Who would be your next coach

[ExcitedTitan]

When I think of high school basketball coaches who went on to be successful college coaches names like Tom Izzo, Bobby Knight and Perry Watson come to mind.

Obviously, they are talking about jumping right from high school to DI head coaching. All those coaches you named were at the DI level when they got their head coaching job, most for many years.

[upbasketballfan]

When I think of high school basketball coaches who went on to be successful college coaches names like Tom Izzo, Bobby Knight and Perry Watson come to mind.

Obviously, they are talking about jumping right from high school to DI head coaching. All those coaches you named were at the DI level when they got their head coaching job, most for many years.

As I believe the Commish pointed out before pure babble from 96. I've known Izzo since he was 6 yrs.old and his total HS coaching career consisted of 1 season at Ishpeming HS. Bobby Knight on the other hand was never a head coach in HS but an assistant in the Cleveland suburbs for one season then the General went to Army as an assist. where Coach K.was a player of his and also Knight's assist. The HS to D1 is a huge step and great private school coaches in Michigan such as Keener,Mack and Fracassa who were some of the very best never took the leap.

[upbasketballfan]

Come on Mike! Please post who the next coach is going to be so I do not have to keep running to my computer every 10 min. to check.

[ptctitan]

Titans96 - I was referring to hiring a new coach directly from high school. Izzo was Heathcote's assistant for 12 seasons before he became MSU's head coach. BTW, Donnelly was a WNBA scout for the NY Liberty - not an NBA scout, but he did have a short gig at Akron as an assistant more than 10 years ago. Notre Dame hired Gerry Faust as its head football coach directly from Cincinnati Moeller HS. He coached a bunch of All-Americans into mediocrity even though in HS, he coached an annual Ohio powerhouse.

[titandave]

In the event Andre LaFleur is hired as the new head coach; I believe McFolley, Allen, and Chatman will return to UDM. And, if Tariiq Jones is academically eligible; he'll be on our squad as well.

[77-85Titan]

Let's not get started on Brother Rice, CC and DeLasalle as they ARE focused squarely on athletics, i.e., see their non-academic facilities.

Really? All three of those schools have spent millions of dollars recently on academic and specifically science upgrades. Have you seen the CC facilities? None of those are focused squarely on athletics, athletics are a byproduct of attracting good families who support their children. Perhaps you should take a close look at the % of grads from those three schools that attend a 4 year college. All are close to 100%.

[JimmyChitwood]

Come on Mike! Please post who the next coach is going to be . . .

Yeah Mike, just tell us already. Dang! Why you being such a tease?







Stay tuned!

[upbasketballfan]

Pitino?

[upbasketballfan]

Pitino?

I said it before. If we have to go for it and I think we are now in that position then lets get a thoroughbred and run this race.

[Titans96]

Just ask yourself the question: Did you recommend BA and JJSr as coaches for the Titans? If so, how did that work for you? I am clearly someone who warned of the problems JJSr (mainly) and BA would bring to the program. I would say my predictions were highly accurate.

I will just stick with my earlier statement that Stevens, Mann and Donnelly all have D1, D2 and D3 coaching experience. Plus Donnelly has been a scout for NBA teams and obviously has top level high school experience. UDM can’t go wrong with any of these candidates.

[udballer]

I would rank those 3 candidates in the order of Mann, Stephens & then Donnelly. That said, I'm hoping for none of them. Donnelly doesn't impress me at all and I want no part of a guy on the current MSU staff. That leaves Mann... who I like less than other names that have been kicked around.

Also, all of us should have supported BA even if we didn't "recommend" him... though I didn't like the hire as much as many on the board.

[titanmike]

Just ask yourself the question: Did you recommend BA and JJSr as coaches for the Titans? If so, how did that work for you? I am clearly someone who warned of the problems JJSr (mainly) and BA would bring to the program. I would say my predictions were highly accurate.

I will just stick with my earlier statement that Stevens, Mann and Donnelly all have D1, D2 and D3 coaching experience. Plus Donnelly has been a scout for NBA teams and obviously has top level high school experience. UDM can’t go wrong with any of these candidates.

I did recommend BA. I feel zero shame for that. You clearly are a bit of a blowhard also. You're acting as if you are the only one who could of known about problems regarding JJ. Only an complete idiot would be completely unaware. So your predictions ain't S***.

On your candidate list. Donnelly is not considering the job. If you are referring to Dwayne "Stephens", you might consider getting his spelling right for the umpteenth time. As for Mann. I have no strong opinion one way or another regarding him.

[Titans96]

I am glad you don’t feel shame for recommending BA. No reason to feel shame for anything. In regards to JJSr, I am one of the very few on this board who knew (and stated) how bad a decision it was for JJSr to be forced upon Ray by Vowels and kept as an assistant in the program with BA. JJSr has lived up to my expectations and now he is creating even more danger to the program than many realize (and I think you know what I mean). We can’t get rid of JJSr fast enough, the sooner the better.

In regards to the candidates I recommended that Vowels consider, if Donnelly turned down the job that’s not a good sign. He would have been a great choice and hopefully we can learn the reasons why he turned down the job. Yes, I meant Dwayne Stephens (sorry for the mispelling). He too would be a great coach and all that talk about MSU issues is just uninformed people who don’t know the quality of the person. And Mann would be a strong candidate and should be considered. Hopefully Vowels gets his act together. The longer it takes, the deeper the program slides into the dumpster. These three candidates can turn around the program and get great kids into the program. Next year is going to be a disaster no matter what, and it now is how quickly the new hire can turn the program around from the 2018-19 pending disaster season (even worse than the last two seasons).

