Grading the coaching changes

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/grading-the-coaching-changes-042810

ST. JOHN’S

The Old: Norm Roberts
The New: Steve Lavin

No disrespect to Lavin, because I don’t know too many guys that can get St. John’s back to what it once was. Lavin has been away from coaching for a while and hired a solid staff with the addition of Mike Dunlap, Rico Hines and Tony Chiles, but only Chiles has NYC connections.

Grade: B-


IONA

The Old: Kevin Willard
The New: Tim Cluess

Willard left for Seton Hall, and the surprise pick was Cluess, who came over after four successful seasons at Division II C.W. Post and prior to that coached Danny Green at St. Mary’s High on Long Island. Cluess can coach, but can he recruit? He brought on one of the most relentless recruiters in the Northeast in ex-Fordham interim head coach Jared Grasso, who should help.

Grade: C+

FORDHAM

The Old: Dereck Whittenburg
The New: Tom Pecora

Pecora takes over a very difficult job at Fordham, but he is so well-liked in the area that he’ll have a chance to get players who can, at the very least, bring the Rams some credibility. If Pecora can manage to get Fordham to the middle of the Atlantic 10, that’s the equivalent of success.

Grade: B

HOFSTRA

The Old: Tom Pecora
The New: Tim Welsh

After taking a couple of years out of coaching to do TV work, the former Providence coach returns and takes over for Pecora. It's a solid hire, and he’ll have a good team this season from the get-go. Plus, Welsh has brought in a quality staff with hard-working former Friars assistant Steve DeMeo, ex-BC assistant Mo Cassara and Allen Griffin, who also worked for Welsh at Providence.

Grade: B

SETON HALL

The Old: Bobby Gonzalez
The New: Kevin Willard

Gonzo is just that — history. Now, Willard will try to clean up the mess left behind, which may take some time and patience for Seton Hall fans. He’s young, smart and has good bloodlines. Willard also did a nice job quickly turning around Iona.

Grade: A-

SIENA

The Old: Fran McCaffery
The New: Mitch Buonaguro

McCaffery had it going at Siena, and now his long-time assistant will take over. Buonaguro, who spent six years as the head coach at Fairfield from 1985 to 1991, is 56 and has been a major factor in why the Saints have won three straight MAAC titles. The problem is it’ll be difficult to duplicate the success over the last few years — especially with Fairfield and Iona being much better in the league.

Grade: B

ST. FRANCIS (N.Y.)

The Old: Brian Nash
The New: Glenn Braica

This job is extremely difficult, so you’ve got to put it into perspective. I’m not sure anyone can truly win here, but Braica is a local guy who is well-liked by the locals so he should be able to get some talent.

Grade: B

WAGNER

The Old: Mike Deane
The New: Dan Hurley

I’ve known Hurley for years and watched him build St. Benedict’s into a prep power. The 37-year-old also has college coaching experience, spending four years as an assistant at Rutgers.

Grade: B+

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/grading-the-coaching-changes-042810

ST. JOHN’S

The Old: Norm Roberts
The New: Steve Lavin

No disrespect to Lavin, because I don’t know too many guys that can get St. John’s back to what it once was. Lavin has been away from coaching for a while and hired a solid staff with the addition of Mike Dunlap, Rico Hines and Tony Chiles, but only Chiles has NYC connections.

Grade: B-


IONA

The Old: Kevin Willard
The New: Tim Cluess

Willard left for Seton Hall, and the surprise pick was Cluess, who came over after four successful seasons at Division II C.W. Post and prior to that coached Danny Green at St. Mary’s High on Long Island. Cluess can coach, but can he recruit? He brought on one of the most relentless recruiters in the Northeast in ex-Fordham interim head coach Jared Grasso, who should help.

Grade: C+

FORDHAM

The Old: Dereck Whittenburg
The New: Tom Pecora

Pecora takes over a very difficult job at Fordham, but he is so well-liked in the area that he’ll have a chance to get players who can, at the very least, bring the Rams some credibility. If Pecora can manage to get Fordham to the middle of the Atlantic 10, that’s the equivalent of success.

