Kevin Ollie in running for Piston Job?

[nelsonmuntz]

Tell that to Houston

American fanboys like you baffle me. The American essentially destroyed our athletic department and you defend it.

Dan Hurley would NEVER have come to UConn if it wasn’t joining the Big East. We would have someone like Stan Heath coaching in Storrs and be celebrating top 200 recruits if we were still in that hell hole.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Shocked no one wondered why he was out of OTE? Maybe cannot hold a job? Now you claim he has some kind of shot for NBA team? Homerism much? He is gradually fading into the background noise…

KO is still young by coaching standards. It is feasible he could work his way up in the NBA as an assistant etc. Seems early for a HC opportunity though

 

[UCTitleTown]

A bit late for April Fool's, don't you think?

 

[metsfan2323]

Tell that to Houston

'
Heck tell it to Daniel Hamilton, Jamal Adams, Kentan Facey, TSam, Rodney Purvis, Brimah, Sam Casell JR, Terry Larrier, Steven Enoch, Vital, Vance Jackson, Polley, The Wrench, Juwan Durham, Gilbert, Josh Carlton.

All of these guy were solid players recruited to the AAC. Player development and retention was a bigger problem than recruiting although The Wrench, Vital, Polley, and Carlton ended up developing quite nicely

 

[ElGreco]

Tell that to Houston

It was and is a Southern conference and a horrible fit for UConn.

 

[lange10]

American fanboys like you baffle me. The American essentially destroyed our athletic department and you defend it.

Dan Hurley would NEVER have come to UConn if it wasn’t joining the Big East. We would have someone like Stan Heath coaching in Storrs and be celebrating top 200 recruits if we were still in that hell hole.

I don’t disagree that the AAC nearly buried us 6 feet under but Hurley was quoted recently that when he took the job Herbst/Benedict did not make promises of a conference change.

 

[metsfan2323]

Dan Hurley would NEVER have come to UConn if it wasn’t joining the Big East.

In a recent interview with Hurley he flat out said that Bennedict was honest with him (during his pitch to Hurley) that there were no guarantees of a conference upgrade.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Shocked no one wondered why he was out of OTE? Maybe cannot hold a job? Now you claim he has some kind of shot for NBA team? Homerism much? He is gradually fading into the background noise…

Well the league in 2 years was a success. He is stepping down and while OTE has kept player updates they have not removed him from the we site. Guessing with his recent payout he can be pretty selective about his next role.

 

[wheelerdog]

I cannot believe we're still having this AAC discussion. It was a bad fit for us. Period.

 

[HooperScooper]

American fanboys like you baffle me. The American essentially destroyed our athletic department and you defend it.

Dan Hurley would NEVER have come to UConn if it wasn’t joining the Big East. We would have someone like Stan Heath coaching in Storrs and be celebrating top 200 recruits if we were still in that hell hole.

For the 20th time, Hurley has said that Benedict and Herbst told him there was Nolan in place to leave the AAC at that time and UConn might be in the AAC for a long time. Hurley admitted it was a factor in his decision but he decided to take the risk anyway because of the UConn brand.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I'm not really sure what to think. I hope he gets the gig but is it out of line to think KO should do some assistant work in NBA before he's an NBA head coach? Im a bit out of touch with what goes on at overtime elite, but it seems like KO has to rebuild his rep a bit. His last 1-3 years of NCAA coaching didn't go super.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Recruiting success isn’t just Rivals/247Rankings.

It’s also roster construction, talent identification, etc.

Ollie may be a good NBA coach (prob better than his ending here) but I think he’d be better with a veteran team vs development of a young group

 

[Chin Diesel]

Franchises I don't want to draft Hawkins:

1. Charlotte
1.1aaaa Pistons

Anyone who is in a position of authority who legitimately mentioned Ollie's name should be fired before sun rises Monday.

 

[Woof 101]

A big fan back when it was Ollie or Best in the recruiting battles. I wanted Ollie and Jim won. Best ended up at Georgia Tech and a higher NBA pick but Ollie was a better fit here.
Time goes on and Jim has all the believe in the world in Ollie. His hard work ethics here and years of trying to make it in the NBA, catching on with team after team for a year here and a year there. I always rooted for him.

Fast forward to JC sticking him up Warde's roster, disappointed to say the least. Yes he gets the NC but that was JC's team. Once on his own he abandoned Jim and fired his (Jim's ) best friend and long time assistant. Yes he was going through a divorce as many have but you can't take it to work. He was nothing more than a General Motors tests dummy on the bench.

He failed us in the end. He lost top notch players and commits decomitting while in denile he was the problem.

While I wish him well, he left the cuborad bare and got 12 mill for it. As a fan I am divorced from KO, that unless he desides to donate millions back that he did not deserve to recieve.

 

[AdamaNation]

I can only speak for myself and I won't attempt to speak for the rest of Husky Nation. I would be really pleased for Kevin Ollie if he does land the Detroit Pistons head coaching job.

It would kill our recruiting. Remember those days?

 

[AdamaNation]

Franchises I don't want to draft Hawkins:

1. Charlotte
1.1aaaa Pistons

Anyone who is in a position of authority who legitimately mentioned Ollie's name should be fired before sun rises Monday.

