via duffy looks like ollie has a year contract. enough time?

[mauconnfan]

I don't think it would or could be Donovan, it's just an example. If they can lure some other very strong coach, they should.

I think Nostical has it right above. KO was forced on the administration. I think that's worse for him, as he may not even get a fair chance. I don't see how it affects recruiting. Kevin Ollie is the worst case scenario for a recruit. It will be him, or somebody better than him, with a bigger name.

Fair points but it has to affect recruiting........as noted kids love KO......if they're not sure if he will be here after a year why would they come? Does anyone honestly think he would stay after an "interim" year and then be someone else's assistant at UConn?......the one year contract will affect recruiting and will be a focus of opposing coaches, like it or not.........

 

[nomar]

I don't like it, but I think KO will do fine. Anybody who expects us to have a good season in terms of Wins & Losses hasn't been paying attention. We don't have a frontcourt.

Everything we have heard about KO has been incredibly good. Yes, we all have questions about his being a head coach as opposed to an assistant, but I think he can use this year to learn some things. The key will be getting the players to believe in him and the program. Even if we're not winning a lot of games, if the message from the locker room is a good one, Manuel will notice. I assume that he is actually giving KO a chance. He could have just named Blaney the interim coach if he really wanted to screw JC.

p.s. I'm seeing some comparisons to the Smith/Guthridge situation. Obviously KO, like BG, is a legend's hand-picked successor. But I have to laugh because the notion that Bill Guthridge could recruit like Kevin Ollie can recruit is ridiculous. Yes, UNC is UNC, but Guthridge was "Not Dean Smith," while KO is a cool, former NBA player who seems to relate really well to recruits and players.

 

[Donyell]

NO one year is not sufficient. Like one poster above noted give him a 4 year deal with some kind of out nobody would have to know all the specifics. Either he is the coach or not, no in between stuff. After getting rid of Hathaway do we have another idiot maybe too harsh but that's MHO and I am sticking to it.

 

[freescooter]

They are hiring a person who has been a third assistant for two years as head coach at one of the ten biggest schools in the country. No other assistant in the country would even be considered for this gig if this happened in April. There would be head coaches from BCS schools begging for this gig. Ward owes Ollie nothing, and is giving him a great chance to show him something and land this job. With the limitations, it will not be totally tied with wins or losses or even bringing in a top recruit or two. It is that he can handle the program and provide the coaching ability that many people think he can provide. Kevin, do work!

Seriously, if UConn hired a third year assistant form some other school as head coach, how would people here feel about it? How much does anyone here actually know of KO's coaching ability? Nothing.

Nice to see someone else gets it. I'm willing to give Calhoun the benefit of the doubt that his injury caused him to make this decision now, and essentially forced UConn to hire Ollie. But the downside for Ollie is that he gets a short term deal and is forced to demonstrate that he has what it takes to run this program. he doesn't get 3 or 5 years to screw around and run it into the ground. It won't be just wins and losses, but several other things that come into play too.

 

[Gurleyman]

Not to throw a wet blanket on things, but you have to wonder what our current issues with conference affiliation do to the appeal of our job. We're probably not plucking a guy away from a BCS school, and a guy like Shaka Smart can wait out a more stable situation.