🏀 News/Notes Potential candidates for Eric Konkol's TU coaching staff

[Chris Harmon]

One of the obvious early tasks for any new head coach is quickly assembling a quality coaching staff. New TU head basketball coach Eric Konkol plans to do so by first considering assistants that helped him build a winning formula at Louisiana Tech, such as Duffy Conroy.

InsideTulsaSports - Potential candidates for Konkol's Tulsa coaching staff

One of the obvious early tasks for any new head coach is quickly assembling a quality coaching staff.

tulsa.rivals.com

 

[Chris Harmon]

 

[TULSARISING]

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Wonder if he would hire Rod for recruiting

 

[Henry Kendall]

Seems to me that for recruiting, you want the most connected person, not the least.

 

[TU Sepp]

I don't look for him to hire any current people from Haith's staff.

I am sure he already has a go to list for his staff.

It will be interesting to see who he hires to go after local talent. Since nobody on Haith's staff did that for 8 years, I don't see any of them as a possibility.

I do have confidence in him to make quality hires in all areas in completing his staff.

 

[Chris Harmon]

It will be interesting to see who he hires to go after local talent. Since nobody on Haith's staff did that for 8 years

While Haith's staff did a poor job of recruiting local talent, in terms of signing guys, they did actively recruit a lot of local kids. Maybe not as many as they should have, but they definitely recruited quite a few. It's unfair to say nobody on staff recruited locally for 8 years. They had already offered a bunch of 2023 guys early, including Brandon Garrison of Del City, Parker Friedrichsen of Bixby, Jeremiah Johnson of Norman North and Trent Pierce at Union.

They offered four Oklahoma kids in 2022, seven OK kids in 2021, four in 2020 and five in 2019. They probably didn't go after everyone they should have, and I have heard local HS coaches say Haith's staff wasn't around as often -- but with that said, it's inaccurate to say they didn't recruit locally.

 

[drboobay]

Perhaps there is another staff role suitable for Seals either in the program or athletic department.

 

[TU Sepp]

Chris, I am not disputing the fact they offered local kids. I just don't think they actively heavily recruited those kids. There is a huge difference between offering and recruiting a player.

 

[Chris Harmon]

Chris, I am not disputing the fact they offered local kids. I just don't think they actively heavily recruited those kids. There is a huge difference between offering and recruiting a player.

For sure...there were definitely deficiencies there, but they did actually recruit the kids. Almost all of them were on campus multiple times for unofficial visits and/or games. I'm not making any excuses for them, just pointing out that they did actually recruit local kids over the past 8 years. Signing local kids is another story.

 

[dmarsh1985]

Isn't Pritchard the perfect evidence to these statements? He might have been on their radar, but wasn't a top target and ended up signing somewhere else, and yet turned out to be the kind of player we want...makes you wonder

 

[rusty-c]

Isn't Pritchard the perfect evidence to these statements? He might have been on their radar, but wasn't a top target and ended up signing somewhere else, and yet turned out to be the kind of player we want...makes you wonder

Pritchard was all Seals and Haith made no effort there beyond a phone call when we lost our point guard to the portal. He is clearly the example of those statements.

 

[TU_BLA]

While Haith's staff did a poor job of recruiting local talent, in terms of signing guys, they did actively recruit a lot of local kids. Maybe not as many as they should have, but they definitely recruited quite a few. It's unfair to say nobody on staff recruited locally for 8 years. They had already offered a bunch of 2023 guys early, including Brandon Garrison of Del City, Parker Friedrichsen of Bixby, Jeremiah Johnson of Norman North and Trent Pierce at Union.

They offered four Oklahoma kids in 2022, seven OK kids in 2021, four in 2020 and five in 2019. They probably didn't go after everyone they should have, and I have heard local HS coaches say Haith's staff wasn't around as often -- but with that said, it's inaccurate to say they didn't recruit locally.