Literally said thi exact thing in hawk > Bouk thread.

 

[mauconnfan]

A big fan back when it was Ollie or Best in the recruiting battles. I wanted Ollie and Jim won. Best ended up at Georgia Tech and a higher NBA pick but Ollie was a better fit here.
Time goes on and Jim has all the believe in the world in Ollie. His hard work ethics here and years of trying to make it in the NBA, catching on with team after team for a year here and a year there. I always rooted for him.

Fast forward to JC sticking him up Warde's roster, disappointed to say the least. Yes he gets the NC but that was JC's team. Once on his own he abandoned Jim and fired his (Jim's ) best friend and long time assistant. Yes he was going through a divorce as many have but you can't take it to work. He was nothing more than a General Motors tests dummy on the bench.

He failed us in the end. He lost top notch players and commits decomitting while in denile he was the problem.

While I wish him well, he left the cuborad bare and got 12 mill for it. As a fan I am divorced from KO, that unless he desides to donate millions back that he did not deserve to recieve.

I’m good with how anyone feels about KO he deserves everything thrown at him in every which direction.

The one thing I will always fight is he won with JCs team that’s a ridiculous and inaccurate statement. The only guy who played significant minutes for JC was Bazz and Bazz wasn’t at all a happy player his sophomore year after winning the title. To bring a team together to win 20 games knowing the APR was hanging over their heads and there was no BE tourney or NCAA dance was incredible. And to follow that up with NC with guys like Daniels, Giffey, Nolan, Boat, Kromah who played very little under JC was an achievement of its own, not anyone elses. People need to stop that ridiculousness.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

For the 20th time, Hurley has said that Benedict and Herbst told him there was Nolan in place to leave the AAC at that time and UConn might be in the AAC for a long time. Hurley admitted it was a factor in his decision but he decided to take the risk anyway because of the UConn brand.

So Hurley passed on an ACC job at Pitt to coach in the American? Sure. I also suspect that telling prospective coaches that UConn was leaving the league before UConn provided notice is a breach of our AAC agreement and could result in a clawback of revenue by the AAC. Every school claims they were loyal members right up to the moment they aren’t. The use of absolute terms is the wiggle room Hurley needs to be telling the truth without telling the whole truth about that situation.

I am less interested in debating the meaning of the words Hurley used than the fact that so many UConn fans still argue that the AAC was not a catastrophe for the athletic department. Auriemma is on the record as saying the men don’t win this title if they aren’t in the Big East. Many on this board feel differently.

 

[NJHoops]

So Hurley passed on an ACC job at Pitt to coach in the American?

Yes. I’m not sure why you want to call anyone a liar. There were always only a handful of jobs he would have moved up from, and UConn, regardless of conference, was one of them. It wasn’t a secret that UConn wanted out of the American but acting as if anything was set and secretly known is not correct.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

National title validates Connecticut's choice to embrace basketball in Big East at football's expense

Connecticut made a decision to forsake football and embrace its basketball roots by joining the Big East. It paid off Monday with a national title.

www.usatoday.com

 

[WestHartHusk]

Ollie deserves a shot at the NBA, I hope he gets it.

Deserves?!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Yes. I’m not sure why you want to call anyone a liar. There were always only a handful of jobs he would have moved up from, and UConn, regardless of conference, was one of them. It wasn’t a secret that UConn wanted out of the American but acting as if anything was set and secretly known is not correct.

I didn’t call anyone a liar. Your words, not mine.

Sanogo, Jackson and Hawkins committed to UConn within a year of joining the Big East. Must have been a lucky coincidence. In the USA Today article, Hurley points out UConn was a bad fit for the American for recruiting.

Yet every time the American comes up, the AAC fanboys flock to the league’s defense.

 

[jimva]

National title validates Connecticut's choice to embrace basketball in Big East at football's expense

Connecticut made a decision to forsake football and embrace its basketball roots by joining the Big East. It paid off Monday with a national title.

www.usatoday.com

Great article

 

[UConn990411]

I’m good with how anyone feels about KO he deserves everything thrown at him in every which direction.

The one thing I will always fight is he won with JCs team that’s a ridiculous and inaccurate statement. The only guy who played significant minutes for JC was Bazz and Bazz wasn’t at all a happy player his sophomore year after winning the title. To bring a team together to win 20 games knowing the APR was hanging over their heads and there was no BE tourney or NCAA dance was incredible. And to follow that up with NC with guys like Daniels, Giffey, Nolan, Boat, Kromah who played very little under JC was an achievement of its own, not anyone elses. People need to stop that ridiculousness.

This x100.

I’m as big of an Ollie critic as there is, but he helped keep that roster together post-Calhoun retirement. And that was at a time when UConn was banned from the tourney and the Big East was falling apart.

I think he deserves all the criticism in the world for what came after 2014 - putting zero effort into his job, alienating everyone around him, etc. - but it’s unfair to try to take credit from him for those first two seasons.

 

[CL82]

Deserves?!

Has anyone else other than the single guy on Twitter even confirmed this rumor? For what it’s worth this guy didn’t say Ollie’s top choice or even Ollie’s being considered, just that he was someone they should look at.