Ollie can not be fired.

[UConnNick]

Hindsight is 20/20 though. I don't know if big donors had a huge issue with the buyout terms when NBA teams were sniffing around Jim Calhoun's hand picked successor. It feels like a lifetime ago, but things were different when the extension was signed.

Perhaps you're right, but that would have required a consensus at the time among them and the school administration along the lines of, "Hey, now you donors are OK with backing this buyout deal if everything goes south, right?"

 

[blue93]

I didn't say they didn't care about the program. Read it again. I said they were putting themselves first which in a losing culture is human nature. A winning culture promoted by a leader at the top could help that mentality.

I read it again. It still comes across as a knock on the players for not caring about the name on the front of the jersey. But that's just semantics. At the end of the day, we're both saying someone else can get more out of the players.

 

[Jimdish255]

Hindsight is 20/20 though. I don't know if big donors had a huge issue with the buyout terms when NBA teams were sniffing around Jim Calhoun's hand picked successor. It feels like a lifetime ago, but things were different when the extension was signed.

That was 2 contracts ago.

 

[Chief00]

Chief, you know very little. The NCAA doesn’t really have anything on UConn. A few minor, secondary violations maybe. Like Ollie paying for a guy to work out the players in the offseason. A few alums/ex NBA guys contacting recruits, Boo Willingham doing dumb, Boo Willingham things, etc. Not much. Some stupidity. But the idiots in Indy have bigger issues to deal with. So the “cause” relief doesn’t appear to be coming to fruition for Benedict.

And...the university does NOT have the money to pay Ollie $10m AND hire a coach that they’d want. So old Davey boy is scrambling to figure out a plan now that Plan A (a negotiated/cause-based buyout) is vanishing. Will be interesting to see what he comes up with in order to avoid having to answer the question, “so tell me again...why did you give him a FULLY guaranteed contract extension in December 2016?”

Stay tuned. The university mortgaging its athletically funded future in the hopes of getting a P5 invite is about to hit a brick wall going 10,000,000 mph.

We will see who knows little. You also might want to read his contract - it mentions NCAA violations - it doesn’t put the violations on a scale. As for Dave's Plan, he has one. Your information appears dated.

#TrustInChief

 

[huskyrob1]

Chief, you know very little. The NCAA doesn’t really have anything on UConn. A few minor, secondary violations maybe. Like Ollie paying for a guy to work out the players in the offseason. A few alums/ex NBA guys contacting recruits, Boo Willingham doing dumb, Boo Willingham things, etc. Not much. Some stupidity. But the idiots in Indy have bigger issues to deal with. So the “cause” relief doesn’t appear to be coming to fruition for Benedict.

And...the university does NOT have the money to pay Ollie $10m AND hire a coach that they’d want. So old Davey boy is scrambling to figure out a plan now that Plan A (a negotiated/cause-based buyout) is vanishing. Will be interesting to see what he comes up with in order to avoid having to answer the question, “so tell me again...why did you give him a FULLY guaranteed contract extension in December 2016?”

Stay tuned. The university mortgaging its athletically funded future in the hopes of getting a P5 invite is about to hit a brick wall going 10,000,000 mph.

If you think the University is mortgaging it's future in hopes of getting a P5 invite, then they certainly can reduce the principal on that mortgage a ton by firing Ollie now. UConn basketball won't have a future at all, if he coaches another year.

 

[Chief00]

Part of the problem is likely the 800 lb. gorilla in the room. It has been discussed that some or most of the big donors have been and may continue to be Ollie supporters. Why would this be? Maybe partly because they're pissed that Benedict handed Ollie the ridiculous buyout terms on his contract?

Right now, AD Dave isn't likely the best friend of many UCONN donors. He's stuck now having to grovel, hat in hand, for whatever dinero they're willing to part with, hopefully ending this snowshow that AD Dave is partially responsible for creating in the first place.

Yeah, he may be successful in strong arming enough of them to make something work, but this time there will be strings attached to punish him for his prior idiocy. This time they're gonna get their say as to whom our next HC is gonna be. Remember Bobby Burton and the Pasqualoni hire? Benedict won't have the same luxury that lame duck Hathaway had when he pissed in Burton's Cheerios and hired whomever he damn wanted to. Our donors may end up selecting our next head coach, and the school administration will have no one to blame but themselves for their incredible mismanagement of the AD.

