Coaching Carousel Begins

Quote from: desco80 on March 05, 2012, 09:58:08 AM

Quote from: fordham96 on March 04, 2012, 07:46:04 PM

Quote from: Poison on March 04, 2012, 07:41:12 PM

Quote from: fordham96 on March 04, 2012, 04:58:34 PM

Quick, someone check to see if URI has any players SJU can poach...LOL!

Maybe they do. Right now, we got nothing.

Neither do RU or SHU and last time I checked both of thier head coaches weren't diagnosed with prostate cancer.  But after losing to both of them this year with freshmen Lapchik is ready to concede all recruiting to them at this point.

BTW-Tom Parrotta of Canisius, former Tom Pecora assistant, was canned today as well.

The thing I remember about Jim Baron was he was mentioned by some as a possible replacement for both Jarvis and Roberts.  Of course Mike Vaccarro of the Post is a fan of his as a former St. Bonnie alum where Baron coached.

I'm not saying Lavin can't fill out this recruiting class Fordham, he may.  But coach and his high priced staff weren't brought in to have better classes than Mike Rice or Kevin Willard.   So the fact Seton Hall and Rutgers don't  have anyone signed, either, doesn't make me feel any better about our program.   Lavin's reputation demands he be compared to Thompson and Wright.

But with that said, there's no question Lapchick and his ilk are fools for thinking losses with 5 freshmen in the BE mean anything.   And the recruiting expectations shouldn't be what they would in a normal season, because of coach's health the last few months.   But at the end of the day - let's compare apples to apples.

I know that but neither of them had cancer for crying out loud either.

Does anyone realistically think that if Coach Lavin were fully healthy and never got cancer that Rico Gathers would not still be in the fold right now?  How about Lindsey?  Do you think he would still probably be at SJU playing?

It was HUGE issue that leveled the entire playing field.  He has been the coach for less then 2 years and he has not even coached the 2nd year.  He is by far the best recruiter SJU has ever had at this position.  It is just he had an unfortunate issue that blunted the momentum.  He will get it back.  He'll bring in a decent class this year combined with the core already here and that is a good team next year and then barring any further complications he is going to get this rolling big time.  Just be patient.

Good post.  I think that's the bottom line.   
It's unfortunate too, because we had a lot of momentum coming out of last season and looked in good shape with verbals from Gathers and Wood, probably Jakarr.   But like you said - the cancer- was the great equalizer. 

And Branch is an excellent start.  No doubt about it.

BTW-Here is a cautionary tale of a once bright mid-major coach who was one of the hottest commodities in what many considered the best mid-major conference in the country who is now out of a job.  First 4 years goes to the NCAA's 3 times and the NIT once.  Was considered a lock to be at a BCS conference school by now.

Then it all went south in a hurry.  Chris Lowery of S Illinois was fired this past weekend.  Ironically enough the guy he replaced, Bruce Weber, who left 9 years ago for the Illinois job maybe fired himself and could be a candidate for his old job:

http://www.sj-r.com/sports/x1785607101/Would-Weber-head-back-to-Carbondale

Cluess should see if he wants to relocate to New York and join his staff. Haven't followed Southern Illinois lately, but they could defend like madmen when they were a tournament team.

Baron should go after the Brown job.

Makes me rethink being upset when a coach leaves a program somewhat prematurely for greener pastures when schools show so little loyalty to coaches after one bad year. Guess cashing in when you can is the best move after all (ie. college ft coach who left Tenn after only one yr to go to USC-Kiffin).

Wow Lowery got canned I recall he was one of the hottest young coaching prospects like 3 years ago. This university have a lot of money love to pay two coaches at a time. No more loyalty or development

Baron should go after the Brown job.

Baron could try to wait a bit and see if a job like SMU opens up.  Not saying he'll get it, but those Big East jobs like SMU, UCF, Houston will be a lot more desireable than they have been if and when some of them open up. Mid even venture to guess there will be some bigger names for those jobs when they open. 

Quote from: LJSA on March 05, 2012, 01:44:30 PM

Baron should go after the Brown job.

Baron could try to wait a bit and see if a job like SMU opens up.  Not saying he'll get it, but those Big East jobs like SMU, UCF, Houston will be a lot more desireable than they have been if and when some of them open up. Mid even venture to guess there will be some bigger names for those jobs when they open. 

I was looking at it from the point of view of not having to uproot. But he could wait for bigger jobs. I think if you are a school moving into the Big East, you need a sexier name than Baron.

Quote from: MCNPA on March 07, 2012, 01:29:19 AM

Quote from: LJSA on March 05, 2012, 01:44:30 PM

Baron should go after the Brown job.

Baron could try to wait a bit and see if a job like SMU opens up.  Not saying he'll get it, but those Big East jobs like SMU, UCF, Houston will be a lot more desireable than they have been if and when some of them open up. Mid even venture to guess there will be some bigger names for those jobs when they open. 

I was looking at it from the point of view of not having to uproot. But he could wait for bigger jobs. I think if you are a school moving into the Big East, you need a sexier name than Baron.

