Pitino as transitional hire to raise SU's profile

[Cuse69]

He’s a head coach in the G-League right now.

Not the same as college HC, but it counts for something IMO.

Didn't know that, definitely counts especially working with the pros. He'd be a solid option IMO. If JW&Co will only hire someone from the family I'd take him over anyone on staff in a heart beat.

 

[hoopsupstate]

I hope SU gives Kenny Payne, former Kentucky assistant and now NY Knick assistant a look. He’s a great recruiter and builds great relationships with players. He’d be worth an interview.

 

[kcsu]

I don't think they are going to fire JB for one terrible year. On the other hand we haven't been legit national title contenders in 8 seasons so that might be what does him in.

The stat that stands out to me is from the 08-09 season to the 13-14 season we won 81% of games. After that from the 14-15 season and including this season we have won 58% of all games.

They are never going to fire JB

 

[BillSU]

Nate Oats is one of the highest paid coaches in the country. Is syracuse willing to pay him 4 million to even start a conversation. He has it made there and comparing the state of each program why would he kill himself to resurrect this program after already doing it twice before.

No. and he won't.

 

[OrangeDW]

Nate Oats is one of the highest paid coaches in the country. Is syracuse willing to pay him 4 million to even start a conversation. He has it made there and comparing the state of each program why would he kill himself to resurrect this program after already doing it twice before.

He grew up celebrating Sherm - Stevie alley-oops. Gotta count for something.

 

[Cuse69]

They are never going to fire JB

Fire or force to retire/step down is the same thing.

 

[Grbac]

I’m going to continue to beat the “Jason Hart should be considered” drum.

I agree! I was just reading an article on him getting the G League job. He just wanted a head coach opportunity and finally got one that made sense. He helped recruit lottery picks to USC. Now is getting to work with all these top recruits.
I just wonder if he would be interested because his family and ties are in California. Jason Hart Jr is committed to play at Long Beach State.
I would think it would be too hard to pass up. Being head coach of your alma mater and big time national basketball school.
I think it makes perfect sense and hope Wildhack gives him a chance.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Guy can coach that's a given.

And recruit.

 

[IthacaMatt]

C'mon guys. no way the board or chancellor signs off on Pitino, waaay to much baggage. It is what it is. JB will have a few more down years, and we give the keys to Gerry or Red. To think otherwise is wishful thinking.

But why? Boeheim's been sanctioned TWICE, and had over 100 wins taken away.

 

[IthacaMatt]

C'mon guys. no way the board or chancellor signs off on Pitino, waaay to much baggage. It is what it is. JB will have a few more down years, and we give the keys to Gerry or Red. To think otherwise is wishful thinking.

We might as well become St. John's, then. We'll be awful by then.

 

[IthacaMatt]

If asked, I'd think he'll say yes. It'll be his swan song. The man was overseas less than 2 years ago and couldn't find a job. Leading a Syracuse team to a Final 4 would be redemption at the highest level.
He'd take it!

And frankly I would love to see this.
I think the press would be pretty excited about him coming back here to end his career.

 

[two3zone]

People can say what they want about Paulus, but he handled Colgate. That this is a means of comparison indicates how urgent things have become.

Played Xavier and Ohio St tough as well.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

We might as well become St. John's, then. We'll be awful by then.

I think there is a pretty strong argument that we are already there.

 

[Ozone!]

Not saying we should hire Pitino but the complaints about paying players should also be leveled at Duke and other high profile programs which are also doing so. Would anyone not want Coach K due to that and yet he is revered by many, Many have also cheated on their wives and it’s never come out. Many schools have used women’s sexual favors to recruit players. I’m not saying any of this is right. I am saying we really don‘t know for sure about anyone we might hire.
Believe what you will but no human ever existed who didn’t make mistakes and that is between that individual and his/her creator.
Just consider this.

