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Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball
As to why I felt as I did after the presser, here are my takeaways from the event:
Coach Cooper is charismatic, well spoken, and understands the tradition that he is taking over. He's young, he's driven, and he's dedicated to building the program back up to the top tier of D2 using exactly what we've said is the ideal mix - a few transfers mixed in with 4 year players.
Some of the specifics that were said during his comments and subsequent questions (as I think of them, no particular order):
*When asked about recruiting mix he stated that his ideal mix - with the understanding that starting from where we are it's going to take a few years probably to get there - but the ideal mix would be to have about 25% each freshmen, sophs, juniors, and seniors on the team, and ideally about 25% of the total could be transfers. That's pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear from that.
*He stated that his family does plan to move to Owensboro. His wife was at the presser, and they have a middle school aged daughter and 5 year old twin boys. I think they will really appreciate the Owensboro area as it's a great place to raise your kids.
*Offensively the team will be something of a Bellarmine clone. The intent will be to have a very high assist to made FG percentage. Giving up the good shots in favor of GREAT shots. Quick sets leading into motion offense.
*We will play multiple defenses. Man to man will be the base, but expect to see different zones mixed in as well.
*He wants the community, alumni, and everyone else to be as excited for the future as they are proud of the past.
*Academically, the goal is to reach and maintain a 3.0 GPA as a team.
*He stated that he intends the culture of the program to be a winning culture on and off the court. He plans to recruit high character kids that will play selflessly and be willing to do what is best for the team.
He also said that he had met with "the group of players that are dedicated to returning" and started building a relationship with them. The roster is absolutely up in the air right now. We could have a few players return...we could have zero players return. He did say when talking about the ideal recruiting mix mentioned above that the plan is to hit the ground running and certainly the intent is to be competitive immediately, so in all likelihood we can expect a heavier mix of transfers for the first year or two as he works to fill the roster. He didn't explicitly say it like that - those are MY words - but that was heavily implied. And I think that's the right way to go. For one thing, say we do have 10 roster spots open...if you go recruit 10 freshmen then in 4 years you're graduating the entire roster again.
A note on the hiring process ... unbeknownst to me prior to today, I actually had a family member on my wife's side that was involved in the hiring process. Groups from all of the various departments on campus performed parts of the interviews with the finalists. I asked her if they interviewed the candidate from New York and she said yes, but that the general feeling that her group (and others) got from him was that he was "waiting for a D1 offer", so take that for what you will. Coach Cooper's name was the first specific name that my unofficial source mentioned to me about 2-3 weeks before any of the other finalists came up. He pursued the job impressively, and in full knowledge of the tradition and expectations that comes along with it. Everything I have learned unofficially, combined with the press conference and subsequent interviews I have seen and listened to afterwards makes me fully agree that he is the right man for the job. Hopefully Owensboro will welcome him with open arms and will get behind this program as we get back to doing what we do best - win championships.
As to why I felt as I did after the presser, here are my takeaways from the event:
Coach Cooper is charismatic, well spoken, and understands the tradition that he is taking over. He's young, he's driven, and he's dedicated to building the program back up to the top tier of D2 using exactly what we've said is the ideal mix - a few transfers mixed in with 4 year players.
Some of the specifics that were said during his comments and subsequent questions (as I think of them, no particular order):
*When asked about recruiting mix he stated that his ideal mix - with the understanding that starting from where we are it's going to take a few years probably to get there - but the ideal mix would be to have about 25% each freshmen, sophs, juniors, and seniors on the team, and ideally about 25% of the total could be transfers. That's pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear from that.
*He stated that his family does plan to move to Owensboro. His wife was at the presser, and they have a middle school aged daughter and 5 year old twin boys. I think they will really appreciate the Owensboro area as it's a great place to raise your kids.
*Offensively the team will be something of a Bellarmine clone. The intent will be to have a very high assist to made FG percentage. Giving up the good shots in favor of GREAT shots. Quick sets leading into motion offense.
*We will play multiple defenses. Man to man will be the base, but expect to see different zones mixed in as well.
*He wants the community, alumni, and everyone else to be as excited for the future as they are proud of the past.
*Academically, the goal is to reach and maintain a 3.0 GPA as a team.
*He stated that he intends the culture of the program to be a winning culture on and off the court. He plans to recruit high character kids that will play selflessly and be willing to do what is best for the team.
He also said that he had met with "the group of players that are dedicated to returning" and started building a relationship with them. The roster is absolutely up in the air right now. We could have a few players return...we could have zero players return. He did say when talking about the ideal recruiting mix mentioned above that the plan is to hit the ground running and certainly the intent is to be competitive immediately, so in all likelihood we can expect a heavier mix of transfers for the first year or two as he works to fill the roster. He didn't explicitly say it like that - those are MY words - but that was heavily implied. And I think that's the right way to go. For one thing, say we do have 10 roster spots open...if you go recruit 10 freshmen then in 4 years you're graduating the entire roster again.
A note on the hiring process ... unbeknownst to me prior to today, I actually had a family member on my wife's side that was involved in the hiring process. Groups from all of the various departments on campus performed parts of the interviews with the finalists. I asked her if they interviewed the candidate from New York and she said yes, but that the general feeling that her group (and others) got from him was that he was "waiting for a D1 offer", so take that for what you will. Coach Cooper's name was the first specific name that my unofficial source mentioned to me about 2-3 weeks before any of the other finalists came up. He pursued the job impressively, and in full knowledge of the tradition and expectations that comes along with it. Everything I have learned unofficially, combined with the press conference and subsequent interviews I have seen and listened to afterwards makes me fully agree that he is the right man for the job. Hopefully Owensboro will welcome him with open arms and will get behind this program as we get back to doing what we do best - win championships.
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