Another candidate has emerged

[shaunguth]

Then ....Kirk says something sure to incite the wrath of all the people who have been angry on the message boards for weeks!!! He says something many have scathed me and blamed me for....
He says..........
"There??™s also university president Joanne Glasser??™s reputation for
micromanagement. The degree to which that enters into a candidate??™s
decision process will vary with the individual. But the perception is out there,
and coaches are talking about it."

OMG -- has he not hurt our chances of getting a good coach?? Come on everyone -- this is exactly what you PRO-PJ STAR-guys were saying just a couple days ago!!

Wait for the spin.......

[TheAsianSensation]

Fife took over the program when it was a fledgling D-1. In a vacuum, his record is bad, but considering that program had no conference status at the time he took it over, the record is actually pretty good.

[TheAsianSensation]

But the point is still valid- Dave Rice has no recruiting connections in the midwest, or in the Chicago area. There are hundreds of assistants at mid-majors (like BYU), and even at high-majors that IMO would not have to spend years developing mid-west recruiting contacts.

This is my big concern as well. It sounds like this is the guy for Xs-and-Os and in-game coaching, but recruiting would be an unknown.

Of course, I'm unfamiliar with the recruiting intricacies at BYU. It's possible he's good at recruiting on a more national stage but I don't want to see the program sacrifice anything as far as local recruiting goes.

[shaunguth]

Fife took over the program when it was a fledgling D-1. In a vacuum, his record is bad, but considering that program had no conference status at the time he took it over, the record is actually pretty good.

There's a difference between "pretty good" and "very impressive" or "great".

[tornado]

There's a difference between "pretty good" and "very impressive" or "great".

Jim Les' record at Bradley after his first 5 years was far, far, far better than Dane Fife's first 5 years at IPFW..
there is not even the remotest comparison considering Jim made it to the Sweet Sixteen in year four and was landing NBA caliber players by year 2-3....and was beginning a sequence of several 20+ win years...

so how is it we can look at Dane's first five years and say "good" when many in BU's fan base called Jim Les' first five years terrible and wanted him out!!!

[Tulsa Brave]

Jim Les' record at Bradley after his first 5 years was far, far, far better than Dane Fife's first 5 years at IPFW..
there is not even the remotest comparison considering Jim made it to the Sweet Sixteen in year four and was landing NBA caliber players by year 2-3....and was beginning a sequence of several 20+ win years...

so how is it we can look at Dane's first five years and say "good" when many in BU's fan base called Jim Les' first five years terrible and wanted him out!!!

IPFW became a D-1 expansion team 9 years ago...Bradley 90+ years ago. Get the difference yet????

[bualicebrave]

amettrick, interesting post. i agree that there are probably great asst coaches or mid-level head coaches out there. i also agree that bu fan base should have patience for the new coach - there is probably some rebuilding if we lose any more players (DSE, etc.). that said, i don't believe fife is right for the job. we have to be able to attract a coach that has a better DI record. at the end of the day,i have to believe in mc and bu admin to find the right coach.....and not kw or pjs.

[Interested Observer]

I never said Jimmer wasn't Mormon, just not from out west. I heard Jimmer say to either Dan Patrick or Scott Van Pelt that he might have gone to Syracuse if they had offered. He said something similar to what we heard recently, "I would have liked to have had the opportunity to make that decision." Just as not all BYU students are Mormon, not all Mormons go to school in Utah.

Rice spent 11 years at UNLV. Almost double the time he's been at BYU. I'm sure he wasn't recruiting many Mormons there. During his years at UNLV, three of the biggest recruits UNLV had were from the midwest:

Shawn Marion - Juco transfer from Vincennes in Indiana
Keon Clark - Danville, IL
Tyrone Nesby - Cairo, IL

Lookie there, UNLV recruited farily successfully the midwest in the 90s, even Illinois, while Rice was on staff. Now, I don't know if he was the lead recruiter for those guys, but he was a part of it.

Also, the guy who went for a double-double the last time we played and lost to UNLV, Odartey Blankson, was from Chicago by way of Marquette and was playing in Europe.

