Coaching Carousel 9 - People die climbing mountains

[GTRX7]

Reminds me a lot of the Paul Hewitt ending . . . . . if he had taken the St. John's job at the end. Paul Hewitt was a great recruiter and took Tech the farthest they had ever been in the history of the program. Things were amazing and seemed like they would always be that way. Then they weren't. And they got worse and continued to get worse. It was painful and he lost the support of the fans and boosters. Despite leading us to the title game, I think the vast majority of Tech fans agreed he had to go at the end. If he had just taken that St. John's job at the end it would have been better for both Hewitt and for Tech. Instead, he forced the bitter divorce and bankrupted Tech basketball for a decade.

I will say this about Cal, I will forever be grateful that he made the decision to leave when he did. He did the University a HUGE favor by not forcing them to pay the $30+million buyout. Now both he and UK have a chance to start a new chapter fresh. Despite the frustrating ending, I think UK fans will be extremely grateful and appreciative of his time at UK and will give him all the standing ovations he can ever want (once he retires from their SEC rival ). Those years from 2009-2015 were incredibly fun and exciting. As good a run as ever at the school. Though I am glad they parted ways, I am 100% thrilled he was the coach for over a decade and will always be grateful the wins and memories made over that time.

(Now, back to this forum and Tech basketball -- my other great love and alma mater. Stoudamire has been killing it in recruiting lately and I am genuinely extremely excited to see where this goes. Let's go Jackets and THWg!)

 

[RamblinRed]

While I agree that it would have been much better for both Hewitt and GT if he had taken the ST. John's job. I had heard that a big reason he did not is because his wife and daughters did not want to leave Atlanta (his girls were school age at that time).
So from a family standpoint I can understand it.

 

[GTRX7]

While I agree that it would have been much better for both Hewitt and GT if he had taken the ST. John's job. I had heard that a big reason he did not is because his wife and daughters did not want to leave Atlanta (his girls were school age at that time).
So from a family standpoint I can understand it.

I get that. Seems to be the primary reason that Drew elected to stay at Baylor as well. As someone else said, these coaches are all making such incredibly high sums that the game has changed a bit. The difference between $6 million/year and $8 million/year isn't really even life changing at that point. There is a lot to be said for a bird in the hand and staying where you know you and your family are happy instead of taking a risk that possibly won't work out.

That said, in the case of Hewitt, he pretty much had to uproot his whole family a year later anyway. So I get his reasoning at the time, and hindsight is 20-20, but I still think both Tech and Hewitt would have been better off had he taken that St. John's job.

 

[gameface]

I get that. Seems to be the primary reason that Drew elected to stay at Baylor as well. As someone else said, these coaches are all making such incredibly high sums that the game has changed a bit. The difference between $6 million/year and $8 million/year isn't really even life changing at that point. There is a lot to be said for a bird in the hand and staying where you know you and your family are happy instead of taking a risk that possibly won't work out.

That said, in the case of Hewitt, he pretty much had to uproot his whole family a year later anyway. So I get his reasoning at the time, and hindsight is 20-20, but I still think both Tech and Hewitt would have been better off had he taken that St. John's job.

I seem to recall St. Johns was after Hewitt during the final four run in 2004. He did not get fired for another seven seasons. Did they offer again around 2010?

 

[Techster]

A lot of them—also Pearl, Shaka Smart, Rick Barnes, Donovan…

Seems like this is underwhelming. Also, it seems to slow down the coaching carousel—who is BYU going to poach seems less of a big deal than UCONN or even Baylor.

Is Pope an upgrade over Calipari? People are wondering how long the AD lasts

The first thing I thought when I heard the Pope hiring is "Oh my, UK just totally hired their Brian Gregory!"

Given the blue blood status and resources of Kentucky, and the names mentioned when the process started, no doubt the majority of UK fans are disappointed.

 

[g0lftime]

The first thing I thought when I heard the Pope hiring is "Oh my, UK just totally hired their Brian Gregory!"

Given the blue blood status and resources of Kentucky, and the names mentioned when the process started, no doubt the majority of UK fans are disappointed.

UK basketball fans still see themselves as the equal of what Alabama has been in football. Cal was not using the transfer portal for whatever reason and his one and done model wasn't working like it did before this rampant transferring. It will be difficult to follow him at UK regardless.

 

[Techster]

UK basketball fans still see themselves as the equal of what Alabama has been in football. Cal was not using the transfer portal for whatever reason and his one and done model wasn't working like it did before this rampant transferring. It will be difficult to follow him at UK regardless.

