Coaching Candidates

[gman2]

Drew Diener

[Jimmy Lemke]

Drew Diener

Is Diener actually a candidate? I haven't heard from anyone who has said that. I know there are certain things you can get away with in NAIA that you can't in NCAA, so I would have been happier with a lower-division NCAA title. But if the guy can coach, the guy can coach - and Drew Diener took a team of players and won a national championship. That's not easy to do on any level in any sport.

The only guy on Mark Miller's list with head coaching experience is Chris Lowery, who got fired from Southern Illinois in 2012 for basically being Rob Jeter. The rest of them? They all look like Rob Jeter-type coaches.

Which isn't a bad thing, at least to me. But wasn't everyone demanding a lower-division coach with experience, and trying to stay away from the high-major recruiter assistant?

[uwm97]

I'll take Donte Jackson or Pat Miller over all those assistants. Drew Dienrr as well.

[Jimmy Lemke]

One thing on Donte Jackson that people may not know: he was a player at Milwaukee in the 1997-98 season, a freshman out of Milwaukee Hamilton. Transferred and played the rest of his career at Central State. Here's his stats for Milwaukee at Basketball-Reference:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/...jackson-1.html

[parkerj]

The only guy on Mark Miller's list with head coaching experience is Chris Lowery, who got fired from Southern Illinois in 2012 for basically being Rob Jeter

Win percentage wise they were similar, but Lowery was handed the keys to a truly elite mid-major(ish) team and ran it off a cliff. Given that this isn't the pros and there's no draft, I'll take Jeter's results any day

[BBF]

Gotta agree with parker. After three very good years with Weber's and Painter's recruits, Lowery's record was 18-15, 13-18, 13-19 and 8-23.

To call the coaching candidates being tossed around underwhelming would be a massive understatement. When does she start adding high school coaches to the list? But here's the most important question: does anyone believe that any of these guys -- or 25 guys just like them -- wouldn't have been available next year after Rob's contract termed? It's laughable! Anyone who claims the AD made the change now because she was afraid next year would be another "disappointing" year isn't seeing it. What scared the hell out of her was that it would be a success. Why do you think "sabotage" -- not my word but the word of someone who was on the inside -- was going on? And this is a program decent people are being asked to support? Forget it!

[parkerj]

Dwayne Stephens is a surprise of a name to leave Michigan State. I'm would guess his pay is a bit higher at MSU.

His listed salary is smaller than Otzelberger's

...but bigger than Scott Nagy's (the guy I'd consider a home run hire)

[Jimmy Lemke]

His listed salary is smaller than Otzelberger's

...but bigger than Scott Nagy's (the guy I'd consider a home run hire)

The candidates who would be at the top of the list under normal circumstances are not interested. I would think Nagy would be one of those.

[Spirit of Bruce]

Please enlighten me on why a Scott Nagy would make what would be in the very best circumstances a lateral move? The Summit is currently a better conference..

[parkerj]

Please enlighten me on why a Scott Nagy would make what would be in the very best circumstances a lateral move? The Summit is currently a better conference..

I thought of him when Otzelberger (275,000 base) was thought to be a frontrunner for the job. With that in mind, money. If we could afford to double his base salary, he'd have to at least think of it.