Grade: B

HOFSTRA

The Old: Tom Pecora
The New: Tim Welsh

After taking a couple of years out of coaching to do TV work, the former Providence coach returns and takes over for Pecora. It's a solid hire, and he’ll have a good team this season from the get-go. Plus, Welsh has brought in a quality staff with hard-working former Friars assistant Steve DeMeo, ex-BC assistant Mo Cassara and Allen Griffin, who also worked for Welsh at Providence.

Grade: B

SETON HALL

The Old: Bobby Gonzalez
The New: Kevin Willard

Gonzo is just that — history. Now, Willard will try to clean up the mess left behind, which may take some time and patience for Seton Hall fans. He’s young, smart and has good bloodlines. Willard also did a nice job quickly turning around Iona.

Grade: A-

SIENA

The Old: Fran McCaffery
The New: Mitch Buonaguro

McCaffery had it going at Siena, and now his long-time assistant will take over. Buonaguro, who spent six years as the head coach at Fairfield from 1985 to 1991, is 56 and has been a major factor in why the Saints have won three straight MAAC titles. The problem is it’ll be difficult to duplicate the success over the last few years — especially with Fairfield and Iona being much better in the league.

Grade: B

ST. FRANCIS (N.Y.)

The Old: Brian Nash
The New: Glenn Braica

This job is extremely difficult, so you’ve got to put it into perspective. I’m not sure anyone can truly win here, but Braica is a local guy who is well-liked by the locals so he should be able to get some talent.

Grade: B

WAGNER

The Old: Mike Deane
The New: Dan Hurley

I’ve known Hurley for years and watched him build St. Benedict’s into a prep power. The 37-year-old also has college coaching experience, spending four years as an assistant at Rutgers.

Grade: B+

Norm to Lavin is a solid B +
Here is how my scale would look:
Norm to Pitino A+
Norm to Donovan A
Norm to Lavin B +
Norm to any solid mid major coach B
Norm to Hewitt B-
Norm to Al Skinner C+
Norm to Gonzo C
Norm to Jarvis C-
Norm to the homeless guy who screams at people in front of my Train D+
Norm to a recently deceased guy who used to know a little basketball D
Norm to a recently deceased guy that never watched basketball in his life D-
Norm to Fred Hill F

Jeff Goodman continues to suck at the teet of Norm Roberts.  He allows his friendship with Norm to inhibit his ability to judge St. John's (and Norm's abilities) fairly.  I'm looking forward to sending Mr. Goodman some "told you so/Norm never did THAT" tweets on twitter when Lavin starts WINNING.

We haven't hired Dunlap have we?   If we are going to count him , why not Mo Hicks?  Find me somebody more connected in NY than Hicks.

B- is low for SJU. I would give the hire an A- or a B+. I think the only A hire we realistically could have had was Billy Donovan. I think Lavin was a good choice and after Donovan was the best candidate.

seton hall with an A-? i dont hate the hire for them but come on the guy hasnt one a post season game of anykind

Iona deserves an A. It was a ballsy move on their AD's part, and one that I think will pay dividends for years.

seton hall with an A-? i dont hate the hire for them but come on the guy hasnt one a post season game of anykind

Bingo.  BTW, heres a tweet from Goodman from about 2 days ago:

"I didn't know there were still St. John's fans. RT @STJ_Basketball: Hey Johnny fans, let's lambaste @GoodmanOnFox for his B-minus!"

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on May 01, 2010, 08:59:47 PM

seton hall with an A-? i dont hate the hire for them but come on the guy hasnt one a post season game of anykind

Bingo.  BTW, heres a tweet from Goodman from about 2 days ago:

"I didn't know there were still St. John's fans. RT @STJ_Basketball: Hey Johnny fans, let's lambaste @GoodmanOnFox for his B-minus!"

Goodman is a dweeb, he gets tooled on on twitter

At least our new coach doesn't take naps at intersections in Levittown. That should be worth something.

Hofstra has to get a D for Dwi

At least our new coach doesn't take naps at intersections in Levittown. That should be worth something.

LOL