2013-2014 Coaching Candidates

[factman]

I would LOVE to have Scott Davenport coach at BG, but I doubt it will happen. He is a Louisville guy (born and raised), and I wouldn't expect him to leave Louisville again, as he has been back there almost 20 years at UL anbd Bellarmine. Bellarmine is a great school, and he has a chance of getting to the final four every year there in D-II.
BG should look for someone in a similar mode.......someone that has a BG background, maybe a little older than the typical assistant, and someone that is a good coach, and wants to stay here and build a program. Life is GOOD in Louisville!

[OptionQB]

Factman-

Are you from or live near Louisville now? We moved to Louisville 7 or 8 years ago.

[MarkL]

Shaka's go to guy, if the Jim Boeheim rumors are true, they might be packing their bags for Syracuse, but if not, we could do a lot worse

Hey, Louis Orr went to Syracuse. He's had no NCAA or conference violations here or anywhere. Think they may be interested??? Please be interested??

[commonsense]

The WISH LIST 2013-14 version-
1. Chris Jent, financially stable from solid NBA career

,

Chris Jent's NBA career was far from solid, and he probably was not financially stable from it either.

Jent played 6 regular season games and 11 play-off games combined in the 93-94 season and 96-97 season. He did win a ring with the 95 Rockets averaging 1 point per game in the play-offs.

The max amount of money he made was just under $500,000 in those two seasons IF he would have been there the entire season. None of his two stints were longer than 3 months. He probably saw about $150,000 (before taxes) during those years combined. I assume that is less than what he is paid yearly as an assistant at Ohio St.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... tch01.html

None of this takes away from his qualifications as a potential coach at BGSU.

[OptionQB]

Despite your username, you are all-too-quick to dismiss his "other" NBA career as an assistant coach. NBA assistants don't make a fortune but are solidly compensated.

My point was for the better part of the last 20 years, he's been drawing a very nice living. And I doubt that the money that BG would be able to offer or not would be the deciding factor.

[commonsense]

Despite your username, you are all-too-quick to dismiss his "other" NBA career as an assistant coach. NBA assistants don't make a fortune but are solidly compensated.

My point was for the better part of the last 20 years, he's been drawing a very nice living. And I doubt that the money that BG would be able to offer or not would be the deciding factor.

I was not quick to dismiss his "other" NBA career at all. I thought it was strange to read that Chris Jent had a solid NBA career whether that be playing wise or earning wise as was indicated. When talking about NBA player's careers, most do not include assistant coaching in the conversation. If I were to write "After playing some years in Europe Jay Larranaga got picked up by the Boston Celtics, and is now financially stable" I think that would be misleading.

Anyways, to the point of your statement. Yes, the money that BG will probably offer to a new coach will probably not be a big increase if at all to most big conference assistants. I think this conversation is premature because the team probably exceeded the expectations most had for them (albiet low expectations to start with). I think it would be shocking to see a change this spring.

[Class of 61]

As long as the coach hollers a lot, stomps around and shows "fire," he's cool with me. It helps if he grabs a facemask or two. Even if he has to issue helmets to basketball players just so he can grab their facemask, that's the ticket.

Sorry, Robby, but the guy you're talking about left for Indiana last year.

[OptionQB]

Here's the latest update-

1. Chris Jent- Far and away #1 on my list, yes some like Jeff Boals who is known as a recruiter and we have a serious void of talent on several areas but watch OSU games closesly, its not Thad Matta wit
h the clipboard late in games its Chris Jent

2. Matthew Graves, Butler, one of the hottest names on the market

3. High level assistants- Dwayne Stephens (Sparty), Mike Rhoades (VCU), Cornell Mann (Iowa State), Bacari Alexander (Michigan), Tim Fuller (Missouri)

4. More assistants- Greg Gard (Wisky), Kenya Hunter (GTown), former Dakich asst Marty Richter (Florida Gulf Coast), James Whitefield (Arizona- turned down Miami OH a year ago), Chris Jans (Wichita State), Vince Taylor (Minnesota)

5. Re-treads: Steve Merfeld (asst Creighton), Jimmy Crews (interim coach Saint Louis, if he goes un-retained), John Pelphrey (Florida), Chris Lowery (Kansas State), Bobby Lutz (NC State), Rob Judson (Illinois State), Heath Schroyer (UNLV), Greg Kampe (Oakland), Dane Fife (Sparty), Tim Buckley (Indiana)

[BGSU33]

My choice is whoever Ohio would hire if they were in our situation. Yeah, I know, it's hard to image their program in constant shambles like ours is, but for kicks, let's just pretend. Since I started following MAC basketball some 20 years ago I have seen guys like Larry Hunter, Tim O'Shea, John Groce and more than likely Jim Christian all come in and win MAC Championships, go to the NCAA Tournament (and in several cases win games once there), recruit very talented players, win many games, etc. I'd give my right nut to see this happen just once at BG.

[falconmondo]

Anybody remember a guy called Michael Huger? He's been a very successful assistant coach at George Mason and Miami (Fla.). Maybe he'd be interested in coming back to ol' BG. He would come with an excellent resume as coach and player, a recommendation from a guy whose name is very recognizable in these parts, and great recruiting contacts in Da Big Apple and Europe.

