Head Coaching Candidates For Tu Basketball
- Thread starter TulsaFanFromStigler
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Reggie Grant was the player I most remember from those teams. I had never seen a player jump like him...not sure I have since.
Reggie was a year ahead of me at Sapulpa. Probably the best overall athlete I played with all the way through college. He had academic issues, likely beyond trying, but that is another subject. Most of his brothers were good students.
A couple of Reggie Grant stories:
- when he was 12 and we were playing in a little league baseball game he hit a home run over the left field fence which was somewhere between 315 (down the line) and 400 plus in center
- He quit football after a couple of games his Sr year. Still Ara Parsegan flew to Tulsa rented a car, drove to Sapulpa, went to the office, saw Reggie’s academic record got back in the car and left.
- Reggie led all of Juco in scoring at Claremore JR College for 1 semester and left school. A few years later he played at Oklahoma JR College under Ken Tricky and again led all of Juco in scoring after 1 semester then left school.
- people were always trying to prep him for a NFL tryout but to my knowledge it never happened.
At 6’3” about 190 he could play baseball, football and definitely basketball.
There has been no interest from D-1 schools. Same with Pooh. If you are an assistant too long you are dismissed as not a hot item. That’s why Kim English is in the sweet spot for a head coaching hire.
This is a good list. I'd like to focus on Miller and Casey Alexander. Belmont has been fantastic and is constantly vying for the Ohio Valley title. They've had some great battles with Murray State the last few years. They are currently 22-1 this season. I like Drake's coach too...they've been playing great bball. I watched the Drake vs Loyola game the other day. Back and forth, and all-around good basketball played. If we're on to assistants, Kim English is choice #1, followed by Alvin Brooks III and then Maligi at Tech.
I do think Mills (ORU) would get a look and if he could bring Abmas with him, we'd be in business. Abmas sscored 72 points in their double header against South Dakota St. this weekend. 40 in the 1st game, followed up by 32 yesterday. That's RIDICULOUS. The kid has unlimited range seemingly. ORU split the weekend series and is 1/2 game out of 1st in the Summit. ORU lacks overall size and athleticism and the depth to be really dangerous, but they can score the basketball at a high clip. I'm sort of glad we're not playing them this year.
My only problems with that list(and they would be minor) is that Kyle Neptune and maybe Joe Krabbenhoft might be a fish out of water recruiting for us. Other than that, looks like a good starting point.
Don' t leave out my two assistants....
David Patrick-Arkansas
Kim English- Tennessee
They are 16-5, three of their 5 losses were to teams in the top 12, and they are ranked #24. This is just a year and 3/4's into Musselman's regime and they are doing it with only one of Mike Anderson's players contributing.(Desi Sills) How can you claim they aren't good. They are far better than we have been since Self. They did some heavy recruiting in a short period of time. He's been at Arkansas working for Musselman only this year. Look at his assistant career for other teams.
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He has been a head coach as well.
On 14 March 2018, Patrick was named the Head Coach at UC Riverside.[6] His inaugural season saw the Highlanders break several program records including 279 three-point shots culminating in a .379 three-point shooting percentage which was the best in the Big West Conference and top 30 (28th) in the nation.
In 2019-20 the UC Riverside won 17 games which is tied for the most Division 1 in school history. They started the season with a road win 66–47 at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference[7] The team finished 8th Nationally in Scoring Defense 60.6ppg,[8] and 1st in the Big West. The season was cut short on 10 March, due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. In his two years at UC Riverside, Patrick currently holds the best 2-year start in school history.
No one will ever win big time at UC Riverside. Kinda like Bill Self at ORU. English still a top pick but Patrick more experience, especially with Aussie players like he brought to St.Mary's. I love Musselman's X and O's too since we haven't had any in years.
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So would you consider either Cason or Pooh? I’d consider Pooh before I’d consider some of the other names mentioned here.
No retreads. We won’t do Cason for reasons that are beyond the perview of this board. Just know that he won’t happen.
Pooh, while he’s always going to be a fan favorite for his time as a player, isn’t the right guy to re-direct the ship.
We need new blood. A bit of youth, a lot of vigor. That’s something that Nolan, Tubby, and Self all had in common... they had real personalities. They could sell their program and the school even if they knew it wasn’t their last stop.
So this whole thread made me look up to see where Billy Gillespie was these days. Turns out he’s at Tarleton State, first year. Not doing so hot. So Tarleton is in its first year in the WAC. Getting beat up on by Grand Canyon and California Baptist. Unbelievable how that league is so crappy now.
