OT: BCU fires Donahue

[brasssbonanzaa]

The problem for Amaker at Harvard is there's a ceiling there, and he's all but hit it. With no athletic scholarships, there's only so many good players he can get. Sure, Harvard has money to pay him, but BC has a good chunk of change at their disposal as well. He can jump into a low-expectation job at BC and pretty much have carte blanche to rebuild the program. If he takes them to the NIT in the next season or two, that would be considered a rousing success considering where they are at this moment, so he'd be under no pressure to do much of anything for a good 2-3 years.

 

[gtcam]

Amaker was declared a raging success before he'd done anything at either Seton Hall or Michigan just by virtue of his Duke background. When it came to actual wins, he was sort of meh.

when has any Duke coach done well outside the bench with the Rat? lets see what Collins does in a few years down the road at NWU - Amaker was not good at either SHU or MU - the Ivy looks to be his limit.

 

[gtcam]

You don't think he got a fair shake? He was there for 4 years!! BC's recruiting standards?? Really? Funny....those standards never prevented BC from getting the Troy Bells, Craig Smith's, and Jared Dudley's of the world! How come SD couldn't follow suit?

Al Skinner won in both the BE and ACC. SD has not. BC has never been an elite program, but for the most part, they have, in most years, been respectable to good. Until now. Under SD, BC now gets schooled by the likes of Harvard, BU, Umass, the College of Charleston!! and Bryant College (yes, Bryant College!!)

SD, by all accounts is a wonderful guy. As a BC basketball coach however, the results tell the story.

its recruitment - Skinner was able to get some good ones because he could relate to them
SD can't recruit the same types before at BC- they aren't good enough for the big time (but obviously better than cuse!)

 

[Husky25]

The problem for Amaker at Harvard is there's a ceiling there, and he's all but hit it. With no athletic scholarships, there's only so many good players he can get. Sure, Harvard has money to pay him, but BC has a good chunk of change at their disposal as well. He can jump into a low-expectation job at BC and pretty much have carte blanche to rebuild the program. If he takes them to the NIT in the next season or two, that would be considered a rousing success considering where they are at this moment, so he'd be under no pressure to do much of anything for a good 2-3 years.

That's what Donahue thought he had, especially after his first year. Then Reggie Jackson left and 5 others graduated or transferred. DeFilippo leaving didn't help his cause and neither did Donahue himself with his results this year. I still think he deserved the benefit of 2014-15.

 

[BC1978]

its recruitment - Skinner was able to get some good ones because he could relate to them
SD can't recruit the same types before at BC- they aren't good enough for the big time (but obviously better than cuse!)

That's it, gtcam. Skinner (and his staff) could recruit BE/ACC calibre players and it does not appear that SD could. BC will need to find a coach who can recruit. Not rocket science.

 

[Husky25]

when has any Duke coach done well outside the bench with the Rat? lets see what Collins does in a few years down the road at NWU - Amaker was not good at either SHU or MU - the Ivy looks to be his limit.

Amaker was a fine coach at Seton Hall which led him to Michigan. He made the post season 4 times (1NCAA Sweet 16 with Tim Thomas, 3 NIT) at SHU.

 

[BC1978]

That's what Donahue thought he had, especially after his first year. Then Reggie Jackson left and 5 others graduated or transferred. DeFilippo leaving didn't help his cause and neither did Donahue himself with his results this year. I still think he deserved the benefit of 2014-15.

Husky, here is SD's body of work at BC:

2010-11: Overall: 21-13 (incl. 1-1 NIT) ACC: 10-8 (With Al Skinner's players)
2011-12: Overall: 9-12. ACC: 4-13.
2012-13: Overall: 16-17. ACC 8-12.
2013-14: Overall 8-24. ACC 4-13.

Other than the first year with Al Skinner's players, this is not a good record. Add in the many embarrassing losses (Bryant, College of Charleston, BU, etc), not sure how anyone can argue that he deserved another year.

It just didn't work out. The record is pretty telling. What other schools would tolerate that kind of performance?

 

[Hugo]

You don't think he got a fair shake? He was there for 4 years!! BC's recruiting standards?? Really? Funny....those standards never prevented BC from getting the Troy Bells, Craig Smith's, and Jared Dudley's of the world! How come SD couldn't follow suit?

