The case for Huger to stay

[Flipper]

Only BGSU hoops in recent memory to post consecutive 20 win seasons...

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[BillyLP]

He seemingly has a couple of good recruits coming in next season with a good returning squad (assuming there is not a mass exodus). If he is proactive in upgrading his staff, he seems to be able to sell the program really well to recruits and transfers (if that isn’t ruined by the Reece/Gordon debacle).

[Globetrotter]

I get angry even thinking about this. I am irrationally angry at BillyLP for even posting it.

[BleedOrange]

Yawn

[TommyG]

1. BGSU owes him way too much money to fire him.
2. Represents the university well in public (outside of his coaching in the games)

That’s about it

[MarkL]

He has two 20 win seasons to his name. That is more than any recent coach though if not for a game of grabass then Jans would certainly be in that category. The rest of his seasons are pretty much status quo for BG basektball. So why keep Huger? Well it's as much about BG basketball success or lack thereof as anything.

I'm not really a basketball guy so I have little skin in the game besides Falcon club $. But as a matter of practicality, Huger is the guy for a while. Long contract extension.

[Hammer]

Only BGSU hoops in recent memory to post consecutive 20 win seasons...

Please expand

We don’t have enough money to fire him and he could pull some kind of miracle out of a recruiting hat. He would need to find three top Mac level guys with length and athleticism. Maybe he could put enough talent on the floor to overcome his coaching deficits. Maybe

[Schadenfreude]

The case for Huger to stay is that it would cost too much right now to change directions and that there is at least a chance he could turn it around.

Even if a donor is willing to shoulder the entire cost of Huger's contact until he finds another job, that's money that likely could have been put to another use, like bringing in a name opponent or investing more in recruiting or whatever it is we think around the edges could make this program even stronger.

Plus, there is BGSU's reputation to consider. Pushing an alumnus out the door only a couple of years after giving him a contract extension might make it tougher for Moos to find the next head coach. I imagine good coaches are able to be selective about who they want to work for.

Finally, we can't dismiss that Huger had two 20+ win seasons here. The fact that he did it before implies he can do it again, even if current trends are not good. People seem to be speaking highly of Jamai Felt, the recent verbal from the Bronx. Maybe he can right the ship.

[BillyLP]

I get angry even thinking about this. I am irrationally angry at BillyLP for even posting it.

I was just playing the game and being devils advocate by posting in the case for and against. IMO he’s gotta go ASAP.

[footballguy51]

Deleted

[footballguy51]

Only BGSU hoops in recent memory to post consecutive 20 win seasons...

Please expand

Only
BGSU
hoops
in
recent
memory
to
post
consecutive
20
win
seasons...

I expanded. Sorry, I struggle to provide anything else to this topic.

[HoopsFan]

This is more of a case for Huger to not go. Three (or 4) years on a contract being the compelling reason to keep him. Plus, it only takes one or two players to turn it around in a hurry. The same things, beast in the post, sharpshooter and improvement in the point guard and we're good to go.

It would be nice if we can get a guy that can make 2' or less buckets. It pizzes me off to have our opponents being able to make the turnaround basket in the paint and we draw crickets.


HoopsFan

[hammb]

There isn't much of a case for him to stay beyond the s**t that doesn't (or shouldn't) matter. He's an alum. He seems like a nice guy. yadda yadda. None of that matters. The biggest case for him to stay is that it sounds as though we'd have to buy out about $1.2m in salary to get rid of him. That also isn't really a great reason, but quite likely hamstrings us to being tied down.

Looking beyond those largely crappy reasons it really boils down to only a couple things that I can see Huger has done well since coming to BG:

He recruited Justin Turner to BG. This really is the only GREAT thing he has done in 7 years. Turner was a program changing player, as evidenced by the fact that we had 2 very successful seasons with him as a top 2-3 finish in the MAC and overall 20+ win seasons.

The other thing he has done well, historically, is keep people in the program. Turner could have gone to any program in the country after his RS Jr year, but he came back for a 4th season here. Plowden & Diggs certainly could have either left or transferred with the COVID rules and they both returned for a final year at BG. I was honestly surprised at how frequently guys have returned when it seemed like they have had options to go elsewhere.


Those are really the only things I can say he's done well as a coach. I guess you can give him credit for having 2 successful MAC seasons, but that's lessened in my mind by having 2 bad MAC seasons most recently. The only hope for a return to that, IMO, is recruiting another Justin Turner caliber player and hopefully putting a little more around him next time.

[Matty B]

COMPLETE devil's advocate for the sake of argument:

If you had told me before the season that we would play the entire season without our two starting guards, I think the consensus predictions on here would be: ".500 at best, hopefully sneak into Cleveland, be about as good as Ball State and Miami but not on the level of the big dogs"

Now, while we fell just short of that (and trust me, that matters), but that's pretty close to where we finished up. I mean hey, we were just 1 home win vs the worst team in the MAC on senior night away from getting to Cleveland, amirite guys!?!?

So while we should have probably lowered our expectations once Fields and Metheny went down, we know this team still did not play to potential with the remaining talent relative to the bottom half of the MAC. We were still a more talented team than CMU (and it should be us getting pummeled on Thursday morning instead of them lol), but some inexcusable losses (home vs WMU; epic collapse at Ball State in a game we were in control for the first 39:35) and some embarrassing performances (Buffalo, at Miami in a must win, at Toledo) made the season a true disappointment and makes this argument extremely difficult to make, but hell I tried.

[TommyG]

Huger’s agent must’ve thought Moosbrugger was messing with him during negotiations.

“ Hey Mike…listen I just walked out of Moosbrugger’s office. Sign that contract immediately when it’s sent to you before they realize how dumb they are. Skip practice, literally wait by your computer for the contract. The second it comes across sign it and send it back. Immediately!”