Who will replace Greg Graham as assistant coach?

[tornado]

again with the local media?..

no.. several fans, too... all we heard for the first 6 months after the firing was how much better we'd be and how we'd be competing for championships in no time....

you can hardly deny the glee, and ecstatic posting by those who were 100% sure we'd be better right away and that hiring Geno would turn this program around in a heartbeat - even Dr. Cross said we'd be better in year-one than in 2010-2011..
and wow - was that guarantee wrong - with a milder schedule in 2011-12 we we horribly worse even compared to a season we had lost our top two players for the entire year!
...and the fallout may not be over yet..

[lefty]

no.. several fans, too... all we heard for the first 6 months after the firing was how much better we'd be and how we'd be competing for championships in no time....

you can hardly deny the glee, and ecstatic posting by those who were 100% sure we'd be better right away and that hiring Geno would turn this program around in a heartbeat - even Dr. Cross said we'd be better in year-one than in 2010-2011..
and wow - was that guarantee wrong - with a milder schedule in 2011-12 we we horribly worse even compared to a season we had lost our top two players for the entire year!
...and the fallout may not be over yet..

I don't know how any of what you just posted has to do with this thread

[tornado]

I think it is directly relevant
You stated there was extra emphasis on Geno doing well in year-four - in order to satisfy expectations - with a hint that a bad year-four might doom Geno, correct? Isn't that exactly what you were saying?

..year 4 is crucial to Geno's future.. ……he needs a pretty good year to get any kind of extension IMO

You are stating he has to start winning cuz it's year four, and that somehow year four is always a little more important when a new coach is hired.

I responded by saying a ton of people, Cross included, set the bar extremely high and stated that their expectations were for us to be be winning and doing way better RIGHT FROM DAY ONE.

I have read and even been accused many times of being overly optimistic or overhyping a certain player or recruit - and have been told that MY VERY WORDS are putting high expectations on the kid or dooming him to failure..
so as many times as I have seen those types of comments, then it must be a fairly common sentiment.
Maybe the same thing happened here with Geno - he was kinda doomed to failure in years 1 thru 4 because expectations were set way too high.
-and it was the local media and a few vocal message board posters driving all that hype at light speed!
I have said from the start that Geno (despite being paid plenty) has none-the-less been placed in a very difficult situation where he's expected to win and win fast but factors largely outside his control make that nearly 100% impossible. I think you know what factors I am talking about - we've discussed them many times, but they are not really relevant to a discussion of Greg Graham.

[lefty]

I think it is directly relevant
You stated there was extra emphasis on Geno doing well in year-four - in order to satisfy expectations - with a hint that a bad year-four might doom Geno, correct? Isn't that exactly what you were saying?



You are stating he has to start winning cuz it's year four, and that somehow year four is always a little more important when a new coach is hired.

I responded by saying a ton of people, Cross included, set the bar extremely high and stated that their expectations were for us to be be winning and doing way better RIGHT FROM DAY ONE.

I have read and even been accused many times of being overly optimistic or overhyping a certain player or recruit - and have been told that MY VERY WORDS are putting high expectations on the kid or dooming him to failure..
so as many times as I have seen those types of comments, then it must be a fairly common sentiment.
Maybe the same thing happened here with Geno - he was kinda doomed to failure in years 1 thru 4 because expectations were set way too high.
-and it was the local media and a few vocal message board posters driving all that hype at light speed!
I have said from the start that Geno (despite being paid plenty) has none-the-less been placed in a very difficult situation where he's expected to win and win fast but factors largely outside his control make that nearly 100% impossible. I think you know what factors I am talking about - we've discussed them many times, but they are not really relevant to a discussion of Greg Graham.

I have better things to do than go down this path T......nothing I have posted on this thread had anything to do with the media...you brought it up.....

now in regard to year 4(and I don't know why this is hard to understand) is important to Geno this year because we took a step back in year 3...

year 4 isn't always the most important for every coach.....but IMO it is for Geno this year

[LongTimeFan]

Lefty, do you foresee any circumstances in which Ford would be allowed to go into the 5th year of his contract without an extension? It would seem to be very hard to recruit next year in that situation. I imagine a buyout with have to be included with any such extension.

