges no matter how you slice it. Joni inherited a Georgia program with a lot of history; most would consider Georgia one of the true bluebloods in women's hoops based on their success in the 80's and 90's under Andy Landers. Gary Blair took over an A&M program with no real history or any post-season success at the national level.

And, Blair had one Final Four appearance with Arkansas (#10 seed?) before going to A&M (probably doesn't get the A&M job without that milestone in his resume'). Taylor doesn't bring anything close to that, and partly yes because she has very limited head coaching experience.
 
southie said:
Apparently, Janiah Barker has removed all Georgia-related content from her Instagram
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It will be interesting.

Does Janiah follow her half way across the country to A&M or does she revisit committing to some of the other coaches she was tight with during recruiting?

Ole Miss? Nah, coaching change there too.

SCar? Still the same problem of little opportunnity to crack the lienup early. Plus, does Dawn have a spot for her in her recruiting schedule after taking Watkins this year?

I'm sure Duke has room for her. Louisville probably would too.

New entrants to the field?

Nobody can recruit her until she de-commits/transfers,
 
visitingcock said:
It will be interesting.

Does Janiah follow her half way across the country to A&M or does she revisit committing to some of the other coaches she was tight with during recruiting?

Ole Miss? Nah, coaching change there too.

SCar? Still the same problem of little opportunnity to crack the lienup early. Plus, does Dawn have a spot for her in her recruiting schedule after taking Watkins this year?

I'm sure Duke has room for her. Louisville probably would too.

New entrants to the field?

Nobody can recruit her until she de-commits/transfers,
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Coach Yo is staying, right?
 
southie said:
I think it goes beyond that, and the comparison between the two is apples and oranges no matter how you slice it. Joni inherited a Georgia program with a lot of history; most would consider Georgia one of the true bluebloods in women's hoops based on their success in the 80's and 90's under Andy Landers. Gary Blair took over an A&M program with no real history or any post-season success at the national level.

And, Blair had one Final Four appearance with Arkansas (#10 seed?) before going to A&M (probably doesn't get the A&M job without that milestone in his resume'). Taylor doesn't bring anything close to that, and partly yes because she has very limited head coaching experience.
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Agreed...it isn't such a simple comparison.
 
DefenseBB said:
Well, #1 is Joni already inherited a very good program with Hoop Pedigree from Andy Landers so she didn't have to build or rebuild a program. #2, Her post-season results have been mixed at best and poor at worst. She drastically underachieved with this years team who had everyone returning from last years SEC runner up.
#2 her SEC W/L record was a bit underwhelming as well 63-48
#3 Her best SEC finish was 2017-18 when she came in 3rd. I know SC and MSU had dominated but other than that her finishes were (in years coached order) 6th, 8th, 3rd (already mentioned), 4th, 6th, 4th, 6th
#4 Her postseason were Yr1 NCAAT 1st Rd;
Yr 2 No postseason;
Yr 3-NCAAT 2nd Rd;
Yr 4-No Postseason;
Yr 5-No Tourney not sure if she would have made it at 17-14 and 9th place in SEC;
Yr 6-NCAAT 2nd Rd;
Yr 7 NCAAT 2nd Rd

So yes, color some of skeptical and/or happy that Texas A&M hired and overpaid her.
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lol... where are Blair's first seven years here? Did I miss it?
 
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LwrcasefaN said:
lol... where are Blair's first seven years here? Did I miss it?
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It's called Google and you can type in Gary Blair. As I said, what Texas A&M was before Gary arrived was abysmal so he had to start from scratch where as Joni Taylor inherited a very good Georgia program. Jeesh, some people....LAZY! :rolleyes:
 
DefenseBB said:
It's called Google and you can type in Gary Blair. As I said, what Texas A&M was before Gary arrived was abysmal so he had to start from scratch where as Joni Taylor inherited a very good Georgia program. Jeesh, some people....LAZY! :rolleyes:
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I'm not lazy. Usually when I start something...I finish it versus asking someone else to do it. lol And btw...she's 4 and 5 versus Gary Blair while she coached at Georgia. NOW..that's apples to apples.
 
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visitingcock said:
It will be interesting.

Does Janiah follow her half way across the country to A&M or does she revisit committing to some of the other coaches she was tight with during recruiting?

Ole Miss? Nah, coaching change there too.

SCar? Still the same problem of little opportunnity to crack the lienup early. Plus, does Dawn have a spot for her in her recruiting schedule after taking Watkins this year?

I'm sure Duke has room for her. Louisville probably would too.

New entrants to the field?

Nobody can recruit her until she de-commits/transfers,
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southie said:
Coach Yo is staying, right?
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Yes, Coach Yo announced she was staying put with Ole Miss last night on Twitter. So, they could be a possibility along with any school who thinks they can recruit her if she is released from her LOI.
 
OMG did anyone else catch the Joni Taylor TAMU press conference that just finished??

This fight song rendition at the end it is one of the most painfully awkward things I've seen.
 
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