Coach Search Options after Autry

[CuseBlood44]

It's probably been mentioned but power team, money conference.

Ohio state my guess unless he wants to go south LSU OU USC

 

[Brian Orange]

Not to be dramatic but this next hire will determine if we become Depaul/Georgetown or right the ship like a Louisville. No excuses by the AD , pay up or enjoy an empty dome for a longggg time

100%. Also, and nobody mentions this, Wildhack's career is on the line with this hire in my opinion.

 

[CuseBlood44]

How about breaking the mold. Coach Jack.

Can we stop with this. No recruits / transfers want to play for a female head coach. Thats not sexist it’s reality

 

[UnknownOrange]

paulie was trying to sell me on mike hopkins and I felt like I was taking crazy pills. If his name was Mike Smith would you still be interested in a former bench coach who went on to be a HC and 10 games under 500 in major conference play and hasn't coached college basketball in 2 years?

 

[BigNastyJon]

Can we stop with this. No recruits / transfers want to play for a female head coach. Thats not sexist it’s reality

Hate to break it to you, but something can be both sexist and reality. Have no idea the reality of your statement, but it certainly makes you sound sexist.

 

[Cusefan0307]

paulie was trying to sell me on mike hopkins and I felt like I was taking crazy pills. If his name was Mike Smith would you still be interested in a former bench coach who went on to be a HC and 10 games under 500 in major conference play and hasn't coached college basketball in 2 years?

Gaslighting specialty.

 

[Newhouser]

Do a national search. If GMac can beat out the other candidates, then good for him.

I personally think we need to avoid the JB bench this hire, but if GMac can beat a group from a full-throated national search, great. May the best man win.

His initial results at Siena are great. Kudos to him. But you have to have talent to get back to where we need to be. Which also means he needs to drive big money.

Get the best possible guy for the job. It's been over a decade since we were better than an 8 seed (I am blanking on who pointed this out recently, my apologies to the poster). Five years in a row counting this year with no NCAAT at all.

Get busy winning, asap.

I agree but we will never know how deep the search was.

 

[phil77]

DM request so Tony Skinn turn......

 

[phil77]

Tony Skinn is a tough-minded, defensive-oriented head coach at George Mason University known for fostering a gritty, high-intensity team culture reminiscent of his playing days. He emphasizes building, "Patriot Pressure" defense, player development, and strong recruiting, particularly within the DMV area.

George Mason is top 30 in scoring defense this year

“The main goal is to be good in the front court and be even better in the half court. If you look at our metrics, we were really good at protecting our paint. A lot of that comes from killing the clock and working as hard as we can to make sure that it’s the toughest shot that you can get in half court and that’s something we do every single day.”

“We’ve got a drill called ’24-second toughness’ and we try to be as perfect as possible in those 24 seconds in shell. No middle drives, you have to close out with high hands, you can’t foul, no offensive rebounds. If any one of those things triggers us, we start over. Sometimes, guys are done in 24 seconds, sometimes guys are on the floor for five or ten minutes .. when you’re doing it every single day, these guys get in the game and it puts a lot of pressure on our opponents.”

 

[CuseBlood44]

Hate to break it to you, but something can be both sexist and reality. Have no idea the reality of your statement, but it certainly makes you sound sexist.

If it was a good idea another school would’ve already done it. Let’s not try something brand new we are a d1 top 25 program historically. So unserious

 

[phil77]

His offensive system usually takes a back seat, but he tends to try to run a guard-first system that calls for player and ball movement. Tries to preach layups and 3s like most modern basketball. I see lots of flare screens and weak side action. Most of the 4 or 5 out type offense you see. Would need excellent guard play. You can see he has a system, but players look more focused on defense





The quote that I didn't like is right at the beginning...

"I preach to my guys to my guys all the time, man, if you guys get stops I don't look at me, go figure it out on the other end. That's the reality of it"

 

[phil77]

He has a solid reputation for recruiting in the DMV area. Don't think he ever hit the elite level but is no slouch here. He recruited for Maryland, Ohio State, Seton Hall.

 

[phil77]

In Interviews and on the sidelines seem very even-toned, cool, and calm. Seems very much the adult. Seems very calculated in the way he talks.

 

[phil77]

In Summary he seems like the opposite of Hodgson...