[lefty]

Lefty, do you foresee any circumstances in which Ford would be allowed to go into the 5th year of his contract without an extension? It would seem to be very hard to recruit next year in that situation. I imagine a buyout with have to be included with any such extension.

I guess anything is possible but I don't see how you go into a 5th year without an extension??¦which is why this year is so important after a step back last year.
If we finish a .500 record or even slightly better I think it's a tough decision for BU. Some think a 1-2 year extension would be appropriate annd it would be better than none at all for sure but an ideal situation.
Hopefully Geno has a surprise year and does well and the future is bright enough to warrant a longer extension.
It seems like both Les and Mo each had a year that people thought we wouldn't be good and we finished above expectations??¦.now maybe that was year 3 for Geno but hopefully the best is yet to come.

[tornado]

we have 3 open scholarships to fill and it would be nice to have the extra help beating the bushes to find the right guys - plus some recruits might be swayed by who we hire - so we need to get them on board asap
I say break the bank and hire Anthony Beane

[ihatetea]

The PJ Star is apparently taking a strong position of who they promote for the assistant spot vacated by Greg Graham.

They say Director of Basketball Operations (a non-coaching and non-recruiting position) Cole Pittis should get the job despite his extremely limited DI experience.

http://blogs.pjstar.com/pressrow/2014/04/30/bu-basketball-opening-should-go-to-pittis/

....it was one writer's blog. Most blogs include a person's opinion. I would hesitate to say it is the official stance of the PJ Star. I agree he blew smoke up our A's last year in regards to our new players. But his reasoning is sound on who he thinks should be promoted.

Even if Geno follows Dave's advice there is still a spot open that Dave doesn't offer his ideas on. Maybe we should change the name of this thread to who will replace Cole Pittis as Director of Basketball Operations if he does get promoted.

[tornado]

I just hope Geno gets the same degree of success with his next coaching hire as he did with his most recent recruiting coup...
..so I say let Geno choose...he's on a roll............he'll probably even get an extension and a raise just based on this week's news....

[Da Coach]

Yes, the hiring of Chin Coleman is starting to show the tremendous value of hiring an assistant mainly for his recruiting abilities and connections. Maybe hiring another assistant with a strong recruiting background and hiw own different connections would be worth considering.

However, in the end, as I was the first to predict on April 17, I believe the job will go to Pittis.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=294660#post294660

[midstateknowitall]

IMO need to hire somebody with connections to something:

Coleman has connections & relationships in Chicago.
Uken has connections & relationships in JUCO RANKS.

I would love to see BU bring in someone like Peoria Native Mitch Gilfillan. Young and tireless recruiter. Has been at the D1 ranks for a while (Lehigh, Ball St, SIUE). Has connections & relationships to Central Illinois and has relationships in Indiana and St. Louis Area. 3 markets that BU right now doesn't get much from!

[LongTimeFan]

MidStateKnowItAll, that is an interesting idea and not one I have heard before. Usually coaches have not hired a person that is local to the school's community. Currently Bradley does have a close connection with one of the area coaches, but another connection would not hurt. There could be a couple of good area recruits in 2 and 3 years. For all I know there may be some next year.

[Da Coach]

9 days have passed since the commitment of Josh Cunningham, and I thought the priority and focus would be on filling the assistant coaching vacancy left behind by the resignation of Greg Graham over 5 weeks ago. But we are not hearing anything new. In the past, whenever Bradley had coaching vacancies, we heard reports of numbers of applicants, candidates names, who and when we had interviews, and who were the finalists, but this time there have been no such reports. If Cole Pittis is the man for the job, why is this continuing to drag out? Has anyone heard any reports or speculation?

[tornado]

9 days have passed since the commitment of Josh Cunningham.....any reports or speculation?

since the recruiting process to land Josh Cunningham swung strongly towards Bradley right at the end of the process....
could the upcoming naming of a new assistant coach show us evidence of how it all went down?

[mvcfan]

Same thing going on at ISU. Muller mentioned that he wanted a hire in time for the team to meet him before they leave for the summer. Most are saying Muller has his guy it just hasn't been announced. I think Bradley could use a solid X and O guy.