 

[IthacaMatt]

1) He is slime.
2) The coach represents the University.
His posjtive is that he wins games.
His negative is that Syracuse would be represented by a known unethical person.
In my world his positives do not out weigh his negatives. Our image is more important than how many games we win. Our mission is greater than a basketball factory.

Louisville is a second tier academic institution and they fired him. You people think we should hire him?

Don't go there. Seriously.
Boeheim unintentionally killed a guy.
Boeheim used a street agent to pay players' families or their handlers.
Boeheim has landed SU on probation twice, not once, but twice, and the second one was for ACADEMIC FRAUD, Mr. University Integrity Guy.
Boeheim has put himself ahead of the University by never agreeing to turn the reins over to Mike Hopkins when he had agreed to do so.
Boeheim plays his own sons disproportionately to their talent, and has had 8 kids transfer out in the last 2 seasons because of it.
Boeheim is abusive to his players in the media.

 

[IthacaMatt]

No on Pitino. No on Bliss.

Bliss covered up a murder by his player.
Pitino had a hook-up and got caught.

Hardly the same thing.

 

[IthacaMatt]

There’s a less than zero chance the BOT would ever sign off on Pitino.

But the current guy is A-OK.
You should go wikipedia him.

 

[IthacaMatt]

If we want to do a big name transitional hire it should be Beilein. Great coach and a class act

That's actually a pretty good idea.

 

[Cusefan0307]

But the current guy is A-OK.
You should go wikipedia him.

Hardly the same thing at all. I don’t care what you say. And it was an accident on 690. Too make it more than that is dumb.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Hardly the same thing at all. I don’t care what you say. And it was an accident on 690. Too make it more than that is dumb.

How about the academic fraud with Fab Melo, or payments to players in the 80s and 90s?

 

[DoctorBombay]

Slick Rick is not innocent by any means. But to suggest that Syracuse is somehow “above” hiring him as a coach due to his indiscretions, is just being biased and elitist, IMO.
The real question is are we a major player or not? If we catch the vapors and thumb our nose at coaches who supposedly don’t meet our high standards, then we’re just being hypocrites.
Plenty of coaches are lacking in that dept. So what makes us so firiggin special? JMHO

 

[Cusefan0307]

How about the academic fraud with Fab Melo, or payments to players in the 80s and 90s?

Why are we bringing up things decades ago?

And it's not happening anyway.

And ftr people can get mad at me, but hiring a 70 year old coach like Beilein or Pitino is as idiotically stupid as people who claim we should hire Jay Wright. We are kicking the can for 2-3 years before they retire.

We are going to hire a young and up and coming coach and rightfully so.

 

[miamicuse]

That's why the title said "transitional" because we are not looking for the next legend that will be here forever. Times have changed. The next hire will be here 1 year or 5...but in house or not, the next hire is critical.

Having a successful transitional hire for 2-3 years make sense to get out from JB's big shadow. Hiring from inside will most like be more of the same, hiring from the outside will create a rift especially if the new hire decides to clean house and bring in his own staff. Pitino is special in that regard because he is under the JB tree, and he is a JB friend. That counts for something. For sure he will not be affected by the JB shadow and he will get things moving in the right direction. He is also older so 2-3 years he will be ready to hang it up where he started his career.

On his past issues. The cheating is between him and his wife, personal stuff, none of our business. The stripper and the payment during recruiting, are issues, and I like to think that with NIL making some payment legitimate may lessen the chance of that happening again, and it's not like this is not being done by everyone else.

 

[rrlbees]

Bliss covered up a murder by his player.
Pitino had a hook-up and got caught.

Hardly the same thing.

Did I say they were the same thing? Bliss had been mentioned in the fball board and I say no to both.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

Mark Few.

He makes $1.8 million at Gonzaga. Getting him to the $3 million range (JB makes just about that last I checked) would be a big bump for him, and not far out line with the current JB salary. That's a dude that knows how to recruit and coach in Spokane. He can do it here.

That said he's been there so long not sure if he will ever want to leave