Rice was on staff with Charlie Spoonhour at UNLV. Unless Charlie lost all his contacts in the midwest when he crossed the Rockies, I think there could still some connections there.

Regarding keeping kids after a coaching change, Rice was an assistant for three head coaches and four interim head coaches while at UNLV. Leads me to believe he knows how to keep a team together during a coaching change. He was also the coach in charge while current BYU head coach, Dave Rose, took medical leave to battle pancreatic cancer.

He's been in the business after graduating from UNLV and playing with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony. He's as credentialed for a head coaching job as any other assistant coach in the country.

Rice may not be the top candidate or even my top candidate, but we can do much worse than Dave Rice as our next head coach.

[eb98brave]

In regards to KW's artilce...the very first line is...
"I wouldn??™t say the search for a new Bradley men??™s basketball coach is dragging."
Then ....Kirk says something sure to incite the wrath of all the people who have been angry on the message boards for weeks!!! He says something many have scathed me and blamed me for....
He says..........
"There??™s also university president Joanne Glasser??™s reputation for
micromanagement. The degree to which that enters into a candidate??™s
decision process will vary with the individual. But the perception is out there,
and coaches are talking about it."

Why do we give KW or the PJStar so much weight? This is why I don't read it or care what they put in it. It seems like many of us on this board know more people at bradley and have better insight than anything they print.

[AZ BU Fan]

Then ....Kirk says something sure to incite the wrath of all the people who have been angry on the message boards for weeks!!! He says something many have scathed me and blamed me for....

He says..........
"There??™s also university president Joanne Glasser??™s reputation for
micromanagement. The degree to which that enters into a candidate??™s
decision process will vary with the individual. But the perception is out there,
and coaches are talking about it."

OMG -- has he not hurt our chances of getting a good coach?? Come on everyone -- this is exactly what you PRO-PJ STAR-guys were saying just a couple days ago!!

By the way -- Kirk Wessler described Dr. Glasser similarly a couple years ago (May 2008 )...when there was a clash w/ KK

You are onto something T, Perhaps BU needs to pursue a package deal, a top coaching candidate and his choice for a University President?

Seems the only option for any future success at BU.

But if JL was willing to stay at BU with a totally unacceptable micro managing Prez, and still believed he could be uber successful here, seems another similar quality coaching prospect would be willing to make the same choice....

[Interested Observer]

But the point is still valid- Dave Rice has no recruiting connections in the midwest, or in the Chicago area.

You know this for a fact? How do you know who his connections are? You have access to his phone's address book?

As I said earlier, the guy's been in the business nearly 20 years, I'm sure he's made many connections all over the country and not just at O'Hare.

[Da Coach]

Can you name one recruit he has landed from this area? Is there anything that suggests he does have even the slightest connection to the midwest?

Save your time, because there aren't any. IMO, that is about as strong evidence as there is that his lack of midwest connections would be a weakness for Rice. What strengths does he have other than recruiting Mormon kids?

[BradleyJD]

DC....I think it would/could be a concern about recruiting in the midwest. You have to be able to connect with kids, AAU coaches, etc. to be able to do anything.

I wonder if its like the NFL. Part of their interview process is always talking about your coaching staff (ie..offensive coordinator, def. coor.) I wonder if BU asks for that kind of info when they sit down to interview candidates.

Certainly he would need to demonstrate, in some manor, how he would recruit the midwest.

[Interested Observer]

So his time at UNLV doesn't count? He didn't do any recruiting while there? I did post earlier some midwest, even Illinois (central, southern, and Chicago), guys who made their way out to Vegas while he was on the staff there. But I suppose you skipped over that part.

[Interested Observer]

And just because they are Mormon doesn't mean BYU doesn't have still recruit them. Not all Mormon athletes go to BYU. Notre Dame football has a big time linebacker who is Mormon, Mantei Teo. He came down to USC and ND. BYU was no where in the picture.

And while I may be defending Rice, I have no vested interest in doing so. Never met the man. Don't even know if he's Mormon or not.