Virginia WBB head coach Tina Thompson has been fired

[nwhoopfan]

Okay, here's a challenge. Name a coach who started off with 4 bad years, then turned it around in year 5. I don't even have a guess at a satisfactory example. To the best of my knowledge, coaches who are successful get it going sooner than that.

 

[UConnCat]

Okay, here's a challenge. Name a coach who started off with 4 bad years, then turned it around in year 5. I don't even have a guess at a satisfactory example. To the best of my knowledge, coaches who are successful get it going sooner than that.

Even if the wins aren't quite there they at least show some success in recruiting. Thompson's recruiting was terrible and was never going to improve in year 5 as a lame duck coach. That's why the AD and the university decided to cut their losses.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Okay, here's a challenge. Name a coach who started off with 4 bad years, then turned it around in year 5. I don't even have a guess at a satisfactory example. To the best of my knowledge, coaches who are successful get it going sooner than that.

If you rephrased that to "3 bad years," believe it or not, Geno would qualify:

1985–86	Connecticut	12–15	4–12	7th
1986–87	Connecticut	14–13	9–7	7th
1987–88	Connecticut	17–11	9–7	5th
1988–89	Connecticut	24–6	13–2	1st	NCAA First Round

There was a mild but discernible upward trajectory in years 1-3, but really didn't look all the promising until the Huskies exploded in year four.

ETA: Charli Turner Thorne's newly retired ears were burning, because she's actually a decent example of the fifth year success story:

1996–97	Arizona State	9–19	3–15	9th
1997–98	Arizona State	10–17	6–12	T-7th
1998–99	Arizona State	12–15	6–12	T-6th
1999–00	Arizona State	14–15	7–11	7th	WNIT 1st Round
2000–01	Arizona State	20–11	12–6	T-1st	NCAA First Round

 

[nwhoopfan]

I wouldn't call year 3 for Geno bad. CTT is a good call, good job.

I didn't look up every coach I could think of, but year 3 or 4 is usually when it starts to get better if it's gonna happen I think.

Or if you're Mulkey things instantly get better wherever you go. She's a magician.

 

[UConnCat]

If you rephrased that to "3 bad years," believe it or not, Geno would qualify:

1985–86	Connecticut	12–15	4–12	7th
1986–87	Connecticut	14–13	9–7	7th
1987–88	Connecticut	17–11	9–7	5th
1988–89	Connecticut	24–6	13–2	1st	NCAA First Round

There was a mild but discernible upward trajectory in years 1-3, but really didn't look all the promising until the Huskies exploded in year four.

ETA: Charli Turner Thorne's newly retired ears were burning, because she's actually a decent example of the fifth year success story:

1996–97	Arizona State	9–19	3–15	9th
1997–98	Arizona State	10–17	6–12	T-7th
1998–99	Arizona State	12–15	6–12	T-6th
1999–00	Arizona State	14–15	7–11	7th	WNIT 1st Round
2000–01	Arizona State	20–11	12–6	T-1st	NCAA First Round

Oh come on. Do you have any idea what Connecticut was like before Geno arrived? Geno's first 3 years were not "bad years" considering where the program was when he arrived.

 

[Basket]

I have to disagree. When a coach craters a program, you have to move on. Same deal here w/ Washington and Wynn. Some wanted to see her get a 5th year. I was not one of those. Of course I can't possibly know for sure, because it didn't happen, but I have just about 100% confidence that she would not have turned a corner or shown any kind of significant improvement if she was still coaching in Seattle.

Virginia isn't my team, so it really doesn't matter to me, but IMO Thompson has been given ample time to show she's just not gonna get it done.

I liked Wynn but she couldn’t get wins or players. Long Beach isn’t the Pac 12. USC passed on her and she ended up at Washington. I don’t think things would have been different but you never know. USC better place to recruit

 

[TC22]

Dawn has a $5 mil buy-out. We r safe.

 

[ThatCG1801]

My understanding is that UVA came pretty close to getting Dawn when Boyle left. Then SC made an offer she couldn’t refuse… essentially a contract for life (or as long as she wanted it).