He is a defensive-first coach
He seems very measured and calm while being intense
He has a rep of a very solid recruiter (Hodgson's reputation is a level above)
He didn't yell at our current coach's kid in the handshake line

The questions

Offense at the P4 level
Will his personality be passionate enough to excite the donors and fan base after this past decade?
Can he recruit with NIL against the big boys?


It is my opinion that we can do better than Skinn, but we can do a lot worse as well.

 

[phil77]

Side note he seems really high on LEVEL 5 energy LOL He doesnt call it that

“Having that blue collar mindset, showing up to practice every day. You can miss some shots, but you can’t have a bad practice based on effort. And that’s the biggest thing for us here at George Mason. We try to recruit to it. Energy level is everything. And it’s not just the players. It’s our managers, it’s our coaches, it’s everybody that’s in the gym, and it’s really been good for us.”

 

[007]

Side note he seems really high on LEVEL 5 energy LOL He doesnt call it that

“Having that blue collar mindset, showing up to practice every day. You can miss some shots, but you can’t have a bad practice based on effort. And that’s the biggest thing for us here at George Mason. We try to recruit to it. Energy level is everything. And it’s not just the players. It’s our managers, it’s our coaches, it’s everybody that’s in the gym, and it’s really been good for us.”

Really good job with these summaries, Phil. thanks

 

[orangecuse]

100%. Also, and nobody mentions this, Wildhack's career is on the line with this hire in my opinion.

Perhaps, 'nobody mentions this,' is due to the fact that he's in his 68th year of life. Moreover, based upon his past executive status at ESPN, etc., I imagine he's not too concerned about his career, maybe his legacy, but not career. He can retire if his next hire is another egg, and have plenty and then some in his nest egg to continue living out his best life.

 

[cusefan88]

Side note he seems really high on LEVEL 5 energy LOL He doesnt call it that

“Having that blue collar mindset, showing up to practice every day. You can miss some shots, but you can’t have a bad practice based on effort. And that’s the biggest thing for us here at George Mason. We try to recruit to it. Energy level is everything. And it’s not just the players. It’s our managers, it’s our coaches, it’s everybody that’s in the gym, and it’s really been good for us.”

I've read a lot of these that you've done. I keep coming back to Eric Olen. They should at least gauge interest...

 

[phil77]

I've read a lot of these that you've done. I keep coming back to Eric Olen. They should at least gauge interest...

I love everything about Olen as a coach. Only concern would be coming out East, can he recruit, and can he relate to our community, fan base, and donor base. As a coach, I like him second to Schertz of course, but I haven't come across anyone better yet that would realistically be available.

 

[Sbucketball]

Not to be dramatic but this next hire will determine if we become Depaul/Georgetown or right the ship like a Louisville. No excuses by the AD , pay up or enjoy an empty dome for a longggg time

I don't think that's dramatic, I think it's accurate.

Agreed, the next few years will determine whether this program sinks or swims, but also this Spring we fans will finally get a loud and clear message whether SU is in the business of big boy basketball. Obviously SU would never say don't waste your time and money on the program, but if this transition is handled poorly and we're underwhelmed, well that's just as good as SU coming out and plainly telling fans not to bother, and SU just wants to collect tv checks in a power conference and doesn't care whether it's a doormat. I'm happy to finally get clarification. No more being held in limbo.

 

[elimunelson]

Curious, what do you consider "bigger jobs"? To me, the biggest jobs are those with a combination of history and potential. What do you see opening up that provides significantly more of that than Syracuse? If the university is going to pay up there aren’t too many. The tired old narrative of poor old Syracuse is both tired and old. It's just factually incorrect. This job offers massive upside for the right hire. That to me is undebatable.

Every one here is saying any job w big boosters

So I’m going on what others say. I thought it was a top 10 job but probably if I’m listening it’s top 25-30 now based on our ability to spend which is the biggest issue

Dybansta went to basketball tradition laden BYU. Prob a better job now

 

[Briancuse]

Hate to break it to you, but something can be both sexist and reality. Have no idea the reality of your statement, but it certainly makes you sound sexist.

I have a ton of respect for jack, she's a tremendous coach. And im all for females getting chances, im just not sure now is the time to be experimenting.