Brand X is doubling down on their Rice/Decuire story on their BB board after someone linked the Theo Lawson tweet.
Here is a thought
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Brand X is doubling down on their Rice/Decuire story on their BB board after someone linked the Theo Lawson tweet.
I'm sure SD Coug is leading the charge, as per usual. You'll never convince me that guys isn't a moderator.
Gave my .02. count down until deletion and ban in 5...4...3...
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With Todd Golden promoted to head coach Clarke could replace him with Phelps and the rest of his staff coming along as well. Is the additional $500k for the assistant coaches pool?
Honestly, that wouldn't be terribly surprising. Both of those programs are in better shape than ours by a wide margin, and are in similar geographies in terms of climate and lifestyle. Their changes of taking Montana and Boise State to the NCAA's are better than ours will be, certainly for the next few years.
The money we offered was no doubt enticing for them, but not everyone is wired that way. Mark Few tells everyone from his coaching tree to avoid the temptation of signing with programs like WSU, saying that the money is tempting, but you'll likely flame out in 3-5 years because the University doesn't commit to basketball, and your head coaching resume will be forever tarnished. Truth hurts.
I'm hoping that Kyle Smith can build a legitimate, competitive basketball program; even if that means only 8th place finishes in the foreseeable future. We need to get the University to invest in the program during Smith's tenure, so if this does turn into a bridge hire, the bridge will lead us to a brighter future with a roster of kids who receive real, fundamental coaching. Ernie Kent did absolutely nothing to improve things. He basically ran it like a JC program.
I wonder whether they interviewed either Rice or Decuire let alone made an actual offer? It doesn't sound like it and either way it was a strange headline when we seemed to find the right fit. I somewhat doubt there was even an interview let alone an offer for either.
I think Smith is the kind of coach that will connect with people. Understands the challenges but embraces it and doesn't apologize for WSU/Pullman. At least that's what I hope. He's not going to be outworked. We need a coach with a wide reach for players and will turn over every rock to find them. I also think the feedback from NBA coaches and players won't hurt either.
A ton of NBA players sponsor AAU programs in their hometowns - Zach Levine has a team with Friends of Hoop, Brandon Roy had his own squad. It's pretty normal stuff. Connections with NBA guys is a good thing.
The frustrating thing about reading that Few is telling assistants to avoid WSU is that when it comes down to it.......good coaches win in Pullman and always have been able to win. Maybe not at a high level every year, but enough to get hired away by other programs if they wanted to leave.
Harshman, Raveling, Sampson and Tony Bennett all went on to other top level jobs. Stevens got a job at Nevada. The guys that failed at WSU just weren't cut out to coach at the highest level for whatever reason. Both Eastman and Bone were handed teams with quality players and watched the program fade because they couldn't recruit new bodies that they could win with. Paul Graham was just not good at his job at all and Ernie Kent was a washed up has been.
Long story short, WSU is not a place where careers of good coaches die.
Harshman, Raveling, Sampson and Tony Bennett all went on to other top level jobs. Stevens got a job at Nevada. The guys that failed at WSU just weren't cut out to coach at the highest level for whatever reason. Both Eastman and Bone were handed teams with quality players and watched the program fade because they couldn't recruit new bodies that they could win with. Paul Graham was just not good at his job at all and Ernie Kent was a washed up has been.
Long story short, WSU is not a place where careers of good coaches die.
The coach killer thing is BS. Our problem has been attracting good coaches because it is a tough job. We have produced a lot more coaches than most programs and that definitely includes GU.
He may spin that take for his proteges, but in actuality Few doesn't want WSU basketball to become a consistent NCAA/NIT program and cut into GU's fan base and recruiting turf in the Inland Empire/Eastern Washington region.
Nobody benefits more from WSU's basketball troubles than Mark Few and Gonzaga.
NOBODY.
Pete is right on. Actually just check out the Gonzaga tree. Monson flamed out early and never came close to where he once was at GU. Rice has gone down hill at Boise State finishing 8th in the Mountain West. Ray Giacoletti now into broadcasting after Drake. Bill Grier as assistand now at Colorado. Tommy Lloyd 19 years and counting as an assistant.
Its not just Few its even more the Gonzaga AD.
Its not just Few its even more the Gonzaga AD.
Gonzaga's tree is Mark Few and Leon Rice. Why did it make sense to go to a school like USD and fail while also getting paid a much lower salary than to go to WSU? Grier just wasn't that good of a head coach. The coaches that haven't worked in Pullman for the most part really weren't that good either.
True and if they were pretty good coaches which I think that a couple were they either had some bad luck or were lousy administrators. Building the staff is the next important thing. I get a chuckle out of the Coach Smith has to keep one of the old assistant things. Saw that with Ben Johnson and Bone and it didn't work well for either of them.
