A Vote for Sydney Johnson

[BU FAMILY]

I think Johnson should be scoped out if he is interested in the job...do we know he actually does have any interest???

Here's where I think we have to be careful....Ivy League coaches have not always moved on and been successful....and Johnson has not yet showed sustained degree of success...remember James Jones?

The last Princeton coach was hired at Denver in 2007 and has floundered there way under .500 at a low major.

And -- back to Jones...the last time we hired, we also considered an Ivy League coach as one of the final four in the hiring process.
He also looked good at the time -- but he stayed at Yale and done absolutely mediocre since them -- 104-120 and never more than middle of the pack in the IVY League.

Then there's the President's brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, who had Sydney-Johnson-like success at Brown and was hired at Oregon State and has done terribly there so far -- with his offense scoring in the 30's & 40's so often and entrenching themselves at the bottom of the Pac-10 so solidly that Beaver fans are already clammoring to get rid of Craig.

Cornell's coach was a hot topic a year ago -- but he stayed at Cornell - and nobody's mentioning his name this year...they're terrible...

Bill Carmody also moved on from Princeton and despite modest success at Northwestern - he's never made the NCAA and the Northwestern fans are not universally happy..

I know some Ivy League coaches have moved on and been successful -- but actually I can only find two such examples

Not correct - Cornell's head coach (Steve Donahue) accepted the head coaching position at Boston College last April. Although it's too early to say if Donahue has been successful yet, he did lead his BC squad to a 21-11 regular season record this year and they have advanced to the second round of the NIT (they play Northwestern tomorrow). Cornell finished 10-18 this year under first year head coach Bill Courtney.

[tornado]

sorry -- missed on that -- jury's still out tho...

but I will call it the Keno Rule -- that if you hire a guy and move him up when all you have to go on is one or two years of experience where the guy's had some success using his predecessor's players, then use caution when hiring......

[Indy_BB]

Fair enough... So you think they'll go after one of the Big Ten assistants, then?

That would be a mistake.

Im not necessarily saying this would be my choice, but to eliminate him from consideration because he coaches in the Ivy League is just silly.

The realities of coaching and recruiting in the Ivy League is far more similar to that at Bradley, as compared to a place like Illinois or Ohio State.

Brad Stevens has a saying about closing in recruiting, "You have to win the cafeteria." In effect, he is saying that it is difficult (if not impossible) to get players that other programs want, if you have all the people in his school (friends, coaches, etc) questioning the decision.

Frankly, someone that hasnt lived that, just doesn't know what he doesn't know.

Selling timeshares in Cabo is a bit different that selling them in Des Moines.

Clearly, someone from Princeton would get these sort of issues.

[SFP]

But as you know, the guys a Princeton basketball coach recruits are slightly different overall than the guys a MVC school would recruit. Can he recruit.. Yes... but I would want someone with some midwestern ties as an assistant.. Coach Scott may be that guy..

Ben why such the need for mid-west ties? Give me a guy that can just flat out sell and he'll be fine recruiting the mid-west. I just do not agree that we should eliminate anyone because they do not have connections in Chicago. There are countless coaches that have done well in Chicago without that mid-west connection. I want the best coach which can build a team regardless of where the players come from. You are selling BU short.

[Braves4Life]

=SFP;222763 I just do not agree that we should eliminate anyone because they do not have connections in Chicago.

I agree. The recruiting problem can easily be solved by having a "connected" assistant coach...... Please reward Willie Scott BU!

[Beninator]

Johnson would be in my top 3 for coaches to interview. That being said, one game does not make a coach. --and I have seen Princeton 3 times this year. As for an assistant, I want someone with more recruiting connections than anyone currently on the staff to help him out if Johnson gets the job.

Ben why such the need for mid-west ties? Give me a guy that can just flat out sell and he'll be fine recruiting the mid-west. I just do not agree that we should eliminate anyone because they do not have connections in Chicago. There are countless coaches that have done well in Chicago without that mid-west connection. I want the best coach which can build a team regardless of where the players come from. You are selling BU short.

SFP, I am not saying that we eliminate Johnson from contention. Just the opposite.. Johnson would be in my top three of the coaches that have been mentioned as possibilities. I was looking at some pros and cons of Johnson and I think to get established here, Johnson would at first, need the help of an assistant coach with midwest recruiting ties. I state that as I believe that it would be easier for him get his foot in the door of a potential recruit.