[titanmike]

I am glad you don’t feel shame for recommending BA. No reason to feel shame for anything. In regards to JJSr, I am one of the very few on this board who knew (and stated) how bad a decision it was for JJSr to be forced upon Ray by Vowels and kept as an assistant in the program with BA. JJSr has lived up to my expectations and now he is creating even more danger to the program than many realize (and I think you know what I mean). We can’t get rid of JJSr fast enough, the sooner the better.

In regards to the candidates I recommended that Vowels consider, if Donnelly turned down the job that’s not a good sign. He would have been a great choice and hopefully we can learn the reasons why he turned down the job. Yes, I meant Dwayne Stephens (sorry for the mispelling). He too would be a great coach and all that talk about MSU issues is just uninformed people who don’t know the quality of the person. And Mann would be a strong candidate and should be considered. Hopefully Vowels gets his act together. The longer it takes, the deeper the program slides into the dumpster. These three candidates can turn around the program and get great kids into the program. Next year is going to be a disaster no matter what, and it now is how quickly the new hire can turn the program around from the 2018-19 pending disaster season (even worse than the last two seasons).

So I would ask you, does it give you great joy to pat yourself on the back so much your skin goes raw? I am not so sure Donnelly has turned down the job as much as my hearing he isn't interested. Mann has been with the program before, I am nit sure that's the route we want to take. Stephens, I cant make a good case one way or the other at this point.

I agree this is taking a long time. If we want to keep some of the players around, I have a strong opinion that Lindsey Hunter would be a good hire. It would also mitigate the disaster possibly.

[ptctitan]

I am one of the very few on this board who knew (and stated) how bad a decision it was for JJSr to be forced upon Ray by Vowels and kept as an assistant in the program with BA.

Yeah, but since you did not join this board until 2016 and did not make a post until mid-May 2016, your insights into these problems are just a tad post facto. JJ was "forced" onto Ray by Vowels 11 months before you made a post on this board. Thanks for the early warning.

In regards to the candidates I recommended that Vowels consider, if Donnelly turned down the job that’s not a good sign. He would have been a great choice and hopefully we can learn the reasons why he turned down the job. Yes, I meant Dwayne Stephens (sorry for the mispelling). He too would be a great coach and all that talk about MSU issues is just uninformed people who don’t know the quality of the person. And Mann would be a strong candidate and should be considered. Hopefully Vowels gets his act together. The longer it takes, the deeper the program slides into the dumpster. These three candidates can turn around the program and get great kids into the program. Next year is going to be a disaster no matter what, and it now is how quickly the new hire can turn the program around from the 2018-19 pending disaster season (even worse than the last two seasons).

Who says that Vowels is not considering Stephens and Mann? If Vowels makes a hire this week, it will be at about the same time that Gaither hired Ray and Vowels hired Bacari. Whether Bacari was fired March 26 or March 6, next season was going to be a struggle. If a bad 2018-19 season is the price for a much stronger program longer-term, then as a fan, I am willing to pay that price in the same way I was willing to accept it during Bacari's unsuccessful tenure here. Just make a good hire.

[ptctitan]

Remember this tweet

Per Tony Paul

Current UNLV assistant Andre LaFleur, a former assistant at UConn and Providence, appears to have had some contact in regard to the Detroit Mercy HC job. Ties to the city appear nonexistent.

And this Tweet from Coaching Changes:

Coaching Changes reporting:

"Andre LeFluer from UNLV on campus at Detroit today, please help us understand this one, NO Detroit or Midwest tie #RunningFromMarv"

Here is another Tweet and Reply by Coaching Changes about the FIU job this morning:

Jon Quintero
Replying to @CoachingChanges
Where are the local ties for those guys?

Coaching Changes
@CoachingChanges
22m22 minutes ago

In 2018, this has become less and less important. Let's say you get a "local" guy that recruits a killer freshman from Florida. Guess what? That kid ain't staying. Recruit what you can in HS, and load up JUCOs and transfers if you're outside the P6. Don't need a guy with "ties"

Don't you love the consistency of opinion from the Twitter handle that wants Zeigler as our coach.

[Tacitus651]

What's taking so long? I don't see a new coach even having an opportunity to keep McFolley or Allen given how far along they must be in talking to other schools. At this point a new coach will have a hard time finding enough players to round out a team.

[upbasketballfan]

I am hoping the new coach will be Pitino and the second chair will be Dawkins with a promise that if Pitino gets plucked from us in three years that the first chair will go to Dawkins. We will not be able to hold him if someone comes knocking with 5-7 million. Right now he will be an instant fix for our program and bring immediate national recognition. A desperate situation requires drastic measures.

[NC Titan]

I am hoping the new coach will be Pitino and the second chair will be Dawkins with a promise that if Pitino gets plucked from us in three years that the first chair will go to Dawkins. We will not be able to hold him if someone comes knocking with 5-7 million. Right now he will be an instant fix for our program and bring immediate national recognition. A desperate situation requires drastic measures.

Talk about selling your soul to the devil. We want nothing to do with Pitino.

[TitanVoiceofReason]

We have to consider Pitino if he is indeed a legitimate possibility as coach. I like Dawkins too. I also like Kevin Mondro. He is young, has head coaching experience, and knows the Titan Territory and the metro area. I don't know if Mondro is interested but we should inquire about him. Any way, we must keep all of our options available. This is why Vowels gets paid the big bucks.