Big announcement at 1 pm today: Hop to Washington

[pearl31]

orchestrated with JB's blessing?

 

[Alsacs]

Holy Chit Balls business is about to pick up.

 

[orangeinohio]

Money? Desire to coach at alma mater like you see a lot of successful coaches doing later in career.

At this point in his life, he's been an east coaster longer than he's been a west coaster. I'm not saying it will happen, just suggesting that there is a path.

Fair enough. My fanboard certainty isn't 100% certain; just my big gut feeling.

It seems like the upside of UW and not having to replace Boeheim and possibly starting your own coaching streak is greater than the issues with coming back to Syracuse.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Let's all be realistic here. Look at Duke. No way in hell that they would have taken one of the unproven assistants to take over for K. K pushed his disciples out into the world to get experience. One of those guys will come back and take over and be ready. This gives Hop what he wants and needs and allows Syracuse a sense of stability and a chance to properly plan for the future. Hop could still be the guy in 5 years...and be game ready.

That announcement of JB's retirement date was done to placate the NCAA. But now that we saw they didn't much care about that (didn't give wins back, etc), JB said it and decided he wasn't going to get pushed out. Perhaps recruiting was hurt by two things: Hop not on the road and players knowing JB was done. Now they will know JB is not done. And he clearly still has the passion to coach.

Good for Hop. Good for SU. I don't think Wildhack would allow this program to run itself into the ground. This had to have been in the plans for awhile. At least a few months.

But JB has to start recruiting again for any of this to turn around. And we absolutely must add a top recruiter. Otherwise, this gets worse.

 

[cayugacuse]

Wouldn't mind Herm Harried or Ryan Blackwell get an opportunity as an assistant here.

 

[Fly Rodder]

orchestrated with JB's blessing?

I don't know about blessing, more like insisting.

 

[NKR1978]

I don't doubt his commitment. It's just not our history to pay coaches top dollar. JB isn't even making top dollar. But maybe that changes.

We paid market for Babers.

I'm not going to say I'm not concerned, but to date they haven't given me any reason to believe that they will let this program fall by the wayside.

 

[Toga]

Let's all be realistic here. Look at Duke. No way in hell that they would have taken one of the unproven assistants to take over for K. K pushed his disciples out into the world to get experience. One of those guys will come back and take over and be ready. This gives Hop what he wants and needs and allows Syracuse a sense of stability and a chance to properly plan for the future. Hop could still be the guy in 5 years...and be game ready.

That announcement of JB's retirement date was done to placate the NCAA. But now that we saw they didn't much care about that (didn't give wins back, etc), JB said it and decided he wasn't going to get pushed out. Perhaps recruiting was hurt by two things: Hop not on the road and players knowing JB was done. Now they will know JB is not done. And he clearly still has the passion to coach.

Good for Hop. Good for SU. I don't think Wildhack would allow this program to run itself into the ground. This had to have been in the plans for awhile. At least a few months.

He may have the passion to coach during a game. He hasn't run practices in years and apparently can't be bothered to go on the road recruiting. Rio is nice however. So assume he wants to coach beyond next year. That would make him a 74 year old coach with an undetermined amount of time left to coach - who won't go out to recruit and tries to hire a recruiter whose job may only last a year or two. This is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Shenexon]

It may be a low probability option 4, but suppose for a minute that JB has decided to retire now and Hopkins decided he wanted to move on as well? Just because Hopkins decided to take the UW job doesn't necessarily mean that JB is going to be back next year either. There are many possibilities...

 

[Trueblue25]

I like Altman from Oregon.

 

[OrangeDW]

I don't doubt his commitment. It's just not our history to pay coaches top dollar. JB isn't even making top dollar. But maybe that changes.

What history? The job hasn't been open in 40 years!

 

[OrangeZeus]

Good for Hop. Hope he does well at Washington. But we need to start looking for a replacement. Mike Mennenga out of Oregon would be a good fit I think.

 

[007]

Given the current events, I would bet (hope) that Wildhack has a (different) succession plan in place. It won't get leaked, this is a tight ship. It's hard to imagine a better connected AD - he is going to have access to lots of information and "expert" opinion on the direction to head.

Hop is the first shoe to fall

 

[McNabb2Brominski]

If it wasn't for the NCAA sanctions Boehiem would've retired by now or next year. I think he wants to stick around a few more years to get 1000 wins (officially) and stick it to the NCAA.

 

[samspann1]

Hopefully you will see them soon. I'll give you a clue on one. Right now, he is not that far away.

Unfortunately for me, I don't follow recruiting as much as I used to, so I'm not sure who you're referring to. :noidea:

 

[bballbeadle]

Somebody talk me off the ledge, I'm feeling very uneasy about this.

No can do, good buddy. I feel like the earth has just opened up under our feet.

 

[TacoTime75]

While this is certainly shocking, it will be interesting to see a new assistant recruiting to prove himself to keep his job. When's the last time we had a staffer in that position?

 

[HOFCeluck]

We couldn't get a Chris Mack? We can't offer more than Xavier?

Right. Every other P5 program has hired a Xavier coach at some point. Why not us?

 

[AlpharettaCuse]

So much for that contract, ha. . Some of us were tarred and feathered by some suggesting it wasnt set in stone.

It was. Hopkins always had the option to leave, though.

 

[tptcuse]

I say this as someone who loves Mike Hopkins: this is a win-win for everyone involved.

Hopkins gets an opportunity to coach in one of the greatest cities in America, at a University where he won't be under intense pressure to replace a legend.

And we have the ability not to look like we're going back on our word, and find an elite coach who can give this program a needed infusion of new vision and coaching style.

I could not agree more!

 

[SWFLCUSE]

No thanks. And double the no thanks on Bland and Hart. Perfect ass'ts for the West Coast. They don't know the players here. plus, I don't see Amanda wanting to leave L.A, for syracuse.

He's from PA and she's from OK, plus they met in NYC so I don't see the big draw for L.A outside of maybe good weather. Plus she put all the modeling behind her once they got married and settled down. I only tossed Bland and Hart in there to satisfy the crowd that likes keeping it in the family.

I may be just a little biased, but I love his playing style and personality and would love to see his high flying system get the Dome rocking.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Unfortunately for me, I don't follow recruiting as much as I used to, so I'm not sure who you're referring to. :noidea:

Don't quote me, but I believe I saw in the Hamier Wright thread that he wanted to play for JB.

 

[cmr27]

One other possibility...JB still retiring but Wildhack concluded that Hop is not the right guy and is going to conduct a search...

Yes. But he wouldn't come to that conclusion without JB's consent.

 

[longislandcuse]

UW fans don't seem too happy.

They don't mind that he's a Syracuse guy, in fact that's the only thing saving him, but they seem to hate that he's going to be learning on the job.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Here is the list of head coaches with tourney wins after age 73:

...