Al Skinner won in both the BE and ACC. SD has not. BC has never been an elite program, but for the most part, they have, in most years, been respectable to good. Until now. Under SD, BC now gets schooled by the likes of Harvard, BU, Umass, the College of Charleston!! and Bryant College (yes, Bryant College!!)

SD, by all accounts is a wonderful guy. As a BC basketball coach however, the results tell the story.

You can hang another bad coaching selection on Flipper. An Ivy league coach who recruited Ivy league type players for the ACC. Two years ago the writing was on the wall. Maybe a good Ivy League coach. but didn't have what is needed in the major conferences.

 

[tzznandrew]

Husky, here is SD's body of work at BC:

2010-11: Overall: 21-13 (incl. 1-1 NIT) ACC: 10-8 (With Al Skinner's players)
2011-12: Overall: 9-12. ACC: 4-13.
2012-13: Overall: 16-17. ACC 8-12.
2013-14: Overall 8-24. ACC 4-13.

Other than the first year with Al Skinner's players, this is not a good record. Add in the many embarrassing losses (Bryant, College of Charleston, BU, etc), not sure how anyone can argue that he deserved another year.

It just didn't work out. The record is pretty telling. What other schools would tolerate that kind of performance?

Why did BC regress this year? I thought they were poised to have a solid year.

 

[UConnJim]

when has any Duke coach done well outside the bench with the Rat? lets see what Collins does in a few years down the road at NWU - Amaker was not good at either SHU or MU - the Ivy looks to be his limit.

In my opinion, Amaker has become a much better coach over the years. He is only 48 and has now coached for 17 years. He was young and did decent at Seton Hall. He did OK at Michigan in spite of inherited sanctions. It seems he didn't get a fair shake at Michigan. He is a much better head coach today than he was at Seton Hall and his Harvard team would have been a mid to upper ACC team this year.

 

[UCONNfan1]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out...

Here's a thought - Calhoun goes after the job. Once he gets it, he convinces the BCU administration to forgive and forget UCONN suing them and we end up with an invite to the ACC.

However, we are so much in demand that we also get a B1G invite, which we accept and Calhoun promptly quits...

 

[TRest]

Husky, here is SD's body of work at BC:

2010-11: Overall: 21-13 (incl. 1-1 NIT) ACC: 10-8 (With Al Skinner's players)
2011-12: Overall: 9-12. ACC: 4-13.
2012-13: Overall: 16-17. ACC 8-12.
2013-14: Overall 8-24. ACC 4-13.

Other than the first year with Al Skinner's players, this is not a good record. Add in the many embarrassing losses (Bryant, College of Charleston, BU, etc), not sure how anyone can argue that he deserved another year.

It just didn't work out. The record is pretty telling. What other schools would tolerate that kind of performance?

It took him 10 years at Cornell to make the sweet 16 run. Sometime you have to know your level, he didn't.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The problem for Amaker at Harvard is there's a ceiling there, and he's all but hit it. With no athletic scholarships, there's only so many good players he can get.

(a) I don't think they've hit it, especially if they're going to let him keep recruiting the way he has been. I think they're going to make a deep run in the next couple seasons.

(b) Lack of scholarships is not a problem, particularly with Harvard's various new financial aid initiatives. It's a non-issue.

 

[UConnJim]

(a) I don't think they've hit it, especially if they're going to let him keep recruiting the way he has been. I think they're going to make a deep run in the next couple seasons.

(b) Lack of scholarships is not a problem, particularly with Harvard's various new financial aid initiatives. It's a non-issue.

Harvard can attract very good 4 year players which in the one and done era means that you can be very competitive most years with experienced players.

 

[breezy]

Husky, here is SD's body of work at BC: 2010-11: Overall: 21-13 (incl. 1-1 NIT) ACC: 10-8 (With Al Skinner's players) 2011-12: Overall: 9-12. ACC: 4-13. 2012-13: Overall: 16-17. ACC 8-12. 2013-14: Overall 8-24. ACC 4-13. Other than the first year with Al Skinner's players, this is not a good record. Add in the many embarrassing losses (Bryant, College of Charleston, BU, etc), not sure how anyone can argue that he deserved another year. It just didn't work out. The record is pretty telling. What other schools would tolerate that kind of performance?

I think this year was the only year where it was reasonable to be disappointed as a BC fan. His first year with his own recruits (11-12), almost all the minutes went to the freshmen core class of whom a few looked really promising. Ryan Anderson, hometown 7 footer Dennis Clifford and German athlete Patrick heckman especially.

