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Re: OT: Pitt
One report says that Pitt will target Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley.
Not a bad choice at all there.
One report says that Pitt will target Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley.
Not a bad choice at all there.
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Re: OT: Pitt
I saw someone from 93.7 tweet out that Tom Crean isn't interested.Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
If you can't beat your opponents at their game, change the game.Originally posted by Fightingscot82 View Post
That's what West Lib does - How about Jim Crutchfield?
That would be a bold move - either you look like a genius in 3 years or they run the AD (and maybe the President and Board too) out of town!Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
Pitt hires a D2 coach ... the already-rabid fan base may burn down the Cathedral of Learning.
I'm already waiting for the first (yinzer voice/accent) ... "how bout that Joe Lombardi up there IUP ... he was Jamie's right-hand man"Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
And if you want defense-first, John Reilly is your man. :-)Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View Post
Seriously, I agree that Pitt isn't a bad job, execpt for the percentage of the fan base who thinks that they should be annual contenders for the final four. That's going to be tough. In a league like the ACC, it's easy for a team to get rolled over by a tough schedule game in and game out. There's always one or two teams that take loss after loss. It's been Pitt the past two years.
Funny ... Even though they were 0-19, the Panthers didn't even have the worst conference record in western Pennsylvania. That honor went to 0-22 Clarion.Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
Thad Maata getting some buzz.Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
Thad let players do whatever they wanted on the court. Wouldn't pull them for bad shots. Teams had no synergy.Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View Post
When Huggs played OSU at the Schott way back around 2007, OSU was far superior in pure talent at every position.
But OSU continued to take difficult off balance shots while teammates were open underneath.
WVU beat them by almost 30, the worst defeat at the Schott's history at that time.
The rumor goes that Maata promised to get everyone in the NBA when recruiting them. But they had negative synergy as a team. Kind of the antithesis to the West Lib style.
I think you cannot win with his philosophy long term, especially in the ACC.Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
I wouldn't be opposed to him I don't think. But doesn't he have some health issues?Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View Post
Crean and Hurley top my list at this point.
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Re: OT: Pitt
He did have some health issues. He apparently wants a job. He's linked to Ole Miss, too.
The B Team was making a ploy for Andy Toole.Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
Pitt needs a splash hire to bring back the fan base. Matta would be great. I just don't see Toole having the resume needed to spark the enthusiasm of the Pitt faithful. But at least he is known in the 'Burgh.Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View Post
One name merely speculated is Nevada coach Eric Musselman. He has NBA coaching experience.
Probably no way Sean Miller or Andy Enfield of USC have any interest.
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Re: OT: Pitt
More proof that The B Team is desperate for discussions since the Pirates are about to enter full-on stink-o mode.Originally posted by IUPbigINDIANS View PostCal U (Pa.) Class of 2014Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
I caught the Nightly Sport Call on CW last evening. Some interesting tidbits from Richie Walsh and Paul Zeise.
-Zeiser did a nice job of outlining what Pitt needs to do to land a top-flight coach.
1. Pay a good salary, probably will cost them around $3 million a year if you want a name coach. He cited former Buckeyes coach Thad Matta as making over $3 mil a year.
2. Shell out money for a good staff.
3. Shell out money for a good recruiting budget.
4. Facilities upgrades for the basketball program.
-Tom Crean will not be on the list of candidates that Pitt will show interest in, nor will Crean have interest in the job. According to the Zeiser Crean is a bit of a jerk and an abrasive personality. Apparently he has designs on the Penn State job. Odd. Guess he likes that Big Ten coaching.
-Sean Miller may not be as impossible to land as the last time out with all that has gone on out in Arizona. He very well may be fired in a few weeks. Apparently he has lost most of his incoming recruiting class over the foolishness that happened. He may be glad to come home and start anew with his alma mater.
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Apparently Heather Lyke has already called Atlanta Hawks assistant Chris Jent. Seems that he was an assistant at Ohio State when she was there. On paper he does not look like a particularly strong candidate for this job. Hope Ms. Lyke is going to look beyond the basketball people she ran into at OSU.
From what I have ascertained, USC coach Andy Enfield did show some interest in the Pitt job last time but there was such a rush to hire Baldo Stoolings that the university did not do their due diligence. Hopefully this time Pitt will take as long as they need to get this right. Enfield of course is a native of Shippensburg, PA.
There have been a lot of interesting names floated for the job by the different media outlets. But of course that is just speculation and those names mean nothing at all if they do not appear on the list that Lyke and the Pitt brass have compiled in the corner offices in Oakland.
Some other names that I have seen bandied about:
John Becker (Vermont)
Ron Sanchez (asst. Virginia)
Jon Schyer (asst. Duke)
Mark Schmidt (St. Bonaventure)
Micah Shrewsberry (asst. Boston Celtics)
Earl Grant (College of Charleston)
Nate Oats (Buffalo)
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Re: OT: Pitt
The "basketball people" I talk to all like the St Bonny guy. I have to admit I know little about him. If they have trouble with their first choices they should just offer RMU's Andy Toole. I know people's heads will explode but the guy is a great coach whose record has been killed by transfers. He's finding guys the power conferences aren't finding until they're lighting it up at RMU. He also doubled down on being in Pittsburgh so he's stopped pursuing jobs as much as he was a few years ago. His wife is an exec with Dicks Sporting Goods.Comment
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Re: OT: Pitt
My problem with these guys (Schmidt and Toole) is that Pitt is in the ACC. That's the ultimate in big boy basketball. I'm not sure if I really think that much of these guys coming from little Robert Morris and St. Bonny and then suddenly trying to match wits with some of the heavies in that conference. Sounds like a disaster to me to be perfectly honest. Schmidt coached Robert Morris from 2001-07. He's a little old at 55. Toole seems to be on the downward spiral after a promising start at RMU.Originally posted by Fightingscot82 View Post
Pitt needs to get this right this time around. I think they need a known quantity to win back the fan support and recruit the caliber of players it takes to be competitive in the ACC. It's going to take some major money to do this correctly. Heck, it's already cost them $9.4 million the other day from the utter mistake they made two years ago. Let's hope they just do this the right way and get some quality basketball back to the Steel City as well as the whole of Western PA.
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Re: OT: Pitt
The life of the 'small major' program is very complicated now. The gems that guys like Toole find ... are on the first bus out of town as soon as the season ends. Their stock rises and they transfer to the bigger schools. It's really an epidemic across the Bobby Mo level.
Pitt is a snob school full of delusion ... hiring Toole wouldn't excite the heavy donors whom all beleive Pitt is on par with North Carolina.
Although he may do well there. He's young (37). Sometimes guys just need a break. I think he stayed at Robert Morris too long and his window closed a bit. Now he falls in to the small school coach label a bit. Right when they upset Kentucky he should have bailed.
I actually think the right hire is 2 miles off campus. Steal Keith Dambrodt from Duquesne.Comment
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