*** COACHING SEARCH THREAD: Wednesday, June 3 ***

[Beyerball]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

I am surprised with everyone who wants a big splash hire. Sure all these names sounds great but what happens at the end of the day if we keep racking up the wins and make some deep runs in the NCAA tournament? Odds are they will leave again, maybe for a "bigger" college program.

Otzelberger has everything thing we are looking for. To me he is a proven recruiter. Heck, if he can recruit guys to play under McDermott's style of play he can recruit anyone. He has a long history here and it seems like his family wants to be here long term. Allison's comments on their kids seeing their first game would be at Hilton and not Washington was pretty reveling how much Iowa State means to them. The current kids already love him and he recruited a lot of them. He is obviously going to keep they same style of play.

How do you know he can recruit the same level of kids when he's the HC and not Fred? Everyone mentions his recruiting but it's a whole new ball game when u are the man. You are a top 50-100 HS kid and u are looking at all kinds of options and TJ says come play for me...honestly put yourself in that position with the mindset that you are 16 or 17 and think u might play in the pros some day...Your biggest decision will be in trusting your college HC to be able to develop you into a pro prospect potentially. TJ has very little experience doing that. Aside from the lack of X and Os and in game coaching in big time college bball this is what worries me. I think he's a great guy and he's been a great recruiter for IsU but for other HCs.

 

[bawbie]

How many guys have all of these amazing mid-major coaches put in the NBA though? Zip?

Prohm - 2
Underwood - 0
Leon Rice - 0
Dave Rice - like 1000


we should totally hire Dave Rice!

 

[Psiclone]

Altman is interesting, would be as safe of a hire as you could hope for. No stranger to how Fred built his rosters either.

As Chris pointed out, his style would translate to the current roster well. Maybe he'd bring some of the new recruits with him?

 

[ILikeCy]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

TJ is going to be coaching somewhere in the next few years. My fear is that he turns out to be a very successful coach, and in 5 years we are talking about how "we lost another one".

That being said, TJ is my second choice behind Hornacek.

Really? You'd be disappointed if we had 5 more successful years and had to hire another coach again? Yeah, that would be horrible, winning a bunch of games and stuff.

 

[CloniesForLife]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

JP knows exactly how good of a coach he is because he's watched him coach close up for almost 10 years.

Ya I think we would know more what we are getting with TJ than any other mid major. Not saying he should definitely be hired but it isn't like he is some complete unknown quantity.

 

[bawbie]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

I hope you'd agree that being "the guy" and being "the guy under the guy" is a pretty big difference.

I'm not sure why that difference prevents someone like JP from evaluating TJ's strengths and weaknesses as a coach at a level that is much more indepth that looking at a resume or conducting an interview.

 

[CycloneErik]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

Well when one make's a statement that he's "everything we want". Well, I want a proven head coach.

But since you made the comparison.... what was TJ's playing record and accolades? All Big 8? All American. How many years in the NBA as a player? How many in a front office? Who did he play for in the NBA? Larry Brown? Larry Bird? What contacts and other tutelage does he have? Whose offices has he sat in and what exactly is his experience running the pro-sets that made Hoiberg so successful and probably are key to our success, at least with this current crop of players?

I don't see how one can compare Fred to TJ

Also, if the NBA's interest in Fred was an easy tool to use against in recruiting, wouldn't the nation's lack of interest in TJ be an extremely easy tool to use?

It's not complicated when you look at the level of guys we need. Good programs want them, too. Those programs point to what they've done, then hold out an empty hand to show what TJ has done, and it's pretty much over.

The only reasons I see to hire TJ are that he's been here, he's close to Pollard, and probably works cheap. Every other reason brought forward has at least one major downside to it. When there are so man downsides and only vaguely possible upsides, it's not a good idea to hire that person.

If we want to build on Fred's work, go big. If we want to torpedo it, go Otz. It just comes down to what we want to program to be.

 

[Beyerball]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

Well when one make's a statement that he's "everything we want". Well, I want a proven head coach.

But since you made the comparison.... what was TJ's playing record and accolades? All Big 8? All American. How many years in the NBA as a player? How many in a front office? Who did he play for in the NBA? Larry Brown? Larry Bird? What contacts and other tutelage does he have? Whose offices has he sat in and what exactly is his experience running the pro-sets that made Hoiberg so successful and probably are key to our success, at least with this current crop of players?

I don't see how one can compare Fred to TJ

THIS. Night and day. Only thing they have in common is no prior HC experience. That's it.

 

[bawbie]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

Ya I think we would know more what we are getting with TJ than any other mid major. Not saying he should definitely be hired but it isn't like he is some complete unknown quantity.

I'm not saying he should definitely be hired either. My point is that if JP is sold that TJ's skills translate to ISU MBB Head Coach, he's basing that on a lot more than a resume or an interview. And it's not "settling".

 

[Beyerball]

Prohm - 2
Underwood - 0
Leon Rice - 0
Dave Rice - like 1000


we should totally hire Dave Rice!

haha. That would be awesome on so many levels.

 

[inCyteful]

smoke or na?