That staff that Coach builds will be the foundation for his success or failure and no doubt he has the data on what he wants. Same with the players.
That staff that Coach builds will be the foundation for his success or failure and no doubt he has the data on what he wants. Same with the players.
Managing is part of what makes a good coach from hiring the right staff down to the players. Even the media piece has it's demands. It's not something everyone is up to the task.
Staff is crucial and I tend to think Smith has that mostly squared away and the extra money is about the assistants pool.
Staff is crucial and I tend to think Smith has that mostly squared away and the extra money is about the assistants pool.
Maybe so, but I think the problem is much deeper than just a WSU issue. The P12 is a boring basketball conference. Outside of Arizona, there isn't a venue that really gives a damn about basketball. Yea, you get some fan bases that rise up when their teams are doing well, but generally speaking, the game atmosphere at most of our schools is boring. We're easily the worst league in that regard of any of the P5 conferences.
WSU's historic futility on the hardwood is a head scratcher. We should be playing in front of a packed student section every night, even with moderate success. The game experience for fans should be top notch. Loud music, a rowdy band, etc. WSU needs to step up their game and finally commit to the program.
Bone had a bunch of success prior to Pullman so let's not say he is a bad coach, just a bad run while at WSU. I bet he could go back into the Big Dky and dominate. To have success in Pullman you have to be top tier IMO. Hopefully we found that caliber again.
Bone had success at SPU and Portland State as a head coach. I do think Bone is a pretty good coach and why I said "for the most part" in my comment.
I don't think Bone was always good at the managing part of things and we saw how that might have manifested off the court with the APR issue he left Kent. Also seemed like some "interesting" on court decisions and of course the late desperate moves when things were unraveling. His recruiting model was flawed from the start thinking he could get a lot of players out of Seattle. Those kind of mistakes are hard to overcome in Pullman. Maybe he wasn't quick enough to see it or able to correct it. I really don't know.
Good coaches can make bad decisions but at WSU you really need to quickly correct or they get out of hand. IMO I think that's part of what happened with Bone.
It looks like 2010 (900) and 2012 (926) were the really bad years. Assuming you are correct on the players that impacted the scores here but I can't find something to site.
According to brand-y 2012 was impacted by Reggie Moore (dismissal) and Que Johnson (ineligibility). In 2013, Danny Lawhorn receives a 0. Potentially Royce Woolridge and James Hunter as well but that was speculation. Those 3 players really hurt Coach Bone although I never have known the details on Lawhorn. I remember the brand-x SDCoug saying he was "railroaded".
Kent's first year went up from 938 to 963 and even with all the transfers we haven't had an issue with the apr. Last year's rolling average was 967.
According to brand-y 2012 was impacted by Reggie Moore (dismissal) and Que Johnson (ineligibility). In 2013, Danny Lawhorn receives a 0. Potentially Royce Woolridge and James Hunter as well but that was speculation. Those 3 players really hurt Coach Bone although I never have known the details on Lawhorn. I remember the brand-x SDCoug saying he was "railroaded".
Kent's first year went up from 938 to 963 and even with all the transfers we haven't had an issue with the apr. Last year's rolling average was 967.
If I recall correctly, Bone's biggest APR problems were at Portland State. He left his successor with a huge academic mess resulting in sanctions.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
I think that is correct about PSU. Watson and Casto had to have impacts. Lawhorn abd Reggue too. Not sure why Que and Woolridge would, but admit I dont understand APR that well. I thought biggest impact was someone who left school and didnt finish degree somewhere else.
It was a she-said, he-said deal and the AD -- Moos I think, made Lawhorn hit the road. Most of these things never come out.
That was the final PG fisaco which ultimately cost Bone his job.
Sort of like Flynn and Acquaah, both seemingly good PG's which EK couldn't hold.
I think Bone was a good coach......but he was a terrible recruiter. He did fine in 2010-11 with Tony's guys all growed up, but the team just went steadily downhill from there as those guys left the system.
I think PSU did receive some kind of punishment for their APR issues. WSU avoided it in Kent's first year. I think the ban is for the postseason so something we haven't had to worry about since our last CBI anyway. It just spoke to some of the off-court issues that made it harder than it necessarily needed to be. With Bone's background I didn't think that would be an issue.
Holdovers definitely impacted the low score since it's a 4-year average. Bone couldn't go to class for the players but at minimum he sets the tone for what happens off the court.
I never thought Moos was Bone's biggest fan and was looking to make his own hire for football, basketball, and baseball. I still think Bone should have succeeded at WSU. I tend to think even with all the bad luck that he was his own worst enemy at times.