Cal wasn't using the transfer portal due to a limited (compared to UK's "peers") NIL budget. That's something he mentioned and emphasized about going to Arkansas. Arkansas is backing him with one of the biggest NIL war chests in CBB. According to a lot of writers, Cal's NIL issues at UK were of his own making. He alienated a lot of big donors.

Who knows the truth. We'll see how he does in the Portal at Arkansas given his statement about how big of a NIL war chest he'll have there.

 

[Techster]

That was really classy of Pitino.

 

[GTRX7]

I seem to recall St. Johns was after Hewitt during the final four run in 2004. He did not get fired for another seven seasons. Did they offer again around 2010?

Correct. He turned them down in 2010 : (

Jackets' Hewitt declines offer to coach St. John's

Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt turned down an offer to coach St. John's, telling university officials Thursday he will remain with the Yellow Jackets after conferring with his family about their desire to stay in Atlanta.

www.espn.com

 

[GTRX7]

The first thing I thought when I heard the Pope hiring is "Oh my, UK just totally hired their Brian Gregory!"

Given the blue blood status and resources of Kentucky, and the names mentioned when the process started, no doubt the majority of UK fans are disappointed.

To me, the hiring of Mark Pope very much feels like when there were rumors that Georgia Tech was considering hiring Mark Price. I didn’t think it was the right choice or that Tech would even consider Mark price if he wasn’t an alum. That said, had Tech hired him, I would have immediately rallied, given him my full support, and hoped deeply that he would succeed.

That is what I am seeing this afternoon from Kentucky fans. I think the overwhelming initial reaction was very negative, but because he is one of our own, we are all extremely quick to drink the blue Kool-Aid, see all the potential positives, and hope deeply for the best. Given his modern style of play, I think the hope is he will be the next Nate Oats, but with UK resources. Only time will tell.

 

[tbglover]

UK basketball fans still see themselves as the equal of what Alabama has been in football. Cal was not using the transfer portal for whatever reason and his one and done model wasn't working like it did before this rampant transferring. It will be difficult to follow him at UK regardless.

Cal had transfers that came in. Oscar Tshbiawe is an example of Cal bringing in a guy from the portal who became a star at Kentucky. Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell who both started this season were transfers. In prior seasons Sahvir Wheeler was brought in from Georgia and CJ Frederick came to Kentucky from Iowa. They both eventually transferred out of Kentucky. And Cal attempted to get the likes of Hunter Dickinson to transfer to Kentucky but they went elsewhere. Unfortunately the issue with his one and dones was that when they weren't one and done at Kentucky they transferred elsewhere seeing that Cal often had a new 5 star coming in.

 

[CuseJacket]

While I agree that it would have been much better for both Hewitt and GT if he had taken the ST. John's job. I had heard that a big reason he did not is because his wife and daughters did not want to leave Atlanta (his girls were school age at that time).
So from a family standpoint I can understand it.

I seem to recall St. Johns was after Hewitt during the final four run in 2004. He did not get fired for another seven seasons. Did they offer again around 2010?

Hewitt accepted the St. John's job. D-Rad convinced him to stay, then fired him a year later.

 

[KeystoneJacket]

nm

 

[Techwood Relict]

That was really classy of Pitino.

Using classy and Pitino in the same sentence.

 

[GTpdm]

That was really classy of Pitino.

Funny, that’s what all the strippers said, too.

 

[Peacone36]

While I agree that it would have been much better for both Hewitt and GT if he had taken the ST. John's job. I had heard that a big reason he did not is because his wife and daughters did not want to leave Atlanta (his girls were school age at that time).
So from a family standpoint I can understand it.

This was also what I heard

 

[Techster]

Hewitt accepted the St. John's job. D-Rad convinced him to stay, then fired him a year later.

That's what I was referring to earlier.

That decision and the subsequent buyout affected so many coaching decisions after...both for football and basketball.

 

[ESPNjacket]

This was also what I heard

I am pretty sure it came from Hewitt himself on his radio show. Since only about 5 people listened to it at the time it became secret info.

 

[kg01]

I am pretty sure it came from Hewitt himself on his radio show. Since only about 5 people listened to it at the time it became secret info.

Despite being a Hewitt apologist, I gotta admit the savagery made me chuckle.

 

[dtm1997]

Despite being a Hewitt apologist, I gotta admit the savagery made me chuckle.

Imagine being a LazyAD apologist. They're out there.