Burton’s firm is going through bankruptcy. He’s not driving things today.

 

[blue93]

That was 2 contracts ago.

Yeah you're right about that. My bad.

@UConnNick in this case, I might be pissed if I was a big donor and wasn't consulted. They may have been asked though. Who knows.

 

[Sonova]

We will see who knows little. You also might want to read his contract - it mentions NCAA violations - it doesn’t put the violations on a scale. As for Dave's Plan, he has one. Your information appears dated.

We shall see indeed. If breakfast on Wednesday morning is dated I’ll stand corrected. And I’ve certainly read the contract. I take it you know about the player suspensions being lifted this morning? I’ll wait for your answer.

 

[UConnNick]

Burton’s firm is going through bankruptcy. He’s not driving things today.

I wasn't suggesting he was, only using him to illustrate a point. Burton has always been about football anyway, whether or not he's still an active donor to the AD.

 

[Chief00]

We shall see indeed. If breakfast on Wednesday morning is dated I’ll stand corrected. And I’ve certainly read the contract. I take it you know about the player suspensions being lifted this morning? I’ll wait for your answer.

The NCAA had nothing “major” on us before so they made a new rule and made it retroactive. It’s not what you or I deem to be a major violation. With the NCAA and UConn its an investigation in search of a violation, any violation will do.

It’s a risk for KO as are other things. You appear to be more optimistic about KO keeping his job than KO himself.

 

[Kembacity]

Who of the defections from last year would have made a big difference? Enoch was a highlight film?
VJ never wanted to be a big and never was going to stay on the east coast

Enoch, he was taller than 6'9". I'm missing where a big man or a three point shooter would have to be a highlight film to make the team better. With Enoch instead of Dave O and Gilbert healthy, we wouldn't have been great but our ball handling issues and rebounding issues would've been slightly less atrocious

 

[Chief00]

I wasn't suggesting he was, only using him to illustrate a point. Burton has always been about football anyway, whether or not he's still an active donor to the AD.

At any rate, the donor issue has been cleared up - Dave is all set for a negotiated buyout. Additionally, “ for cause “ is a bigger universe than the NCAA. I am confident this will be negotiated and relatively amicably settled.

 

[Chief00]

Enoch, he was taller than 6'9". I'm missing where a big man or a three point shooter would have to be a highlight film to make the team better. With Enoch instead of Dave O and Gilbert healthy, we wouldn't have been great but our ball handling issues and rebounding issues would've been slightly less atrocious

Steve could rebound.

 

[TRest]

We shall see indeed. If breakfast on Wednesday morning is dated I’ll stand corrected. And I’ve certainly read the contract. I take it you know about the player suspensions being lifted this morning? I’ll wait for your answer.

I certainly don't know about any player suspensions. No point in keeping it a secret now.

 

[AntG168]

So in all honesty, who do you guys think is the best possible replacement and what kind of recruiting do you think they do in the first few years?

I'm almost looking forward to him getting fired even though I'm one of the few in the give him one more year camp. I just can't wait to see everyone backpedal or complain about what an awful job the new coach does with recruiting. We are not going to be landing 5star kids, so understand that

We don’t now...

 

[Madmannsucks]

Steve could rebound.

I agree with much of what you say. However Enoch's typical game was 7 minutes, 3 boards 2 points, 4 missed blown assignments on d and 2 or 3 fouls.
Didn't work hard enough. Justin Brown redux.

 

[mauconnfan]

Haste!?

Two straight losing seasons, the first in like, almost half a century. Back to back.
Losing to Wagner, Northeastern, Yale, East Carolina, - almost figured out a way to lose to Coppin State, blown out of the *building* by P5 opponents
A never ending turnstile of players the last three years
A never ending turnstile of coaches the last three years
The same offensive issues every game
An increasing number of defensive issues every game
The most 20 point+ blow outs in the history of the program
I mean we haven't been over a #7 seed in the NCAA tournament since 2010-2011. That's going on 8 years, now.
An NCAA Championship
An NCAA investigation
0-9 on national television
Lots of silly, distracting rumors around the program
A coach who's disinterested generally in recruiting
Nose-dive in attendance
All at the worst possible time

Three of the last four years have been actively *bad basketball*. The recruiting was never a problem, theoretically shouldn't be still - but we're finishing lower and lower every year in conference usa, basically.