Agree with you.  Lots of guys would like a Big East job that's home base is in Texas.  I think Houston can become a strong program again with their history and major city location. 

Jim Baron being fired is complete bs.  He's a good man and a good coach.  It seems like he wins 20 every year.  He was flatout robbed by the selection committee more than once.  Disgraceful.

Jim Baron being fired is complete bs.  He's a good man and a good coach.  It seems like he wins 20 every year.  He was flatout robbed by the selection committee more than once.  Disgraceful.

Agree totally

Quote from: LJSA on March 05, 2012, 01:44:30 PM

Baron should go after the Brown job.

Baron could try to wait a bit and see if a job like SMU opens up.  Not saying he'll get it, but those Big East jobs like SMU, UCF, Houston will be a lot more desireable than they have been if and when some of them open up. Mid even venture to guess there will be some bigger names for those jobs when they open.

You can call it a BE job but it's still Texas. Don't know if a good ole Brooklyn boy would be interested.

Quote from: MCNPA on March 07, 2012, 01:29:19 AM

Quote from: LJSA on March 05, 2012, 01:44:30 PM

Baron should go after the Brown job.

Baron could try to wait a bit and see if a job like SMU opens up.  Not saying he'll get it, but those Big East jobs like SMU, UCF, Houston will be a lot more desireable than they have been if and when some of them open up. Mid even venture to guess there will be some bigger names for those jobs when they open.

You can call it a BE job but it's still Texas. Don't know if a good ole Brooklyn boy would be interested.

Texas has everything and is not the boonies.  Especially Houston.  I don't think Baron would be a fit for one of those jobs necessarily.  Just saying he could win quite a few games and be coaching a big east team.  Baron should have plenty of options in tri-state for a solid mid-major job. 

Jim Baron being fired is complete bs.  He's a good man and a good coach.  It seems like he wins 20 every year.  He was flatout robbed by the selection committee more than once.  Disgraceful.

We can slide him into Dunlap's position if he leaves for a head coaching gig.

I have a couple of friends who are URI guys and they can't stand him.  One lost faith quicker than the other.  Baron is perfect for a rebuilding program.  Stabilizing them and if he can't take them over the top he needs to be replaced.  Not a big Baron fan other than that.  I think the firing was deserved and I don't see need for him on our staff if there was an opening.

My favorite Jim Baron/Rhode Island story was about 4 years ago I am at a Fordham/URI game at Rose Hill and Baron's son Jimmy was playing for URI at the time.  Good shooter.  Everytime he touched the ball the Fordham student section would chant:  "Who's Your Daddy, Who's Your Daddy..."

I have a couple of friends who are URI guys and they can't stand him.  One lost faith quicker than the other.  Baron is perfect for a rebuilding program.  Stabilizing them and if he can't take them over the top he needs to be replaced.  Not a big Baron fan other than that.  I think the firing was deserved and I don't see need for him on our staff if there was an opening.

I know a lot of people who hated him because he never got them to the Tournament. But they had good enough teams two of the last three years and were snubbed. How that is his fault I'll never know. His team went head to head with Duke at Cameron. Six 20 win seasons, a great overall record. If they think Bobby Gonzalez is an upgrade they need to check themselves. Whatever though, Baron will land on his feet and get a job somewhere good.

My favorite Jim Baron/Rhode Island story was about 4 years ago I am at a Fordham/URI game at Rose Hill and Baron's son Jimmy was playing for URI at the time.  Good shooter.  Everytime he touched the ball the Fordham student section would chant:  "Who's Your Daddy, Who's Your Daddy..."

It worked great when we tried it with DJ Strawberry.

Quote from: Moose on March 07, 2012, 02:52:30 PM

I have a couple of friends who are URI guys and they can't stand him.  One lost faith quicker than the other.  Baron is perfect for a rebuilding program.  Stabilizing them and if he can't take them over the top he needs to be replaced.  Not a big Baron fan other than that.  I think the firing was deserved and I don't see need for him on our staff if there was an opening.

I know a lot of people who hated him because he never got them to the Tournament. But they had good enough teams two of the last three years and were snubbed. How that is his fault I'll never know. His team went head to head with Duke at Cameron. Six 20 win seasons, a great overall record. If they think Bobby Gonzalez is an upgrade they need to check themselves. Whatever though, Baron will land on his feet and get a job somewhere good.

He's kind of like Cluess.  His teams would just run, play no defense.  Had a good amount of turnover in players.  Obviously his best player of his era was his son, and he tried to strike while the iron was hot again with Billy, who I DONT think is better than Jimmy Jr.  Had some other good players over the years like Daniels and Seawright.  20 wins he might have had but I think more often than not it was stacking up on cupcakes.  The A10 wont get THAT many bids and he never seemed to figure out the A10 schedule.  One year he would bow out of their tourney early.  Next year he would make a run a fall short.

Current players didn't like playing for him

Looks like Bruce Weber is out at Illinois as expected.

Andy Katz of ESPN said that Weber told him by text that he was fired.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/story/_/id/7664755/illinois-fighting-illini-bruce-weber-loses-job