Brent Axe defending Mike Hopkins

[Flintstones]

Jay Bilas?

 

[HOFCeluck]

True. But did he go to UCLA games when Gene Bartow was manning the sideline? I am not sure.

LOL don't ask me...I wasn't even born!

 

[LennX6]

Here's the thing. We went outside the Syracuse family for our last Athletic Director, and by most accounts it wasn't a good decision. God Rest his soul, you cannot tell me Rob Edson would not of had the same accomplishments as Daryl Gross the past ten years, except we wouldn't of lost or sense of history or tradition.

My concern with hiring an outsider as basketball coach instead of Hopkins is you will lose some of that same sense of history and tradition. Someone is going to come in and create a whole new program, that will be foreign to many people especially Alumni.

It's been well documented here, and explained other places that our current coaches sell the program as a family to recruits. That's why Thomas Bryant's mom wants to come here in the first place. Hopkins has already proven himself as an ace at selling the program, and as a fellow alum, I want to see another alum get first shot at continuing our success.

Also keep in mind, if a new AD comes in and hires his own guy, and that guy fails as basketball coach, not only are you hiring another basketball coach, you are hiring another AD as well. If Hopkins fails the AD can then hire his own guy, but if he succeeds, the AD can focus on what really needs fixing, and that is the football program.

If I'm on the BOT, I tell the new AD that we would prefer to keep this one in house, especially with the sense of history and traditions that have been lost in other places.

Thing is one has to be careful of "tradition". Mindful of history is great, perfect, but sometimes tradition can be as insidious as "well we've always did it this way", or reaching into your pocket, in trying to fix a 2015 problem, with something that worked in 1995. It rarely works. Beware of cultural defects embedded in an organization. Don't celebrate them, extricate them.

 

[LennX6]

True. But did he go to UCLA games when Gene Bartow was manning the sideline? I am not sure.

Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham are the two most denigrated UCLA coaches of all times. And no-one knows Cunningham is #1 in W-L pct and Bartow is #2.
Joe B Hall and these guys could tell you how multi-dimensional an ordeal it is replacing a legend.

 

[two3zone]

So what? Only after each of those programs took significant steps backwards. We don't want to have that happen here. We should take consolation in having a candidate flop, knowing that we can be in the NCAA tournament 10+ years down the road?

The goal should be to bring somebody in who is the optimal candidate to sustain the success we've grown accustomed to.

I love your posts, I either 100% disagree with you or 100% agree with you. I think you hit a home run with this post, I agree we need to keep up with the success we've grown accustomed to and need to keep what we've been doing for the past 30 years, especially the past 5 years.

Moving away from your post a little, I'd be a little worried if we did go into a 4-7 year funk, I'm not sure we have the history or prestige it would take to turn it around as fast as teams like Kentucky, UNC and Kansas could. Every time one of these teams turns it around, let's throw Louisville in there too, they have a Hall of Fame coach turning it around, I'm not saying we need a HOF coach to replace JB but turning around a program is not as easy as it sounds, I don't want to turn into a middle of the pack ACC team, we need to hit a home run with this coaching decision.

 

[PhatOrange]

John Beilein would be in consideration for Syracuse to.

 

[two3zone]

John Beilein would be in consideration for Syracuse to.

If we couldn't get somebody like Jay Wright how could we get John Beilein, I'd consider Michigan a pretty nice job, I'd rank it ahead of Villanova.

 

[MSOrange]

John Beilein would be in consideration for Syracuse to.

I like him as a coach but he's no spring chicken.

 

[PhatOrange]

If we couldn't get somebody like Jay Wright how could we get John Beilein, I'd consider Michigan a pretty nice job, I'd rank it ahead of Villanova.

michigan is a nice job. syracuse is better. beilein isn't tied to michigan and he's a new yorker.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Belein is 61 years old.

 

[Jake]

Beilein isn't getting a phone call from the Melo Center.

 

[two3zone]

michigan is a nice job. syracuse is better. beilein isn't tied to michigan and he's a new yorker.