NO NEED TO BE HASTY THOUGH

People realize that head coaches are fired for like... a quarter of this list at other very good-elite caliber programs, right? I mean I know JC was one heck of a luxury, but you can't possibly be this out of touch with the world around you....

Can we please fire him right now so we don'y need to see these people write the same Goddam thing they've been writing day in-day out for a year now? I mean it's pitiful around here, he's gone quit reminding us daily of his journey to the door.

 

[Alum86]

That statement is true. Been there. Done that. But folks on this message board look at the basketball program though a magnifying glass. The administration is a little further back. What they think is unacceptable may not be the same things that the athletic department thinks are unacceptable. Cooler heads. Cutting Ollie loose too soon may makes the situation more uncertain and rudderless. They lose nothing by waiting a while. And may gain some clarity by waiting. When you have clear direction, act swiftly.

Yeah. Status quo. Nobody knew at work they were even playing yesterday. He’s gotta go. We’re a laughing stock that has become a laughing stock nobody watches

 

[willie99]

Ollie knows what he did or didn't do. I suspect that Benedict does as well. They'll reach an accord.

Or maybe there's no reason to reach one. With respect to the investigation, one of the most important facts we're supposed to know already is that none of the recruits came here. I think that bodes well for the program.

But if he was involved in violations , I absolutely concur

 

[Chief00]

Can we please fire him right now so we don'y need to see these people write the same Goddam thing they've been writing day in-day out for a year now? I mean it's pitiful around here, he's gone quit reminding us daily of his journey to the door.

I agree let’s not kick a dude when he’s down; even when he may be getting a negotiated payout we would all want to receive.

 

[CTGoonie]

I’m in.

I'm not an alum but I'll throw in a couple hundred to cover a few that don't.
How about we get Malloy to add a .10 gas tax to pay for Ollie that goes away once the goal is reached?


Ha! Just kidding. That tax would never go away.

 

[Kembacity]

We don’t now...

Yes... but the mouth-breathers here seem to think that's because of Ollie.

First and foremost it's about the conference, and I think even current Ollie has an ability to get kids interested and everyone is just assuming every other possible head coach out there will be better in this respect. I don't think some schmo head coach is going to improve recruiting, maybe the product on the court, maybe the development of players over a 3 year period, but not recruiting overall

 

[HuskyHawk]

At any rate, the donor issue has been cleared up - Dave is all set for a negotiated buyout. Additionally, “ for cause “ is a bigger universe than the NCAA. I am confident this will be negotiated and relatively amicably settled.

I can't recall ever wanting you to be right more than about this.

As a side note, does anybody think, money aside, that Kevin is enjoying this job? I think he could improve his personal happiness, and his future as a coach, by taking another job along with a negotiated buyout, and moving on. It provides him with better optics for an NBA assistant job than being straight up fired. There are benefits for KO to moving on amicably.

 

[the Q]

I can't recall ever wanting you to be right more than about this.

As a side note, does anybody think, money aside, that Kevin is enjoying this job? I think he could improve his personal happiness, and his future as a coach, by taking another job along with a negotiated buyout, and moving on. It provides him with better optics for an NBA assistant job than being straight up fired. There are benefits for KO to moving on amicably.

I don't think it will take him long to get an NBA Asst job.

Especially if the perception is that he is just not a good recruiter. (I don't know what NBA front offices think of him, just saying that being a bad recruiter isn't a big deal for an NBA Asst Coach).

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't think it will take him long to get an NBA Asst job.

Especially if the perception is that he is just not a good recruiter. (I don't know what NBA front offices think of him, just saying that being a bad recruiter isn't a big deal for an NBA Asst Coach).

I think he still has some very solid connections and friends in the NBA. I don't know how anyone can think his problems are just around recruiting. He's a horrific game coach. But I do think a lot of his problems stem from not understanding the college game, and not appreciating the way the game has evolved. So I do think he could get an NBA assistant job.