Drake coaching job - Mark Phelps

[Da Coach]

From the Des Moines Register--

One writer tells Drake who to hire-
If Davis is the guy, hire him already

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/SPORTS05/804180385/-1/ENT05

Keno says Bulldogs must stick together--

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/SPORTS020403/804180383/1003/SPORTS05

[basketball nut]

Good article and couldn't agree more. It has worked other places and it is proven time & time again. Most of mid-major successfull programs are being ran that way. For all of the Altman's of the world that stay where they are at are 20 coaches that have success & move on like KD just did. The programs that stay successful usually hire from within.

[DUBulldog]

Chris Davis is the guy who recruited almost all of the Drake players.

But...........there are persistent rumors from multiple sources that a lot of the players don't like him. I'm hoping that Drake's AD and president have talked to the players about their thoughts on Chris Davis being the head man.

[tornado]

Wait a minute....I thought they were all walk-ons and kids who had no offers anywhere else??

[DUBulldog]

Wait a minute....I thought they were all walk-ons and kids who had no offers anywhere else??

Chris is a pretty talented recruiter when there is no competition.

[Da Coach]

So, DUBulldog, do you have a sense of what the administration is going to do?

[DUBulldog]

So, DUBulldog, do you have a sense of what the administration is going to do?

No, but I know there have already been several candidates in for interviews.....rumors are there could be a decision by Monday.

The guys who have seemingly been annointed as the frontrunners by the media are Matt Woodley (former DU player, current Washington State assistant coach) and Gary Close (former Dr Tom asssistant at both Stanford and Iowa, currently an assistant at Wisconsin).

I don't think the media is doing anything more than regurgitating names of coaches with Iowa ties.....and Dr Tom/Keno is the only Drake coach in recent history (50+ years) with Iowa ties.

Edit: I guess Rudy Washington was an assistant at Iowa when he was hired....so much for Iowa ties being desirable.

[DUBulldog]

Not official yet, but at least one media outlet in Des Moines is reporting that the new coach will be Mark Phelps, Associate Head Coach at Arizona State. Phelps also coached under Herb Sendek at NC St.

http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8198535

[tornado]

It does appear that Drake has offered the head coaching job to Mark Phelps, and it is Phelps'
job to take --

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=rivals-214618&prov=rivals&type=lgns

Hmmm.. I was unfamiliar with Mark Phelps (who was also touted as a candidate for the head spot at James Madison),
but in checking on him, I find...........
that he has no ties to the midwest whatsoever, and isn't really known as a recruiter.
And, oddly, he has never played college basketball, and I can't find that he ever played high school basketball.
And he has never been a head coach of any team at any level above high school, and the two high schools
he coached at were rather unknown, small, private high schools in Virginia. (enrollments of only 68 & 240 respectively)

http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/phelps_mark00.html

Oddly, one of the mentions you can find about Phelps in a Google search is how his initial
hiring at North Carolina State was a little unusual!
Here was the head coach of a tiny private school in Virginia, suddenly getting a job as
an assistant on the coaching staff of a top ACC school??
Not too coincidentally one of Phelps' best players had committed to NC State a couple months earlier.
Then, just as Phelps gets the job at NC State, another of Phelps'
highly rated recruits from that same tiny private school committed to NC State!!
Ahhh, now I see....another Ed Manning/Danny Manning scenario!
Even CBSSports' Gregg Doyel ranks this event as one of his TOP 10
"Package Deal" hirings.....

http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/8477986

[DUBulldog]

I asked about Phelps on an ASU message board....here was the response

Just off the top of my head, he has been with Herb for a while and is well received by the players. I have listened to him speak a few times and the guy can just take over a room with his charisma. While I hope he remains at ASU and helps our program, if he is indeed heading to Drake, he is a great coach and I wish him the best and I hope Drake can keep playing at a high level under Phelps.

The bolded part intrigues me.

[Braves4Life]

Very odd, but a typical Drake hiring if you look at their history.

I will say this though........If Phelps has been an assistant to Herb Sendek, and if Sendek felt highly enough of him to bring him along to ASU from NCSU, then that says quite a bit as well. I think of Sendek as an excellent and classy coach, whose only fault is an inability to land the big-time recruit..............He's an excellent "x's and o's" guy and an even better role model and coach.

Phelps may just be the same type of coach who, if he can add a quality Midwest recruiter to his Drake staff, may end up being an above-average head coach like Sendek.

[tornado]

The guy may be a great coach, and even may turn out to do fine at Drake,
but it appears that had he not been fortunate enough to have two decent
D-I recruits playing on his small high school team back in 1996,
that he'd quite possibly still be coaching high school ball.



ANYWAY, it seems to be a done deal, now, as several sources are saying Phelps is the next Drake coach
and that an announcement is pending, possibly on Monday.......

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8054478/Sources:-Drake-finds-replacement-for-Davis

http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8198535

[Braves4Life]

The guy may be a great coach, and even may turn out to do fine at Drake,
but it appears that had he not been fortunate enough to have two decent
D-I recruits playing on his small high school team back in 1996,
that he'd quite possibly still be coaching high school ball.

That may be true, but the fact that he has made the most of his good fortune says a lot. Many successful people have gotten a "lucky" break in life...............and many unsuccessful people have also been given an opportunity somewhere along the line yet failed to parlay it into success.

We'll have to wait and see on this guy. Will he be the next Keno, or just another in a long line of Drake flubs? I'm hoping he does well (but not good enough to best BU ) as this can only contribute to the future success and notoriety of the MVC.

[tornado]

Drake just got done promoting an assistant and hitting the jackpot with a 28 win season, despite many who, like I did, thought Keno was way too inexperienced.
The remaining assistants are quality guys, hand picked by Keno and Dr. Tom, and were strongly favored by team members and local media alike.

So just why Drake goes outside the school, conference, and entire midwest to get Phelps, will look pretty silly if he isn't successful.
Only time will tell, but look how many MVC coaches, really, really good ones came right up through the ranks like Keno,
Lowery, McKenna, Weber, Painter, Tubby Smith, Jacobson, etc.
As I said, only time will tell, but if he is good, he'll be gone, as he has no ties to the midwest, and if he isn't then his hire will be puzzling.

[DUBulldog]

The remaining assistants are quality guys, hand picked by Keno and Dr. Tom, and were strongly favored by team members and local media alike.

The assistant that was recommended by Dr Tom and Keno was certainly not favored by team members. I'll leave it at that.