I wouldn't be surprised if he came over for an interview. I mean really, why else does this flight take place?

 

[Dingus]

RE JP meeting with Hoiberg, of course he should hear him out. Hoiberg knows the next coach will determine whether what he has built lasts or not.

The most valuable thing that could be said is if Fred were to say 'TJ's great, but he's not ready to be a HC.' You could pretty much cross him off at that point.

 

[chuckd4735]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

Very true. But he could also struggle and in 5 years we are saying "whew, glad we didn't give the job to him".

Personally, I'd rather see how good of a coach he is by watching him a a mid or low major. Not here. If he loves Ames and ISU like everyone says he does, maybe he comes to coach here in 5 years after proving himself at a lower school?

My gut feeling is that if TJ is not given this opportunity, he wont ever be interested in coaching in Ames in the future.

Really? You'd be disappointed if we had 5 more successful years and had to hire another coach again? Yeah, that would be horrible, winning a bunch of games and stuff.

I meant if we didn't hire TJ, and he went on to be successful at another school.

 

[SNEDDS3]

I'm the lone member of #TeamUnderwood

I'm lone member of #TeamNurse, the silence is deafening. I totally am ok with Underwood if that helps.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

Northern Kentucky make a lot of noise on Sportscenter?

huh?

 

[bawbie]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

The only reasons I see to hire TJ are that he's been here, he's close to Pollard, and probably works cheap. Every other reason brought forward has at least one major downside to it. When there are so man downsides and only vaguely possible upsides, it's not a good idea to hire that person.

I don't disagree you often Erik, but on this I think you are dead wrong. There is one other major reason to hire TJ: Because he has the skills and talent level to do the job. To us, just looking at his resume, there may be only "vague possible" upsides, but from JP's position those upsides are much more tangible. He'd know, he's worked with him for almost 10 years.

If we want to build on Fred's work, go big. If we want to torpedo it, go Otz. It just comes down to what we want to program to be.

I view this a little differently. Fred ran the program with a definite sense of "win-now, we'll figure out the future later" urgency. If a slam-dunk hire like Hornacek were to come in, they could keep that pace going. But it's unlikely to be sustainable without a superstar coach willing to take those risks.

If a low/mid-major coach is hired, or TJ, Hoiball will end after this next season and the pace of the program will change. TJ or whoever will bring in far more 4-year players and far less transfers/risks. They will build the program in a more traditional model. THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY A BAD THING! In many ways this is the less risky way to go, especially if TJ can keep the Wisconsin talent pipeline open.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

Also, if the NBA's interest in Fred was an easy tool to use against in recruiting, wouldn't the nation's lack of interest in TJ be an extremely easy tool to use?

It's not complicated when you look at the level of guys we need. Good programs want them, too. Those programs point to what they've done, then hold out an empty hand to show what TJ has done, and it's pretty much over.

The only reasons I see to hire TJ are that he's been here, he's close to Pollard, and probably works cheap. Every other reason brought forward has at least one major downside to it. When there are so man downsides and only vaguely possible upsides, it's not a good idea to hire that person.

If we want to build on Fred's work, go big. If we want to torpedo it, go Otz. It just comes down to what we want to program to be.

Why does everyone make it seem like it's a foregone conclusion that we can just "go big"? Hey Jamie, just go down to PHX and tell Jeff Hornacek coach of the NBA Phoenix SUns that he's coaching in Ames next year. That easy right? Especially in June.

 

[RubyClone]

Re: To everyone wanting a BIG name

Also, if the NBA's interest in Fred was an easy tool to use against in recruiting, wouldn't the nation's lack of interest in TJ be an extremely easy tool to use?

It's not complicated when you look at the level of guys we need. Good programs want them, too. Those programs point to what they've done, then hold out an empty hand to show what TJ has done, and it's pretty much over.

The only reasons I see to hire TJ are that he's been here, he's close to Pollard, and probably works cheap. Every other reason brought forward has at least one major downside to it. When there are so man downsides and only vaguely possible upsides, it's not a good idea to hire that person.

If we want to build on Fred's work, go big. If we want to torpedo it, go Otz. It just comes down to what we want to program to be.

Well - it's a bit much to say hiring TJ is a torpedo. It's a lot, in fact.

TJ may make an excellent coach. But the comparison of "well Fred didn't have any experience" as a the measuring stick is ludicrous.

From what I'm seeing of the options for our HC, and my personal preferences (which of course you all should get on board with :wink, TJ is on it, but down the list a bit. I'm underwhelmed by the mid-major options - but admit I know absolutely nothing about any of them.

However, the guys I prefer ahead of him are medium shots at best - so I'm inclined to think he'll get the job - in no small part for the reasons you state.

 

[Dandy]

I have the feeling Underwood is waiting for Weber to get fired. If he comes, there better be something in his contract that keeps him from leaving to go to K-State.

 

[bawbie]

I have the feeling Underwood is waiting for Weber to get fired. If he comes, there better be something in his contract that keeps him from leaving to go to K-State.

That makes me wonder: why the **** is Bruce Weber still the KSU basketball coach?