Multi-year Extension for Ollie

[3rdbass]

Congrats to Ollie!!! I was at the game at game with my brothers. We got great seats 7 rows behind the UCONN bench since there was nobody there. I'm up here visiting family as I always do during Christmas from Atlanta now. It was great to see Ollie give a nice speech thanking the players, fans and administration for being behind him and that he will still be working this hard for 25 years to keep UCONN a national power. I'm glad he is also pushing academics so much as it is a refreshing take to a new exciting regime.

 

[Excalibur]

Amazing the criticism considering how a lose-lose situation turned into a win.

 

[8893]

Interesting tidbit in today's Courant:

With Jim Calhoun vacationing in Florida, Ollie was not able to reach him Saturday night. "I know he's ecstatic for me," Ollie said. "He'll be the first call I make in the morning." Calhoun had been at every previous game this season.

Whether orchestrated or not, Calhoun's absence for this certainly plays into the theme of Manuel wanting to appear to be as free from Calhoun's influence as possible.

 

[djct1999]

love the extension and the irony. we go from having an elite program with a coach the college world loved to hate to a coach now that college world simply loves.

 

[HuskyHawk]

ok being the ast coach at a big boy school or playing 15 years in the nba isn't the fastlane? jc was out health wise over half of jc's time he was under him. who do u think killed it on the trail all that time? blaney? you are all unreal. ko was the man of the program back then. several here inclding me wrote about it seeing hin in gyms and it was obvious. before jc even fell of that dam bike several here including me were 100% ko and we wanted things to go smooth. there was thread after thread abotu him being the right guy and so much more. wtf is the fast lane? if its not playing 15 years in the nba and then coaching under a legend but also for a legend while hes hurt/sick then i'm not sure wtf the fast lane is?

i love the brad stevens crowd here for example. do u clowns know anything about him? he playing college ball at some school that ****ed up the name deapul took years ago. he then spent like 5 years working his way thru the buytler staff. back then, butler was not todays butler. he then got the hc job and sice he has turned that school into a very nice mid major program. a ton of respect for the guy and i am a fan. but where is his expierence or qualifications? you want to talk fast lane? the siena coach years ago spent years working his way up the ladder and finally got a call to like iowa or something was what he could get. fastlane my ass.



its fun when every single argument the 75% here makes gets torn apart right away isn't it? i don't know wtf happened in buffalo, but a lot of uconn fans sure love it i guess.


umass fan

Yeah, who would want a guy that played at a small college. Then spent several years coaching a HS team. Then moved on to coach at a smaller program for a few more years where he built it up and made the tournament behind a superstar. Then took on a job with a school in an exciting major conference, but one that was a doormat at the time. What kind of experience is that compared to playing in the NBA?

Coaching and playing are not the same. Different skills and different levels of intelligence are needed. Most NBA players do not possess the skills or brains to coach. Please show me the list of great college coaches that had long NBA careers? It's a short list of zero.

 

[metsfan2323]

Please show me the list of great college coaches that had long NBA careers? It's a short list of zero.

Ollie's career path is very, very similar to Billy Donovan. The fact that Ollie had a longer NBA career then Donovan because of his leadership ability in the NBA locker room is a huge plus not a minus. Both are over achieving point guards, both played for legendary college coaches and against all odds both played in the NBA, both were then assistant coaches for their former head coach before becoming a head coach.

Larry Brown's career path is also comparable.

You also forgot about John Thompson.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It is worth noting that Kevin Ollie would have been a lot less than $1.4MM a year if Manuel had signed him in September. Nice work Warde.

 

[The Funster]

It's easy to understand this thread. Once someone on this board becomes disliked, everything they do has to be evil with no exceptions. At times the Boneyard has the depth of a two page fairy tale.

A-freaking-men. Truer words have never been posted.

 

[SubbaBub]

Warde corrected his mistake in the quickest, most face saving way possible. Time to move on and see if he can fix his FB problems, his scheduling problems and his conference affiliation problem.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[upstater]

A-freaking-men. Truer words have never been posted.

It's not like a lot of posters have no ability to discern differences. At least half a dozen posters knocking the way Ollie was handled are defending the administration (including Warde) for the realignment debacle.

I don't think it's fair to say this is driven by hate. In fact, I find it weird that criticism of Manuel is automatically deemed to be reactionary. It's not. A good bit of it is (I've read the automatic anti-Warde threads as well) but go read the realignment threads on Warde and you'll find the same people criticizing this aspect of his leadership backing him.

 

[metsfan2323]

Please show me the list of great college coaches that had long NBA careers? It's a short list of zero.

Steve Alford is another great college coach with an NBA career who played for a legendary college coach.

 

[UConnDan97]

also, Al McGuire played in the NBA for four seasons, and then as a coach, they ended up naming Marquette's basketball court after him...

