Jim Molinari is 1-0 at Minnesota

[Da Coach]

Minnesota knocks off Arizona State 66-63.
Congratulations to Jim Molinari.

http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=701738

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200612020363

From the game recap--

Molinari received a warm ovation from a sparse crowd upon being introduced before the game and a few signs read "Let's Go Coach Mo" and "Mo-Mentum."

[Big Mike]

Hey it's a start.....always good to get the 1st W out of the way....who knows , if the players buy in to his system he might have a chance!

[tornado]

Here is a pic of Mo in action

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?photoId=1376651&gameId=263360135

Congrats to Coach Mo.

[MacabreMob]

Re: Jim Molinari is 1-0 at Minnesota

Minnesota knocks off Arizona State 66-63.
Congratulations to Jim Molinari.

"Mo-Mentum."

Ariz St had beat Iowa at home 67-64.

Those fans at Minny must have no clue how fast "Mo-Mentum" really is.

[Grassman]

Jim Molinari is 1-0

This win had to be gratifying for coach Mo, as it came against Herb Sendek. Sendek was the coach at North Carolina State, where Anthony Grundy, one of Mo's prized recruits, ended up after a whole bunch of suspious circumstances.
Mo obviously, shook Sendeks hand with the obligatory end of game handshake, with little enthusiasm.
Good for you MO!

[Da Coach]

I don't remember there being any suspicion that Grundy was lured out of coming to Bradley by Sendek. Was there? Even though he eventually ended up at NC State, I thought it was Louisville or Kentucky that might have tampered with Grundy, an All State player in Kentucky. When Bradley would not release him, Grundy was forced to spend a year at a prep school.

Jim seriously considered taking NC State's offer to become their head coach after the NCAA season in 1996, but opted to stay at Bradley. Later he would say he should have moved on at that time. That is when Sendek was hired.

[Grassman]

I don't remember there being any suspicion that Grundy was lured out of coming to Bradley by Sendek. Was there? Even though he eventually ended up at NC State, I thought it was Louisville or Kentucky that might have tampered with Grundy, an All State player in Kentucky. When Bradley would not release him, Grundy was forced to spend a year at a prep school.

Jim seriously considered taking NC State's offer to become their head coach after the NCAA season in 1996, but opted to stay at Bradley. Later he would say he should have moved on at that time. That is when Sendek was hired.

Grundy was highly influenced by his AAU coach.
After Grundy had signed with Bradley he became noticed by "Majors", while playing AAU ball. I believe his AAU coach influenced his decision to renege on Bradley, a mid-major, and peddled him to the highest bidder.
Since Grundy ended up at NC State. I would guess there would have to be complicity.
Sendek also recruited other players who would have made our "Players Behaving Badly post," but I cannot remember their names. I know one was their leading scorer in Grundys Junior year.
I believe Grundy led NC State in scoring his senior year.

[Braves4Life]

Grundy/Sendek

Living in ACC Country, I can honestly tell you that Herb Sendek was considered a "class" guy. Grundy, on the other hand, was a punk!

Sendek, unfortunately, got stuck with other punks as he was out-recruited by most every ACC coach within 200 miles.

[tornado]

Grundy didn't play AAU after his senior year in high school.
Where Anthony Grundy blew up was in the two Kentucky-Indiana All Star games that were played after his senior year ended.
I saw one of those games, and indeed Anthony Grundy dominated the game, and looked like a man among boys, scoring at will.
Immediately he started getting phone calls and tried to get out of his scholarship, as he was getting other offers.
When BU said they would not release his scholarship, he chose to go the prep school route.
He wasn't so dominant in prep school as he thought he'd be, but the offers were there to aim higher than BU, so he took one of them.

[Da Coach]

A couple articles about Jim Molinari and his first game at Minnesota. The first one speculates that Jim has zero chance of being named tha permanent head coach.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/16151065.htm

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/colleges/16151072.htm

[Grassman]

Jim Molinari 1-0

Grundy didn't play AAU after his senior year in high school.
Where Anthony Grundy blew up was in the two Kentucky-Indiana All Star games that were played after his senior year ended.
I saw one of those games, and indeed Anthony Grundy dominated the game, and looked like a man among boys, scoring at will.
Immediately he started getting phone calls and tried to get out of his scholarship, as he was getting other offers.
When BU said they would not release his scholarship, he chose to go the prep school route.
He wasn't so dominant in prep school as he thought he'd be, but the offers were there to aim higher than BU, so he took one of them.

You are right Tornado. I should have said all star game rather than AAU ball.
As I remember, his AAU coach was the dominant male in his life.
However, I still stand firm with my opinion of Sendek. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire.
Mo.s post game handshake was less than earnest!

[Murph]

Hey it's a start.....always good to get the 1st W out of the way....who knows , if the players buy in to his system he might have a chance!

How long until they forget how to score?

[OrangeandBlack74]

Here's a comment today from Doug Gottlieb on the ESPN.com Weekly Watch.....

Don't be surprised if Minnesota outperforms its talent level and wins a few more games than you would expect under interim coach Jim Molinari. Molinari, it should be noted, was a huge part of the DePaul staff when Joey Meyer originally took over the Blue Demons and found early success. The program's drop-off can be directly linked to when Molinari departed for the Northern Illinois head coaching job. While at NIU, and Bradley thereafter, the programs were more than moderately successful, and he has always been considered a solid players' coach who can get a lot out of a little -- which is good because, frankly, there isn't very much in Minneapolis.

[BradleyBrave]

Here's a comment today from Doug Gottlieb on the ESPN.com Weekly Watch.....

Don't be surprised if Minnesota outperforms its talent level and wins a few more games than you would expect under interim coach Jim Molinari. Molinari, it should be noted, was a huge part of the DePaul staff when Joey Meyer originally took over the Blue Demons and found early success. The program's drop-off can be directly linked to when Molinari departed for the Northern Illinois head coaching job. While at NIU, and Bradley thereafter, the programs were more than moderately successful, and he has always been considered a solid players' coach who can get a lot out of a little -- which is good because, frankly, there isn't very much in Minneapolis.

Players coach? Obviously Gottlieb didn't take a look at all of the transfers/departures/decommits during Molinari's tenure on the Hilltop.

The rest of his write-up is pretty accurate.

[bu fan 9]

I agree BradleyBrave.