Here’s a would-be HOF coach who’s not doing anything with tons of baggage fo you....
Greg Marshall.... is he untouchable? How long will that last?
Greg Marshall.... is he untouchable? How long will that last?
Cal Baptist can play. But you'd also expect a 1st year program in D1 after moving from D2 might struggle a bit. I bet Billy Clyde gets them moving in the right direction.
He's not as untouchable as Art Briles should be, but he needs a year or two away from the game. Who was the Rutgers coach that got canned for the same reason Marshall did at WSU? I don't think that guy is back anywhere yet either. Then again, we don't have any video (at least I don't think we do) of Marshall chucking a basketball at the face of a player from 5 ft away.
I mean, Dougie Woj did basically the same thing and hasn’t seen the court as a full coach since...
I hope not. I want to remember him for 1994-1996. I don't want him to look like Nolan and the Tulsa Shock.
JR coached an AAU team in the 1990's. He would be good with in- game adjustments, but there is so much more to the administrative side of coaching now it is hard to start with no experience at all in collegiate coaching.
Could be a candidate for a Shea trajectory like basketball ops and then an assistantship
Grant McCasland - North Texas - Worked his way up through the Texas juco ranks, winning an NJCAA national title at Midland College in 2007 before spending 5 years as an assistant at Baylor. Took over a UNT program that had tanked in their transition from Sun Belt to CUSA and went 14-4 and won the regular season title in his 3rd year. Since 1997, UNT had previously peaked at 133 in KenPom. Last year's team finished 77th and was projected by Bracket Matrix to be a 13 seed before the tourney was cancelled. This year's team is 74th in KenPom and 72 in NET. Under contract through 2026 with a salary plus incentives of $670k.
Excuse me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t that mean we would need to pay UNT ~3 million to get him.
Thanks. After re-reading my post, it seemed unclear. I didn't mean to imply he would be a good coach for TU. He just seems to have the motivational skills (he gets me pumped up sometimes), and analytical thinking that makes me think he could be successful on some level if he wanted to be a coach. I hope he stays where he is. I really enjoy him.
Most on here know that ship sailed long ago with TU turning him down and he has since gone on to better days.
His recruiting is nearly all Baltimore and North Carolina and has so many ties out there. Tulsa might be a little out of his comfort zone geographically and that is a loooooooong contract extension until 2029 ! All the other head coaches who are doing well have been coaching for 40 years or are alumni of the schools. Your UNT thoughts are still accurate for sure. Your thoughts on English and Patrick ?
Depends on whether we go 0-4, or 1-3 in the last 4 games. 0-4 is a distinct possibility of new basketball coach. 1-3 a smaller chance. 2-2 or better, doubt it. They will have to have a really bad close to the season, to justify it. Otherwise they will give him a break for him being a team player on salary, and all the politically correct things he has done about Greenwood, racial equality. They need justification to not feel like a heel. Finishing the season 3-10 or maybe 4-9 might be that justification.
Montgomery is safe for now.
Rick Dickson will make a sound decision regarding both football and basketball coaches. He’s had to fire a basketball coach once before.
I think David Patrick is really interesting. You would be betting on his ability to recruit internationally, which is potentially a tough sell. He did some promising things at UC-Riverside, but didn't really stick around long enough to see it out. His style of play in those 2 years was very slow and deliberate.
I think English will be a head coach some day, but he needs to prove it at a lower level first. He's an exciting and engaging guy, who could absolutely pan out. But you'd be taking a huge risk hiring him to revive the program right now.
Wait, you mean like the same type of risk Dickson took in hiring Tubby Smith to come here back in 1991? English has already proven his ability to recruit every where he's been an assistant. After he left Colorado, they've fallen off. Goes to Tennessee with Barnes and they're borderline top 10 and they're recruiting is being elevated. Barnes is a good coach but English is the one who is engaging the recruits and getting them to come to Rocky Top. He's also a sponge when it comes to x's and o's. I've got to believe he's bounced around as an assistant to absorb and understand as many different styles as possible. We can't be the holier than thou thinking we can automatically bring in a current head coach because we're in the AAC now. I want our job to still be considered a proving ground. I want English to want to leave after 4-5 years chasing a P5 job. It means he was successful here. We've been very successful when we've hired coaches who want to prove themselves. I'm OK with it.
It’s really hard to fit a coach that just went to a conference championship and is going to put a player in the NFL who will be our highest draftee in decades.
wish we had that kind of success this year on the hardwood.