I think Michigan is too much of a lateral movement to make a jump like that.

 

[Jake]

Okay. Here are my thoughts on the next coach if its not Hop.

We are a second tier blue blood, just outside selector school in a great conference. In normal circumstances, that would attract great candidates.

But, this is not going to be a normal circumstance. The next coach is going to have to deal with:

1) Some form of scholarship reduction (even with a successful appeal)
2) A probationary period that will certainly force the next coaching staff to be exceptionally careful with the NCAA rule book
3) The prospect of following a HOF coach. As the saying goes, "you don't want to be the guy following the guy, you want to be the guy following they guy who followed the guy."...or something like that. Oh, and that HOF'er will be in the stands, living locally and probably still have a radio show.
4) And, the new coach is going to meet boosters who will essentially say the following: "We don't have losing seasons, we win 20, and you better win because everyone and their brother wanted Mike Hopkins to have your job."
5) What will likely be some type of power play by JB to ensure Hop gets the job - would anyone be surprised if JB quits 1 month prior to the beginning of the 2017 season to force the AD to give Hop a 1 year audition?

Okay - now consider who is going to take the job? The list of candidates shrinks quickly. No one coaching at a traditional similar echelon program is coming here, and if you don't get a coach from a traditional solid program, how to you sell it to the alumni. No one here is going to sign onto hiring the hot coach from Northern Iowa.

Add this to the pressure that will be placed on the AD to hire Hop and I don't see how this job doesn't ultimately fall to anyone but Mike Hopkins. Syverud is being coy for several reasons...including putting the best foot forward with our appeal.

 

[Millhouse]

Okay. Here are my thoughts on the next coach if its not Hop.

We are a second tier blue blood, just outside selector school in a great conference. In normal circumstances, that would attract great candidates.

But, this is not going to be a normal circumstance. The next coach is going to have to deal with:

1) Some form of scholarship reduction (even with a successful appeal)
2) A probationary period that will certainly force the next coaching staff to be exceptionally careful with the NCAA rule book
3) The prospect of following a HOF coach. As the saying goes, "you don't want to be the guy following the guy, you want to be the guy following they guy who followed the guy."...or something like that. Oh, and that HOF'er will be in the stands, living locally and probably still have a radio show.
4) And, the new coach is going to meet boosters who will essentially say the following: "We don't have losing seasons, we win 20, and you better win because everyone and their brother wanted Mike Hopkins to have your job."
5) What will likely be some type of power play by JB to ensure Hop gets the job - would anyone be surprised if JB quits 1 month prior to the beginning of the 2017 season to force the AD to give Hop a 1 year audition?

Okay - now consider who is going to take the job? The list of candidates shrinks quickly. No one coaching at a traditional similar echelon program is coming here, and if you don't get a coach from a traditional solid program, how to you sell it to the alumni. No one here is going to sign onto hiring the hot coach from Northern Iowa.

Add this to the pressure that will be placed on the AD to hire Hop and I don't see how this job doesn't ultimately fall to anyone but Mike Hopkins. Syverud is being coy for several reasons...including putting the best foot forward with our appeal.

candidates for this job probably think they're better than boeheim. top of that profession isn't known for humility. being able to sell crowds of 35,000 to recruits might swamp all that

 

[skurey]

Our fanbase is pretty fair weather though. It's going to be really interesting.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Okay. Here are my thoughts on the next coach if its not Hop.

We are a second tier blue blood, just outside selector school in a great conference. In normal circumstances, that would attract great candidates.

But, this is not going to be a normal circumstance. The next coach is going to have to deal with:

1) Some form of scholarship reduction (even with a successful appeal)
2) A probationary period that will certainly force the next coaching staff to be exceptionally careful with the NCAA rule book
3) The prospect of following a HOF coach. As the saying goes, "you don't want to be the guy following the guy, you want to be the guy following they guy who followed the guy."...or something like that. Oh, and that HOF'er will be in the stands, living locally and probably still have a radio show.
4) And, the new coach is going to meet boosters who will essentially say the following: "We don't have losing seasons, we win 20, and you better win because everyone and their brother wanted Mike Hopkins to have your job."
5) What will likely be some type of power play by JB to ensure Hop gets the job - would anyone be surprised if JB quits 1 month prior to the beginning of the 2017 season to force the AD to give Hop a 1 year audition?