[MarkL]

I know little of the guy but Jeff Meyer at Michigan? Anyone know more on him? He's been pretty instrumental in Belein's time there. The only baggage I can think of is he was an assistant during the Samspon years at Indiana, though he was cleared by the NCAA of any issues.

[OptionQB]

Jeff Meyer should be added to the list, I agree. His run-in with Tom Crean on Sunday was comical. Meyer was minding his business having just lost a share of the B1G when Crean decided to play chest thumper like his brother in laws and just made himself look like the clown he is.

Meyer is a solid recruiter, but an excellent teacher of the game and having belonged to the UM pay sites for awhile, I know they are very happy to have him

[Matty B]

Maybe better for a conversation standpoint....what traits do you want in a new coach.

In order for me-off the top of my head.
1A. Be able to develop players.
1B. Put players in position to succeed.
3. Reach out to the community successfully and boost attendance/connection with the BG community, surrounding counties and especially students and staff.
4. Win.

That really is the order for me because I think #4 comes with the others.

Well I think I can figure out what the public wants in a coach based on common complaints of the last few regimes:

1) Needs to have fire, but not too much fire. Someone who yells but not someone who YELLS, i guess.
2) ABSOLUTELY NO religious affiliations. If he even hints at taking off work on Easter Sunday, he's clearly not for us.
3) Definitely can't make stupid facial expressions on the sideline. Easy indicator of a coach's ability right there.
4) Absolutely has to save his timeouts. Any timeout taken before the final minute is clearly wasted.
5) Can't say anything in a press conference about anything that isn't basketball, ever.
6) We have to have heard of him before or it's clearly a bad hire.

You know, all the important stuff about being a coach.

Sarcasm aside, I do believe it is time for the change:

1) in however many years, I honest to god could never figure out the actual goal of our offense.. and I did some work as a scout in my hay-day. One would think we'd pound the ball down low with our bigs, but were always passing to guards coming off screens who were never looking to shoot.

2) I know it's damn near cliched at this point, but the substitution patterns were head scratching. It was almost like high school ball where at times it seemed he'd avoid putting the best talent on the floor and instead giving upperclassmen all the minutes because they were upperclassmen. Most egregiously, he let little #1 play "content" for 2 years. Crawford was a fan-favorite for his first 2 years because he played with a chip on his shoulder and fought for minutes. Once he became the starter, and Orr wouldn't bench him, he played like his job was secure and became a crowd least-favorite. Crawford's best game of the season was when he came off the bench vs Ball St., but no one on that staff seemed to catch on that something like that might actually motivate him.

3) Last night's game, Miami is shooting the lights out but clearly can't handle pressure, we start pressing and go on that 8-0 or 10-0 run to cut the lead to 2, then back off the pressure trap and sit back in the soft zone?? Kraus and Crawford were nearly jumping out of their shoes wanting to pressure the ball. Could not understand it.

The inability to make adjustments and sticking to the same methods despite the lack of success is what ultimately will end his reign at BG. Hope the new guy can correct the three things above

[OptionQB]

My personal top five is this:

1. Chris Jent, absolute home run, instant credibility

2. Matthew Graves, the closest thing to Jent, I can find due to recent NCAA success and pedigree

3. Mike Rhoades, I mentioned the other day, if you can't afford greatness, and BG isn't pulling any major names then find someone who has been around it and I truly believe Shaka Smart is one of the next young GREAT coaches in America.

4. Steve Merfeld, the last guy who delivered dynamic athletes consistently to BGSU. The stop in Evansville had mixed reviews but he's been to the tournament and won a game at Hampton and been around greatness through another player in Doug McDermott the past few years. How great would it be to see either Anthony Stacey and/or Antonio Daniels in the chair next to Merfeld learning how to run a program? Either or both would be dynamic recruiters.

5. Marty Richter, here's a flyer. He was a Dakich assistant who has gone on to scout for ESPN and coach in Europe. He's currently an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast and will be in the tournament. 36 years young and could make an impact here recruiting and build his own program

[Globetrotter]

My personal top five is this:

1. Chris Jent, absolute home run, instant credibility

2. Matthew Graves, the closest thing to Jent, I can find due to recent NCAA success and pedigree

3. Mike Rhoades, I mentioned the other day, if you can't afford greatness, and BG isn't pulling any major names then find someone who has been around it and I truly believe Shaka Smart is one of the next young GREAT coaches in America.

4. Steve Merfeld, the last guy who delivered dynamic athletes consistently to BGSU. The stop in Evansville had mixed reviews but he's been to the tournament and won a game at Hampton and been around greatness through another player in Doug McDermott the past few years. How great would it be to see either Anthony Stacey and/or Antonio Daniels in the chair next to Merfeld learning how to run a program? Either or both would be dynamic recruiters.

5. Marty Richter, here's a flyer. He was a Dakich assistant who has gone on to scout for ESPN and coach in Europe. He's currently an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast and will be in the tournament. 36 years young and could make an impact here recruiting and build his own program

Baller