UConn fires Kevin Ollie / hires Danny Hurley

[Orangezoo]

Boneyard is all giddy about it... Cracks me up.

 

[orangenauburn]

They got the wrong Hurley

They'll do ok with NJ kids though

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Based on the season he had, I would have thought he could have parlayed it into a bigger job. Not that a move from the A10 to the ACK is not a move up, but it's not THAT big a move up. Maybe he just wanted out of RI.

I think it's a lot easier to win in the AAC then in a P5 conference. Maybe they sold him on the history and that he could be the Jay Wright of the AAC. Then they threw a boatload of money at him when nothing else worked.

 

[pearl31]

He must've been assured any sanctions they'll be getting are minimal, otherwise he's more of a glutton than he already appears... even w/o spectre of the ncaa investigation this would appear as basically a lateral move with a slight nod to ucon/aac if only because wichita joined last year and there's slightly more $$ there

 

[nzm136]

Oh please don’t say that. Wildhack will make the right hire. If not Hop, then a great up-and-coming coach.

We're in a very different position. We have a lot more money/resources behind our program, and Hop is a clear successor who will have experience by the time he takes over.

 

[OrangeDW]

Uconn is still a bit of a step up and more money. It's as good a hire as they could possibly have got for a young, up and coming coach. They will expect him to recruit the tri-state hard. He's had a decent career with ties to the tri-state. However, there is nothing suggesting he is the savior of that program. Time will tell.

If he does well there, he will leave for a better job at a P5 program. That is UConn’s place in the college hoops world going forward.

 

[orangehomer]

they haven't made a good coaching hire since Calhoun or edsall part one. good luck with that fanbase, if hurley doesn't have them as NC contenders by year 2 they will turn on him. that is a miserable, miserable place to coach, bad resources and worse fan support. they turned on an alumnus that won an NC after only a couple of bad years. and they have no players.

 

[EastCoast2]

they haven't made a good coaching hire since Calhoun or edsall part one. good luck with that fanbase, if hurley doesn't have them as NC contenders by year 2 they will turn on him. that is a miserable, miserable place to coach, bad resources and worse fan support. they turned on an alumnus that won an NC after only a couple of bad years. and they have no players.

Not only that, but Ollie allegedly turned down NBA opportunities (probably assistant gigs), but before his coaching career went down in flames in Storrs, his name was constantly mentioned for HC and assistant spots in the NBA due to his apparent ability to mentor and connect with younger players like Kevin Durant.

 

[two3zone]

Boneyard is all giddy about it... Cracks me up.

That's a great hire, not sure why it's funny.

 

[two3zone]

We're in a very different position. We have a lot more money/resources behind our program, and Hop is a clear successor who will have experience by the time he takes over.

Is it clear Hop would come back?

 

[HOFCeluck]

Is it clear Hop would come back?

No

 

[Oakland]

Does that mean you expect JB to leave the program in shambles!?

when jb finally leaves, i'm not at all sure syracuse won't end up looking a lot like pitt & uconn do right now

 

[two3zone]

No

I didn't think so.

He had a perfect situation. A football school with solid basketball support in a metro area following up after a guy who was awful. His season was a MAJOR success and in that conference he can continue to rise up. There's already buzz about the program, he's already recruited well and has a solid staff around him. I have zero doubt he would have success in Syracuse but following a hall of famer after taking a program from the ashes to success where your family is comfortable and at his age it seems crazy he'd come back. He's making very good money as well. Just don't see it.

 

[two3zone]

Does that mean you expect JB to leave the program in shambles!?

Calhoun didn't either but look what happened, Dixon didn't either. Just shows that the next coach does matter a lot no matter who the school is.

 

[Alsacs]

Calhoun didn't either but look what happened, Dixon didn't either. Just shows that the next coach does matter a lot no matter who the school is.

Calhoun forced his successor on the school.
That was backfired as the guy is gone and they have to deal with this arbitration.

JB pushed his successor out but we now know when he will likely retire and the AD can have his list ready for then.
JB won’t Ollie in his successor like Calhoun did or Dean Smith did with Bill Guthridge.

I don’t think Hurley at UConn is the right fit for him. He should wait for Maryland or a mid tier B1G or ACC job to open up.

I think the Georgetown job is on par with UConn and Hurley turned that down last year.

 

[Cheriehoop]

He must've been assured any sanctions they'll be getting are minimal, otherwise he's more of a glutton than he already appears... even w/o spectre of the ncaa investigation this would appear as basically a lateral move with a slight nod to ucon/aac if only because wichita joined last year and there's slightly more $$ there

Which defies the strength of the reason UConn is giving for Ollie's firing, if Hurley's being assured any sanctions are just minimal.

 

[Shark58]

is Dan a done deal?

news sources including espn are saying he's looking at UConn and Pitt with no decision made yet

Source: URI's Hurley taking time on next move

 

[Madbiker]

Isn't Pitt the better job? In a P5 conference. Of course who wants to get pummeled by Duke, UNC, UVA every year and never be able to win the conference. The benefit of being in the ACC is you can finish 9th and still get into the tourney.

 

[Shark58]

Isn't Pitt the better job? In a P5 conference. Of course who wants to get pummeled by Duke, UNC, UVA every year and never be able to win the conference. The benefit of being in the ACC is you can finish 9th and still get into the tourney.

after stallings and the current exedous Hurley would get a lot of rope. Pitt was a quality program under Howland and Dixon. Danny boy could get them back to decent within 2-3 years

 

[hungrychuck]

is Dan a done deal?

news sources including espn are saying he's looking at UConn and Pitt with no decision made yet

Source: URI's Hurley taking time on next move

Don't know, but believe Jacobs is pretty tapped in. He's a columnist who actually has sources.

Hated by the UConn fanbase, of course.

 

[moqui]

Calhoun forced his successor on the school.
That was backfired as the guy is gone and they have to deal with this arbitration.

he didn't force them to give ollie an extension with a huge buyout clause

 

[moqui]

a good coach can have success in the aac . . . to a degree. like cincy, you can pile up a lot of wins and climb high in the polls, but postseason? the record is not good:

in 2014, playing with big east players, louisville made the sweet 16 and uconn won the national title.
since then, no aac team has made it to the 2nd weekend. not one. other than louisville that first season, this is the first time their regular season champion has gotten out of the first round.

 

[Alsacs]

he didn't force them to give ollie an extension with a huge buyout clause

Try recruiting without 4 years on your contract.
It hurts. A lot.

 

[Orangezoo]

That's a great hire, not sure why it's funny.

Good hire , sure. Program is in a tailspin though and a few over there are talking about flipping Quinerly. Whether he can recruit well enough is another story. URI had some nice players but not like he was bringing in kids left and right.

 

[orange79]

Try recruiting without 4 years on your contract.
It hurts. A lot.

I didn't have a problem with the extension - what you say is true. The huge buyout clause, however, should be a fireable offense for Manuel, whether or not the 'for cause' firing holds.