This is going to be a long response but this is a good summation of the situation, and tbh some of this info I didn't know until I read about it on our On3 site:

In 2011 Dawn's own former HC, Debbie Ryan, resigned as UVA's HC. The AD at that time was Craig Littlepage. While he did speak with Dawn about the vacancy, it was basically for optics only and she was never actually seriously considered for the position at all. Dawn said it "left a sour taste in my mouth" and it resulted in a breakdown of any relationship she had previously had with UVA. The AD that caused the rift retired in 2017 and Carla Williams, who remains in the position, was hired as AD. Williams and Dawn are close friends and Williams helped repair most of the damage that Littlepage caused in 2011. In 2018 the HC that Littlepage hired instead of Dawn, Coach Boyles, retired and Dawn was contacted about the position. Dawn did speak with UVA about the position but declined. It is believed that she did provide input as to who the new hire should be, however. UVA ended up hiring Tina Thompson and as we all know, she has now been terminated as HC. Of course it is almost a guaranteed certainty that AD Williams will contact Dawn about the vacancy and I'm relatively certain Dawn will agree to speak with them. It is doubtful that Dawn is interested in the position, however, and it is far more likely that she again provides input and perspective on possible replacements for Thompson. A name that is thought to be likely to emerge is former Gamecock assistant and former Mississippi State HC Nikki McCray-Pinson IF Nikki believes that returning to the coaching ranks is okay health-wise.

End of mini-novella. LOL.

 

[Basket]

This is going to be a long response but this is a good summation of the situation, and tbh some of this info I didn't know until I read about it on our On3 site:

In 2011 Dawn's own former HC, Debbie Ryan, resigned as UVA's HC. The AD at that time was Craig Littlepage. While he did speak with Dawn about the vacancy, it was basically for optics only and she was never actually seriously considered for the position at all. Dawn said it "left a sour taste in my mouth" and it resulted in a breakdown of any relationship she had previously had with UVA. The AD that caused the rift retired in 2017 and Carla Williams, who remains in the position, was hired as AD. Williams and Dawn are close friends and Williams helped repair most of the damage that Littlepage caused in 2011. In 2018 the HC that Littlepage hired instead of Dawn, Coach Boyles, retired and Dawn was contacted about the position. Dawn did speak with UVA about the position but declined. It is believed that she did provide input as to who the new hire should be, however. UVA ended up hiring Tina Thompson and as we all know, she has now been terminated as HC. Of course it is almost a guaranteed certainty that AD Williams will contact Dawn about the vacancy and I'm relatively certain Dawn will agree to speak with them. It is doubtful that Dawn is interested in the position, however, and it is far more likely that she again provides input and perspective on possible replacements for Thompson. A name that is thought to be likely to emerge is former Gamecock assistant and former Mississippi State HC Nikki McCray-Pinson IF Nikki believes that returning to the coaching ranks is okay health-wise.

End of mini-novella. LOL.

Moral of the story don’t follow Dawn’s input if she recommended Thompson

 

[MSSportsGuy]

We all know Dawn isn't going anywhere. Also if NMP gets a head coaching job a UVA then they may as well have kept Thompson.

Virginia may not be a threat to get back to the top of the ACC quickly but they have the resources to be a better program than they've been if the AD is willing to commit to the WBB. Thompson likely wasn't going to get better in year 5 so it was probably the right decision.

 

[ucbart]

Technically she only had three years. But I would have given her another year or two to see what develops. Nobody knows what would have happened if she was given one more year or two. May have been the same or things may have improved. They gave Joanne Boyle seven years of mediocrity.

Why? Her team quit last year and she had cancelled games this year in mysterious ways. She can't recruit. She can't coach. This was a disaster hire from the start.

She was an assistant for a person that couldn't coach. She got that job for one reason. She's Tina Thompson.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

This is going to be a long response but this is a good summation of the situation, and tbh some of this info I didn't know until I read about it on our On3 site:

In 2011 Dawn's own former HC, Debbie Ryan, resigned as UVA's HC. The AD at that time was Craig Littlepage. While he did speak with Dawn about the vacancy, it was basically for optics only and she was never actually seriously considered for the position at all. Dawn said it "left a sour taste in my mouth" and it resulted in a breakdown of any relationship she had previously had with UVA. The AD that caused the rift retired in 2017 and Carla Williams, who remains in the position, was hired as AD. Williams and Dawn are close friends and Williams helped repair most of the damage that Littlepage caused in 2011. In 2018 the HC that Littlepage hired instead of Dawn, Coach Boyles, retired and Dawn was contacted about the position. Dawn did speak with UVA about the position but declined. It is believed that she did provide input as to who the new hire should be, however. UVA ended up hiring Tina Thompson and as we all know, she has now been terminated as HC. Of course it is almost a guaranteed certainty that AD Williams will contact Dawn about the vacancy and I'm relatively certain Dawn will agree to speak with them. It is doubtful that Dawn is interested in the position, however, and it is far more likely that she again provides input and perspective on possible replacements for Thompson. A name that is thought to be likely to emerge is former Gamecock assistant and former Mississippi State HC Nikki McCray-Pinson IF Nikki believes that returning to the coaching ranks is okay health-wise.

End of mini-novella. LOL.

lol, UVA didn't hire anyone "instead" of Dawn.

 

[ThatCG1801]

Moral of the story don’t follow Dawn’s input if she recommended Thompson

Certainly cannot argue the point that Thompson's time at UVA was woefully underwhelming. Iirc she had previously coached at Clemson and her results there were similar to what she did at UVA.

 

[ThatCG1801]

lol, UVA didn't hire anyone "instead" of Dawn.

I guess Dawn made that up? She stated as much when she recently had Carla on her podcast.

ETA: She also discusses it in her book. But what would she know, I guess.....

 

[WestsideWaltz]

I liked Wynn but she couldn’t get wins or players. Long Beach isn’t the Pac 12. USC passed on her and she ended up at Washington. I don’t think things would have been different but you never know. USC better place to recruit

Wynn said she didn't want to recruit "star" players while at Washington. She got her wish and now she and her husband are out of jobs.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Wynn said she didn't want to recruit "star" players while at Washington. She got her wish and now she and her husband are out of jobs.

That was so mind numbingly dumb. Melgoza accidentally turned into a star (but Jody didn't recruit her, so she's safe on that one). As few conference games as Wynn managed to win, the number would've been pretty close to zero w/out Amber being there. To look at the roster during her tenure, and most of what's still there, it's like she was recruiting on a Big West level. No coach could win in the Pac 12 with that type of talent.

 

[Basket]

Why? Her team quit last year and she had cancelled games this year in mysterious ways. She can't recruit. She can't coach. This was a disaster hire from the start.

She was an assistant for a person that couldn't coach. She got that job for one reason. She's Tina Thompson.

Does anyone know of a team that quit (Covid) last year that had a good season this year? I don’t think Duke had a good year. It was more disappointing than good the way they finished. They were one of Boston Colleges easiest conference wins at Duke. No energy.

 

[triaddukefan]

Does anyone know of a team that quit (Covid) last year that had a good season this year? I don’t think Duke had a good year. It was more disappointing than good the way they finished. They were one of Boston Colleges easiest conference wins at Duke. No energy.

Come on now.. Let's leave Duke outta this..let's focus on UVA

 

[Basket]

Come on now.. Let's leave Duke outta this..let's focus on UVA

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I don’t get many opportunities to brag about BC so I have to squeeze them in where I can. No malevolence intended

 

[Justaguy]

Yes Reiss.

Though they should make a run at favorite daughter Dawn.

That ship sailed a long time ago.

 

[Iluvacc2]

Come on now.. Let's leave Duke outta this..let's focus on UVA

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Poor Triad

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Was she considered when Debbie Ryan retired? If not, I bet she might not have a good relationship.

It was a lukewarm consideration and UVA isn't willing to put forth the necessary funds for a top WBB program.

 

[VA Huskie]

It was a lukewarm consideration and UVA isn't willing to put forth the necessary funds for a top WBB program.

I’m not sure that not being willing to put forth $$ is true. Let’s wait and see what happens.

 

[TC22]

Dawn isn’t going to Virginia. Her entire family has moved to SC, she’s got a terrific contract, the #1 team in the nation that will start next season as a top 5 team. This isn’t a Kim Mulkey situation where she feels like SC doesn’t appreciate her. She gets pretty much whatever she wants for her team. I just don’t see it. Down the road? Maybe there would be a reason if things aren’t what they are right now. But I just don’t see it at this time.

 

[LETTERL]

I agree. Dawn is beloved here in South Carolina. She isn't going anywhere.