talhadfoursteals
Active member
Finalists have been on campus. To me, one stands higher than the rest. He is a HC and a HC who wins.
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Possible Coaches
- Thread starter talhadfoursteals
- Start date
oldrunner
Active member
I have no knowledge about where they are in the process of hiring our next coach or why it has taken this long to do it. However, it could have something to do with the fact that college basketball is still being played. Coaches are required to attend meetings at the final 4. They could be waiting on that or they may have made a choice already, but just can't announce at this point.
Any way I look at this, it seems to be a complete rebuild, after having 6 of our top 8 players, plus one senior leaving the team. We will have at least 6 spots to fill and the need will be at every position.
As for the debate about whether we should get a coach with local ties or someone from another geographic region, I don't see that it should matter at all. Just bring in the winningest coach you can find and let the chips fall where ever the fall. As for taking the advise from Dame and our coaches still on campus, I would say to take all the expert counsel you can get to make the right decision.
I'm not so worried about recruiting the transfer market. The players who are out of our price range will still be out of our price range and there will still be a large contingent of quality HS and transfer players available over the next month or two. We landed Stan Rose and Rico Washington in the middle of the Summer.
Any way I look at this, it seems to be a complete rebuild, after having 6 of our top 8 players, plus one senior leaving the team. We will have at least 6 spots to fill and the need will be at every position.
As for the debate about whether we should get a coach with local ties or someone from another geographic region, I don't see that it should matter at all. Just bring in the winningest coach you can find and let the chips fall where ever the fall. As for taking the advise from Dame and our coaches still on campus, I would say to take all the expert counsel you can get to make the right decision.
I'm not so worried about recruiting the transfer market. The players who are out of our price range will still be out of our price range and there will still be a large contingent of quality HS and transfer players available over the next month or two. We landed Stan Rose and Rico Washington in the middle of the Summer.
oldrunner
Active member
I'm thinking that we will end up with a winning D11 coach, a winning JC coach, or a highly regarded assistant coach from a from a successful mid major program. I'm also sure that all of our current assistants will be looked at. I would like to see a hire by Saturday as well, but I wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't announced until next week.
Just to mention a speculation listed by ESPN, one "dark horse" candidate with a connection to Lillard, Kaleb Canales. He is the Troy associate head coach as mentioned & was tied in with the Portland Trailblazers (interim HC a short while) & Dame at that time. Mentioned earlier in a your (BigWaldO) post. Current status as a candidate unknown.
BenchedWald0
New member
I might be behind on this topic, but I’m truly so confused and full of questions about this…
Is Duft really going to have a say in things regarding the team still? If so, this makes ZERO sense to me. Why would anyone want to accept this job if the previous coach (who was let go) is still involved in any sort of decision making? To me this is like getting divorced, allowing your ex-wife to live in your house, trying to get remarried, and allowing your ex to have a say in how things go in your new marriage.
oldrunner
Active member
The answer is no. If he is asked, I'm sure he could give an opinion, and the AD may find marketing and fundraising things for him to do, but he wouldn't be making any decisions about the team. This isn't an unique situation. These sorts of things happen all the time and it has happened at Weber in the past as well. Knowing Eric, He wouldn't do anything to undermine a new coach. In fact, I feel that he would do anything the new coach wanted, including nothing. The same goes for Dame.
footballguy
Member
I'm not sure anybody really knows at this point. Details have been vague. Best case, it's an honorary title and he collects the rest of his salary while doing nothing--this is silly for its own reasons. Worst case, he really does have control over basketball operations and this dog and pony show was for nothing. It is probably somewhere between the two, but none of it really makes sense.
oldrunner
Active member
He is not in the chain of command and is not 'in control' of anything. Those responsibilities were taken from him when he was removed as the coach. He is not 'over' anything. He may get assignments, who knows. We've all been asking for better marketing and public relations. I suppose assignments in those areas would be useful to the AD and would probably fit his skill set. I feel that some of us are making too much out of the situation. We had a former football coach go through this situation and it worked out well for him and the University. In fact, he stayed employed long after his contract expired. He brought in a lot of development money to the University.
footballguy
Member
How do you know this? There have been no details. I would not consider Graybeal's reassignment the same thing. He was moved to Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics which is very common for other schools. He also later became AD and then associate AD of Development. He was also a coach for longer and won Big Sky COY the year prior. Other longtime coaches like Coach K get similar "honorary positions" to help fundraise and continue receiving their contract.
Duft was a three year head coach in his early 50s. He didn't earn some honorary title. I would also argue that the title "President of Basketball Operations" gives an entirely different connotation than special assistant to the AD. This is the same move that Brad Stevens made in the NBA. I am not saying that you are wrong, but from the outside looking in, why would a candidate look at the situation and believe Duft won't be involved? And if he won't be involved, why would a new HC be okay with him having that title and receiving his entire salary to do nothing when that could go to revenue sharing for the roster? $200K is not a small sum at this level.
Lastly, there is a large contingent of fans on the Weber State Fans facebook page that believes Dame is pulling all the strings and some have even said "holding the program hostage" (reference: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DSAdatZCr/). When there are no details released and fans are unsure what is happening, how could an outside candidate feel confident in what they are walking into?
Again, I am not saying you are wrong on anything you have said, but considering the optics I understand why many on this board have questions or are frustrated.