They need to stay on Trent Pierce. Really versatile player.

 

[TU 1978]

Pritchard was all Seals and Haith made no effort there beyond a phone call when we lost our point guard to the portal. He is clearly the example of those statements.

I’m convinced that Shea and Kwanza may have served better in an assistant coach’s role under someone other than Haith. How many recruits did we miss out on because the head coach screwed up the recruiting? How many players did we not develop because of the inability of the head coach to set metrics and evaluate the players he had recruited?

 

[TU_BLA]

I’m convinced that Shea and Kwanza may have served better in an assistant coach’s role under someone other than Haith. How many recruits did we miss out on because the head coach screwed up the recruiting? How many players did we not develop because of the inability of the head coach to set metrics and evaluate the players he had recruited?

This is one of the great failures of Haith. There were some players with great potential that he just neglected through the season sort of like Chapman this year. Why in the world once it became clear this team was going absolutely nowhere didn't he get a ton of minutes? He ran off 2 PGs who could have easily played at the Taplin level with an even better understanding of distributing the ball and running the offense WHEN we had very capable offensive players around them to take some of the pressure off.

 

[nevadanatural]

I don’t think Haith is to blame for either point guard leaving. They both got minutes commensurate with their ability and experience and both left to be closer to home, Fresno and NIU. Sometimes kids think they’ll be fine hundreds of miles from home then find out they’re not. As a freshman I was only a 4 hour drive from home and was horribly homesick my first semester or two.

 

[Tulsafanzz]

I don’t think Haith is to blame for either point guard leaving. They both got minutes commensurate with their ability and experience and both left to be closer to home, Fresno and NIU. Sometimes kids think they’ll be fine hundreds of miles from home then find out they’re not. As a freshman I was only a 4 hour drive from home and was horribly homesick my first semester or two.

I would say recruiting players from far away instead of recruiting players closer to home is a bad strategy unless you set up a good support system to prevent kids going back home after one season.

Chapman’s dad just said Haith didn’t ever invite the kids to his house and he is not a people person. That indicates a very weak support system for players. Because Haith chose to recruit far away kids who did leave after one year, I think Haith is partially to blame.

 

[nevadanatural]

I would say recruiting players from far away instead of recruiting players closer to home is a bad strategy unless you set up a good support system to prevent kids going back home after one season.

Chapman’s dad just said Haith didn’t ever invite the kids to his house and he is not a people person. That indicates a very weak support system for players. Because Haith chose to recruit far away kids who did leave after one year, I think Haith is partially to blame.

I was replying to Bla’s wording that Haith had “run them off”. Could he have done more to retain them? Possibly (probably?). Would it have worked? No one knows but saying he ran them off kind of put me off.

 

[TU_BLA]

I was replying to Bla’s wording that Haith had “run them off”. Could he have done more to retain them? Possibly (probably?). Would it have worked? No one knows but saying he ran them off kind of put me off.

Maybe I used the wrong phrase about running kids off...but he certainly didn't do anything to let the player know he was valued and/or needed or that their development as a player was a priority. Those things and relationship building keep kids around.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Maybe I used the wrong phrase about running kids off...but he certainly didn't do anything to let the player know he was valued and/or needed or that their development as a player was a priority. Those things and relationship building keep kids around.

It's only coming from one source. But everything one of the parents said to me at the coach welcoming ceremony validates your statement.(Based on the entire conversation we had. The entire conversation was around fifteen minutes.)

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Maybe I used the wrong phrase about running kids off...but he certainly didn't do anything to let the player know he was valued and/or needed or that their development as a player was a priority. Those things and relationship building keep kids around.

It only comes from one source. But based on the entire conversation I had with a player parent at the coach announcing ceremony,(a fifteen minute conversation focusing almost solely on Haith, and criticism of) your statement here is entirely accurate.