 

[Chief00]

Warde corrected his mistake in the quickest, most face saving way possible. Time to move on and see if he can fix his FB problems, his scheduling problems and his conference affiliation problem.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

I think this post sums it up. The posters and fans were right after-all and Warde corrected his mistake as quickly as his ego would allow. But, at least he did not double down on a bad move. I also agree Ollie got more bucks than he would have in Sept - of course that's a sign of poor management not locking talent up early.
The only negative is we basically lost a year of recruiting as a result - and that is huge especially considering various talent gaps we have but something KO will have to overcome

 

[NHUConnfan]

Why is it a bad thing if KO gets what he deserves? UConn is a top program and should pay their coaches accordingly.

I also don't see the criticism of waiting for the grades to roll through. It's not about whether or not KO cares about academics. It's obvious he does. But I'm sure they were observing how his influence as head coach played in the development of these young men not only as athletes but as students and citizens. I have a feeling we'll be pleasantly surprised with the APR numbers that come through here in the years. Given our current issues with APR numbers, I think it was completely appropriate to wait and see how the kids did.

It's clear KO was the guy all along. It works out for everyone. KO gets his big contract, UConn gets insurance of his worth as a coach and academic influence. And UConn's basketball team is better for it.

 

[metsfan2323]

Warde can become a hero real fast if he makes a football move next week when P's buyout shrinks. P seems to be unwilling to take Warde's advice on getting a new playcaller. Oh to dream.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ollie's career path is very, very similar to Billy Donovan. The fact that Ollie had a longer NBA career then Donovan because of his leadership ability in the NBA locker room is a huge plus not a minus. Both are over achieving point guards, both played for legendary college coaches and against all odds both played in the NBA, both were then assistant coaches for their former head coach before becoming a head coach.

Larry Brown's career path is also comparable.

You also forgot about John Thompson.

Donovan played one year. One. For Pitino because the team that drafted him waived him. Then he went to work on wall street. Then joined Pitino's staff at UK. He was at UK 5-6 years, then had two as HC at Marshall before getting the Florida job. This is a classic coaching resume. Failed player pays his dues as an assistant and then HC at a lower tier school. This is closer to Calhoun's path (he did have a tryout with the Celtics) than Ollie's.

John Thompson played for the Celtics for two years. He was not a successful NBA player.

Brown is iffy. Played in the ABA, not NBA. Also, despite his time at Davidson, KU and now SMU, I think he's known much more as an NBA coach.

Steve Alford mentioned later, played 4 years in the NBA. Started coaching at Division III I might add.

The point is this, long NBA careers do not generally indicate coaching success or appitude. Quite the opposite. Kevin Ollie is an outlier. It was perfectly reasonable to want to see him demonstrate his coaching ability before allowing him to take his very first head coaching job at one of the top programs in the country on a permanent basis. It was a risk to hire him at all. One I am glad WM decided to take, because I too think he's a unique man and is a perfect fit.

 

[metsfan2323]

Donovan played one year. One. For Pitino because the team that drafted him waived him. Then he went to work on wall street. Then joined Pitino's staff at UK. He was at UK 5-6 years, then had two as HC at Marshall before getting the Florida job. This is a classic coaching resume. Failed player pays his dues as an assistant and then HC at a lower tier school. This is closer to Calhoun's path (he did have a tryout with the Celtics) than Ollie's.

John Thompson played for the Celtics for two years. He was not a successful NBA player.

Brown is iffy. Played in the ABA, not NBA. Also, despite his time at Davidson, KU and now SMU, I think he's known much more as an NBA coach.

Steve Alford mentioned later, played 4 years in the NBA. Started coaching at Division III I might add.

The point is this, long NBA careers do not generally indicate coaching success or appitude. Quite the opposite. Kevin Ollie is an outlier. It was perfectly reasonable to want to see him demonstrate his coaching ability before allowing him to take his very first head coaching job at one of the top programs in the country on a permanent basis. It was a risk to hire him at all. One I am glad WM decided to take, because I too think he's a unique man and is a perfect fit.

You have a unique ability to maintain that you are right even when you are proven wrong.

 

[mauconnfan]

Warde can become a hero real fast if he makes a football move next week when P's buyout shrinks. P seems to be unwilling to take Warde's advice on getting a new playcaller. Oh to dream.

It really would make all Husky fans think of Warde in a different light......and he has reason as PP can't even keep a coach under his tutelage never mind get good enough players to compete........

 

[UConnDan97]

Donovan played one year. One. For Pitino because the team that drafted him waived him. Then he went to work on wall street. Then joined Pitino's staff at UK. He was at UK 5-6 years, then had two as HC at Marshall before getting the Florida job. This is a classic coaching resume. Failed player pays his dues as an assistant and then HC at a lower tier school. This is closer to Calhoun's path (he did have a tryout with the Celtics) than Ollie's.

