Evansville's Marty Simmons is a finalist for the Wright State job

[Da Coach]

Last week it was rumored that Evansville head coach Marty Simmons was a candidate for the open Wright State job to replace Billy Donlon.
Now it is reported that he is one of 3 finalists for the job, along with Scott Nagy of South Dakota State, and Joe Dooley of Florida Gulf Coast-

https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/716657194503024640

That seems like a lateral move at best to go from one of the better teams in the MVC to the Horizon League. Evansville does lose a lot from their 25-win team going into next season, but then Wright State loses just about as much from their team going into next season. They graduate 3 of their top 4 scorers, and 4 of their top 6. They return only 1 player who averaged more than 7.6 ppg. Maybe it's about money? or maybe there are other reasons Marty wants to get out of Evansville?
Dayton is a nice(r) city to live in, IMO.

[lightsout]

Sounds like Coach Nagy is the favorite to land the Wright St job.

[Da Coach]

I think he'd be a good choice, and about time he finally moved up after 21 seasons at SDSU. He is 404-239 (.628 ) as their head coach in 21 seasons, and he is only 49 years old. He has averaged over 24 wins per season over the last 5 seasons.

[tornado]

I am really puzzled by the Marty Simmons' interest in Wright State..
I know he has worries about losing so much scoring to graduation but Wright State is no picnic either, they also lose 4 of their only six guys who score more than 3.5 ppg....
plus his own son is at Evansville and if he transfers, he'd still have to sit out - unless he's on track to graduate.

In another odd move - the potential coaching candidates all got "interviewed" by the current players...that's really weird...letting someone who likely won't be playing there in a year or two and who might harbor bitterness about their coach being fired...influence your selection

http://www.todaysu.com/u-news/wright-state-let-players-meet-coaching-candidates/

[Vent]

I would imagine it is financially based. Evansville has been decent the last couple of years, but more often than not has finished in the bottom half of the league. Does anyone know the last time they went to the NIT or NCAA?

[Da Coach]

I would imagine it is financially based. Evansville has been decent the last couple of years, but more often than not has finished in the bottom half of the league. Does anyone know the last time they went to the NIT or NCAA?

Last NCAA 1999
Last NIT 1994
CBI 2011 and 2012
CIT 2009, 2013, 2015 (champions in 2015)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evansville_Purple_Aces_men%27s_basketball

I actually think Marty is a good coach, who never had a lot of talent until the last couple years. Colt Ryan, D.J. Balentine, and Egidijus Mockevicius were very good, but they had little in the way of supporting cast. Other than those 3, his recruiting has been suspect, and Evansville is probably the hardest program in the MVC to recruit kids to. Anyone who has seen the Evansville campus, or visited the city of Evansville knows what I am talking about. The campus is in an old and deteriorating part of the city, and the city itself, once a thriving river city, now has very little going for it.
When Steve Merfeld was an assistant at Bradley, I used to sit right in front of his wife. She told me Merfeld had so much trouble getting kids to commit to UE because of the ugly and sometimes dangerous surroundings around the campus, that he used to arrange for the recruits to visit at night, then pick them up at the airport, and drive them to the campus in a car with darkened windows. Then he avoided giving them a tour of the city, kept them in the campus facilities, and had them escorted back to the airport the same way they were picked up.

[Vent]

Recruiting kids to Evansville has got to be next to impossible. Once in a blue moon you may be able to get a couple of really good players in one class, as with this year's senior group. But the majority of time the Indiana kids you're gonna get are leftovers from Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame, Valporaiso, Indiana State. In addition they are recruiting against regional schools such as SIU and Murray State. He is a good coach. If he were to leave, they will have a difficult time finding someone as good as him to be his replacement.

[Da Coach]

It looks like a moot point, as Scott Nagy is reportedly going to get the job at Wright State.

[Vent]

Yes and Bryce Drew is apparently getting the Vanderbilt job. That will be a huge pay raise.

[Da Coach]

Marty Simmons had some interest from other schools during the off-season, but now he has just signed a contract extension with Evansville-
UE Head Men??™s Basketball Coach Marty Simmons Signs Extension

http://www.gopurpleaces.com/news/2016/9/22/ue-head-mens-basketball-coach-marty-simmons-signs-extension.aspx