 

[StoopsBros]

which means you can probably pencil in Duffy as an asst

 

[Chris Harmon]

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which means you can probably pencil in Duffy as an asst

Correct. As I mentioned in my article, Konkol will likely bring all of his staff from LA Tech. A couple of them have already been recruiting for Tulsa.

 

[drboobay]

Perhaps a different role for Seals in the department?

 

[Bill Lowery]

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which means you can probably pencil in Duffy as an asst

Since Hester recruited Lofton, he will likely stay at La Tech if he doesn’t go pro. I was hoping he’d follow Konkol to TU.

 

[seniorgolfer]

I was replying to Bla’s wording that Haith had “run them off”. Could he have done more to retain them?
Possibly (probably?). Would it have worked? No one knows but saying he ran them off kind of put me off.

Yes, but "running them off" still applies to some degree....Errors (or intents) of omission can be just
as damaging as errors (or intents) of co-mission....."Why bother to give him extra time or attention"
or "Why bother to have assistant coaches work with him after practice" or "why bother to have a
cookout at my place for the team and coaches" can be deadly also.....

Nolan was the best I can remember at that sort of thing....He and Rose's house (and her kitchen)
were always open to his players, and he received an unusual loyalty from them in return.....

 

[Chris Harmon]

Perhaps a different role for Seals in the department?

Possibly. We'll see.

 

[seniorgolfer]

Perhaps there is another staff role suitable for Seals either in the program or athletic department.

Shea was a great player for us, and has been an invaluable assistant coach through the years...
He has been responsible for the recruitment of some of the best players (and sadly, some of
the 'not so best') during and before the Haith era.....

The one thing that has concerned me to an increasing degree thru the last two or three years
is his appearance of not being closely involved during the games.....It's as if he was scouting
the game instead of helping coach in it.....

From all appearances, I would guess Konkol wants to sell his program as being really involved,
aggressive, and energetic.....In practices, in recruiting. and during games.....Their approaches
seem quite different....I wonder if they are too different to work, at least in Konkol's eyes.....

I too hope there is a position that would be a good fit for Shea....He obviously gets a lot done,
and should be able to make a substantial contribution to the program.....

 

[dldaily]

Shea was a great player for us, and has been an invaluable assistant coach through the years...
He has been responsible for the recruitment of some of the best players (and sadly, some of
the 'not so best') during and before the Haith era.....

The one thing that has concerned me to an increasing degree thru the last two or three years
is his appearance of not being closely involved during the games.....It's as if he was scouting
the game instead of helping coach in it.....

From all appearances, I would guess Konkol wants to sell his program as being really involved,
aggressive, and energetic.....In practices, in recruiting. and during games.....Their approaches
seem quite different....I wonder if they are too different to work, at least in Konkol's eyes.....

I too hope there is a position that would be a good fit for Shea....He obviously gets a lot done,
and should be able to make a substantial contribution to the program.....

Don't think Haith wanted any help in game management.

 

[TulsaRulzOSUdrools]

Yes, but "running them off" still applies to some degree....Errors (or intents) of omission can be just
as damaging as errors (or intents) of co-mission....."Why bother to give him extra time or attention"
or "Why bother to have assistant coaches work with him after practice" or "why bother to have a
cookout at my place for the team and coaches" can be deadly also.....

Nolan was the best I can remember at that sort of thing....He and Rose's house (and her kitchen)
were always open to his players, and he received an unusual loyalty from them in return.....

Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but he doesn't have to renew their scholarships. They are considered year to year.

I hope shea finds a landing spot. He could be helpful I think. But maybe a total rebuild/restart is in order. I kind of think the rebuild/restart might be.

 

[drboobay]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but he doesn't have to renew their scholarships. They are considered year to year.

I hope shea finds a landing spot. He could be helpful I think. But maybe a total rebuild/restart is in order. I kind of think the rebuild/restart might be.

Yes it would be understandable. Perhaps something else in the athletic department Management would fit if he has an interest.