John Thompson played for the Celtics for two years. He was not a successful NBA player.

Brown is iffy. Played in the ABA, not NBA. Also, despite his time at Davidson, KU and now SMU, I think he's known much more as an NBA coach.

Steve Alford mentioned later, played 4 years in the NBA. Started coaching at Division III I might add.

The point is this, long NBA careers do not generally indicate coaching success or appitude. Quite the opposite. Kevin Ollie is an outlier. It was perfectly reasonable to want to see him demonstrate his coaching ability before allowing him to take his very first head coaching job at one of the top programs in the country on a permanent basis. It was a risk to hire him at all. One I am glad WM decided to take, because I too think he's a unique man and is a perfect fit.

This is kind of a silly post. You are of course free to feel however you want to feel about Warde's handling of Ollie's contract, but if you are trying to make the statement that Kevin Ollie could only be evaluated a priori by finding a player who had played 13 years in the NBA followed by two years as an assistant, well of course you're going to have a hard time finding an exact match. That's because very few people play in the NBA for 13 seasons! (most of them seem to come from UConn ) But the above list (along with Al McGuire) is a pretty impressive list of college coaches with NBA experience.

Also, if you look through the ranks of NBA coaches, you'll find exactly what you're looking for. Doc Rivers played for 13 years in the league. Phil Jackson played for 13 years. K.C. Jones played for 9 years. These are pretty famous coaches at the highest level of coaching. I'm not sure what you're getting at in terms of trying to find the direct resume match, but if you want one, I'll supply the name Phil Jackson and feel completely fine about it...

 

[metsfan2323]

It really would make all Husky fans think of Warde in a different light......and he has reason as PP can't even keep a coach under his tutelage never mind get good enough players to compete........

Yup, there is just cause for P's dismissal next week. He was given an opportunity to improve his staff and he didn't capitalize on it. I'm not holding my breath though. It's just wishful thinking.

 

[Palatine]

The way the Ollie situation played out was very well for UConn.

It changed the conversation away from the negative aspects of UConn's season. Olllie became the focus and almost all Ollie coverage was positive.

It also changed the template away for the "replacing a legend almost never works" stories, to this guys deserves the job stories.

It also resulted in the continuing support of Ollie by other coaches and announcers who praised Ollie and put the coach and the team in a positive light.

All in all a net plus for UConn.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You have a unique ability to maintain that you are right even when you are proven wrong.

I just proved you wrong. Donovan's one year is similar to Ollie's 13? Donovan's 7 years as assistant and small program HC are similar to KOs 2 years where he wasn't even the lead assistant?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dann]

It is worth noting that Kevin Ollie would have been a lot less than $1.4MM a year if Manuel had signed him in September. Nice work Warde.

nelson, i have been saying this all along. above all other things u could have signed ko to a 2 or 3 years deal right away for cheap with a quick little buyout to cover your tail. after year 2 if everything is good then give him his payday. that $ saved asap could have bought the coaches out week 8 of the season or later and u could have gotten brown or a new staff depending on what u wanted to do. that was my stance all along and i still hold that it makes a lot more sense then the bull we have gone thru here the past 2 months. if p is fired next week i'll be happy for the school and my rooting interests just like yesterday with ko, but i'll be even mader if thats possible. that would show it was all about the $ when i just laid out another path to take if $ was a issue. and while the wait then all the coaches that are good were scooped up by other schools. doesn't matter tho as warde said p is coming abck and gdl to call plays but don tell fans that bs. but i still think no nvision led the uconn spending extra money for what they got as result. they have ko longterm for a certain price. he was never going anywhere, could have given him short term and fixed fball for about the same price. brutal vision.

 

[junglehusky]

I would rather not sacrifice a long-term deal for KO to get him on the cheap. If he had a 2-3 year lowball contract you know opposing coaches would say "he won't be at UConn in 2 years" to recruits. And nothing's preventing Warde from replacing PP after next year and bringing in "his" guy. Again, I would have prefered if we canned PP and promoted Brown, but if the deal is we get a new FB coach now in return for lowballing KO and destabilizing the MBB program, that's not a trade I would make.

 

[uconNYC]

Warde can become a hero real fast if he makes a football move next week when P's buyout shrinks. P seems to be unwilling to take Warde's advice on getting a new playcaller. Oh to dream.

He does not have to go that far. Just fire GDL and announce that we've signed a home and home with PennState that sees them come to the Rent in 2014. (Think that is realistic as RU is now in the B1G so PSU will have an OOC opening in their 2014 schedule as they were scheduled to play at RU).