The following year (12-13) saw a 7-win record improvement with addition of two very good guards, joe Rahon and acc ROY Olivier hanlan. Bang all of a sudden Donahue has a core group, but still ALL the minutes are being taken by freshman and sophomores, so expectations were tampered and things look bright for the next season or two.

This past year there was true talk of making a tourney run. Despite a 16-17 record from the previous year, there were several very close losses including a 1-point game to Miami. It seemed with a year of conference play under their belts and a year of Anderson hitting the weights and a healthy Clifford, 13-14 could have a legitimate shot at getting into the tourney if they turn close losses into close wins. Unfortunately that didn't happen.

Dennis Clifford never was. He couldn't get healthy and the only truely talented interior player (reportedly owned nerlens Noel in Boston area summer ball) on the roster never saw the floor. This put a lot of pressure on Anderson to bang with opposing bigs and took away from his inside out game. Patrick heckman, the junior who as a freshman showed flashes of brilliance never panned out to any sort of consistent player, evidence by his 20 point effort in their first round acc tourney loss after being a ghost for segments of the season. Daryl hicks, a combo guard expected to make an immediate contribution as a frosh gets injured in the summer and sits out. Now the team has no front court and a relatively thin back court who's greatest semblance of a leader in Andersen is player bigger than he should be. Ya Donahue could have maybe gotten them to play defense with more fire but that was never his game. He was an inside out three point team at Cornell. That's how they beat Syracuse. I agree this year was a massive disappointment but he recruited some talented players. Some got hurt and some didn't develop as well as hoped but I think he should have gotten to see his first class play as seniors.

 

[SubbaBub]

BC is the elephant grave yard of coaching jobs. It's where careers go to die.

Sounds like a perfect spot for Seth Greenberg.

 

[SubbaBub]

I thought there were rumors Boehiem was retiring very soon?

I think McNamara gets that job when it opens up over Hopkins.

 

[SubbaBub]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out...

Here's a thought - Calhoun goes after the job. Once he gets it, he convinces the BCU administration to forgive and forget UCONN suing them and we end up with an invite to the ACC.

However, we are so much in demand that we also get a B1G invite, which we accept and Calhoun promptly quits...

CR karma, if BC hadn't blocked us, JC might have at least considered it, all else being equal.

 

[BC1978]

Excellent summary Breezy. However, in the end, this is a business. Three horrible years. Very embarrassing losses. A team that cannot play defense. Boring, listless play. Very sparse crowds at Conte (even by BC BB standards!). Nothing to look forward to this upcoming season. IMO, no school would accept that. Time to move on.

 

[61cygni]

Should not have left Cornell. Cornell has been miserable without him.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Sounds like a perfect spot for Seth Greenberg.

Greenberg's not a bad coach. If he were still at V Tech he'd be taking a team with Dorian Finney-Smith and Montrezl Harrell to the tournament.

 

[huskypantz]

The problem for Amaker at Harvard is there's a ceiling there, and he's all but hit it. With no athletic scholarships, there's only so many good players he can get. Sure, Harvard has money to pay him, but BC has a good chunk of change at their disposal as well. He can jump into a low-expectation job at BC and pretty much have carte blanche to rebuild the program. If he takes them to the NIT in the next season or two, that would be considered a rousing success considering where they are at this moment, so he'd be under no pressure to do much of anything for a good 2-3 years.

I don't think BC's ceiling is too different than Harvard's.

 

[Chief00]

I believe Calhoun is being considered. Current BC AD is a friend of Warde's. It is unclear how much the APR/NCAA stuff weighs. Make no mistake this is a job JC would seriously consider and in some sense it would be payback to those at BC who ignored Calhoun when an opening exisred decades ago. He was treated like "Shanty" Irish and he has not forgotten. Personally, it would make things very interestingly - hope it happens.

 

[Jerry1714]

BC and Va Tech are the two worse jobs in the ACC I do not expect them to be able to lure away Amaker.

He is in line for much bigger down the road

 

[djct1999]

I believe Calhoun is being considered. Current BC AD is a friend of Warde's. It is unclear how much the APR/NCAA stuff weighs. Make no mistake this is a job JC would seriously consider and in some sense it would be payback to those at BC who ignored Calhoun when an opening exisred decades ago. He was treated like "Shanty" Irish and he has not forgotten. Personally, it would make things very interestingly - hope it happens.

there is no way calhoun is seriously considering this.