Okay - now consider who is going to take the job? The list of candidates shrinks quickly. No one coaching at a traditional similar echelon program is coming here, and if you don't get a coach from a traditional solid program, how to you sell it to the alumni. No one here is going to sign onto hiring the hot coach from Northern Iowa.

Add this to the pressure that will be placed on the AD to hire Hop and I don't see how this job doesn't ultimately fall to anyone but Mike Hopkins. Syverud is being coy for several reasons...including putting the best foot forward with our appeal.

There is one current guy who is relatively young that I could see coming here due to the prestige of the program, but he currently makes a boatload of money and that is Buzz Williams.

 

[LennX6]

There is one current guy who is relatively young that I could see coming here due to the prestige of the program, but he currently makes a boatload of money and that is Buzz Williams.

Who can do the best job he could possibly do and still only be second best in his own town.

 

[Czar]

Everybody who doesn't want Hopkins basically has delusions of grandeur. I promise you would all be bitterly disappointed in the name you heard when the selection was announced. Jay Wright? Billy Donovan? These are the caliber names you think you will hear? Hell why not Coach K? Just as likely.

Show me an Archie Miller!

 

[HenryC]

Show me an Archie Miller!

Danny Hurley. Taught his brother how to coach. URI plays incredibly hard. Knows NY/NJ. Will be very hot after two more strong seasons.

 

[CuseTG2003]

Show me an Archie Miller!

Was going to mention him as well. I think he's going to be big time somewhere.

 

[SWC75]

I think a lot of people under-rate our program. I can't believe that after 45 years of winning season and the largest crowds in the country, we are all that vulnerable. The situation is completely the opposite of the football program.

 

[TheCusian]

lol But seriously, he coaches in our conference, and if he can sustain the success he's had at UVa the last two seasons, he's not coming here.

NYC, NJ vs Virginia

 

[TheCusian]

Here's the thing. We went outside the Syracuse family for our last Athletic Director, and by most accounts it wasn't a good decision. God Rest his soul, you cannot tell me Rob Edson would not of had the same accomplishments as Daryl Gross the past ten years, except we wouldn't of lost or sense of history or tradition. My concern with hiring an outsider as basketball coach instead of Hopkins is you will lose some of that same sense of history and tradition. Someone is going to come in and create a whole new program, that will be foreign to many people especially Alumni. It's been well documented here, and explained other places that our current coaches sell the program as a family to recruits. That's why Thomas Bryant's mom wants to come here in the first place. Hopkins has already proven himself as an ace at selling the program, and as a fellow alum, I want to see another alum get first shot at continuing our success. Also keep in mind, if a new AD comes in and hires his own guy, and that guy fails as basketball coach, not only are you hiring another basketball coach, you are hiring another AD as well. If Hopkins fails the AD can then hire his own guy, but if he succeeds, the AD can focus on what really needs fixing, and that is the football program. If I'm on the BOT, I tell the new AD that we would prefer to keep this one in house, especially with the sense of history and traditions that have been lost in other places.

I'm all go on Hop. I just think people short change the job. Especially the dome, fan support, and the Melo Center as things that make It a great job.

 

[TheCusian]

I think a lot of people under-rate our program. I can't believe that after 45 years of winning season and the largest crowds in the country, we are all that vulnerable. The situation is completely the opposite of the football program.

Yep - all the strategic advantages we don't have in Football, we have for basketball.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Whether Hop is the best choice is irrelevant in my mind. He has stuck with the program, apparently, based on promises that were made.

I'd be very disappointed in SU if they back off those promises.

Coaching is overrated. Recruiting is underrated. Talent and physical presence win games. Consistency in staff is important for recruiting. What is to prevent a new coach who is an outsider from jumping to a more prestigious college, a better paying college, the NBA or back to his home school?