New coach wish list thread

[coqui900]

I really wish I didn't have to make this. I really like Dr. G a lot. He's a great person and left the school better than it was before. But here are my coach wish lists. I'm trying to keep this realistic. No Thad Matta nonsense. I'm going with head coaches and assistants from the region.

1) Bashir Mason, Wagner. He's had the best NEC team at Wagner for a few years, but just could never get over the hump in the final game. But his teams are well regarded. He's 34 but has five years worth of head coaching experience already. He went to Drexel so he knows Philly. He was a Dan Hurley protege and has A-10 experience. I think he's absolutely my top pick.

2) Nathan Davis, Bucknell. About to make another NCAA tournament in minutes. Best coached team in the Patriot. Great program. The only downside I see is that he has a young family and might not want to make the move from bucolic Lewisburg to the Philly area.

3) Will Brown, Albany. Five NCAA appearances, consistent 20 win teams. I'll fess up that I haven't seen any Great Danes basketball but he has a really good track record of success.

4) Any Seton Hall assistant not named Fred Hill. Fred Hill was the Rutgers coach and has a lot of baggage. He was one of Jay's assistants when Nova got it going. But I really like The Hall's program right now. The Hall is far from an easy school to recruit at, too. Other than "being in the Big East" it's a little bit like La Salle -- small Catholic school with potentially problematic facilities (as in they play at a NBA arena in Newark and, to my memory of the campus, have no on-campus practice space, but I could be wrong).

5) Ashley Howard, Nova. I have no idea how he would be as a coach. But he's been an assistant on a lot of really good teams, plugged in. I have no idea if there is any baggage from his tenure here or not.

6) Ron Sanchez, top assistant at Virginia. Or really any of the other assistants at Virginia other than Brad Soderberg.

MORE LEFT FIELD CHOICES

1) Tim Legler. Famous alum. Has some AAU experience at the local level. No coaching experience. But why not at least try?

2) Dawn Staley. This is the most left field choice I can think of. If we thought Legler would make a dent in terms of publicity, Dawn Staley would bring us to a whole new level. A true local hero. She can absolutely coach basketball -- from her history of success at Temple, South Carolina and as the US Woman's Team coach. I mean, I absolutely would ask to gauge her interest. Why not?

[coqui900]

My ULTIMATE criteria is that we don't pick someone sleazy. I don't care if we get a program hopper. That's the reality of college basketball. Dan Hurley is sitting on a huge jump in pay if something big opens up. I just don't want someone who is going to embarrass the program. I want to recruit really nice kids who represent the school well and want nothing to do with any sort of NCAA penalties.

[explorer88]

I like Mason and Howard. I don’t want any of the Seton Hall coaches. I have a question as to whether Davis can recruit to La Salle and I k ow nothing of Sanchez.

My preference would you a young assistant or head coach with strong Philly ties but what May be best for La Salle is a system coach who can recruit gym rats to overcome the facility issue.

Never bought into that idea previously but I do now.

[coqui900]

He hasn't done anything at Fordham in his short tenure there but I am not opposed to Jeff Neubauer. He ran nice stuff at Eastern Kentucky.

[luhoopsfan]

Tim Legler clearly politicking (sp?) for a gig

Great article about his relationship with Lauren but get toward. The end for the good stuff.....


“I’ve always wanted to be a D-I coach,” he said. “That’s been a dream, that’s been my passion, and it’s one of the reasons I stayed involved with AAU. I knew I couldn’t go take a D-I job over the years after I retired because my kids were young and because they’re based here in New Jersey. I wasn’t going to do that until my son was through high school and into college. I wanted to coach them. I put it on the back burner, but it’s definitely something I spent time on over the last year and a half preparing myself for.”

Legler has been in contact with various search firms and hopes to draw interest for coaching positions as they become available later this month. He pointed to St. John’s Coach Chris Mullin, his teammate for one season with Golden State, as an example of someone with no coaching experience at the college level getting a chance to turn around a Division I program.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2018/03/05/tim-legler-dedicated-1996-three-point-title-to-his-newborn-daughter-who-just-played-her-last-college-game/?utm_term=.741e47eb86a7

[coqui900]

Legler is a total roll of the dice. No experience isn't really a bad thing in a way.

[thelasallelunatic]

Lavin
Massiello
Ash Howard
Geoff Arnold
King Rice

***I'd offer Matta the job at $1 million per, 5 year deal... With a buyout that includes the school he goes to having to play a home and home with La Salle.

Coqui, what kind of sleezeball are we talking? I'd steer clear of a Sean Miller/Rick Pitino/Mike Rice type, but somebody like Larry Eustacy, fired for yelling at players... They wouldn't be off my radar.

****I don't give a shit if we got a program jumper either. It would mean we are winning. For an A10 school, it's important to make the right his.

[durenduren]

Whatever. Give Legler the job, I don't care, just give him a short leash. Maybe we'll catch lightning in a bottle. Maybe it'll be a disaster. He's probably far from the ideal candidate but...

Regardless, it'll be a step forward. Anything not Giannini is progress.

[thelasallelunatic]

Mar 7, 2018 22:09:58 GMT -5 coqui900 said:

Legler is a total roll of the dice. No experience isn't really a bad thing in a way.

Memphis is about to fire Tubby for Penny... That's a strong parallel to Legs.

Penny is a high school coach in Memphis.

[luhoopsfan]

I offer that article without prejudice. Just as a note that he’s clearly working for a job. Loves La Salle.

No idea if he would be good or bad or if Bradshaw would even give him the time of day.

[GlitterBro #2]

Mar 7, 2018 22:16:09 GMT -5 thelasallelunatic said:

Mar 7, 2018 22:09:58 GMT -5 coqui900 said:

Legler is a total roll of the dice. No experience isn't really a bad thing in a way.

Memphis is about to fire Tubby for Penny... That's a strong parallel to Legs.

Penny is a high school coach in Memphis.

Yeah, but Penny was a Parade national high school player of the year in Tennessee and has won 2 straight state championships as a high school coach (and might win a third next week).  He also will bring Li'l Penny with him to assist.

[thelasallelunatic]

Mar 7, 2018 22:20:35 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

Mar 7, 2018 22:16:09 GMT -5 thelasallelunatic said:

Memphis is about to fire Tubby for Penny... That's a strong parallel to Legs.

Penny is a high school coach in Memphis.

Yeah, but Penny was a Parade national high school player of the year in Tennessee and has won 2 straight state championships as a high school coach (and might win a third next week).  He also will bring Li'l Penny with him to assist.

And he had Great Sneakers in the mid-late 90's...if only Penny would've stayed healthy.

[explorer88]

Legler would give the La Salle program instantly more exposure than it would normally get.

He has more basketball knowledge than G has and he is off the charts very smart. Experience and the lack of it may affect his win/loss record but if we got past that and he learned quickly on how college ball worked we might have a winner. I never really thought he was a possibility but it wouldn’t be a bad hire on the surface. Not sure if he is really interested though.

[thelasallelunatic]

Mar 7, 2018 22:22:37 GMT -5 explorer88 said:

Legler would give the La Salle program instantly more exposure than it would normally get.

He has more basketball knowledge than G has and he is off the charts very smart. Experience and the lack of it may affect his win/loss record but if we got past that and he learned quickly on how college ball worked we might have a winner. I never really thought he was a possibility but it wouldn’t be a bad hire on the surface. Not sure if he is really interested though.

I think he wants it Mik.

[MisterD]

If Temple fires Dunphy, do you think they’d steal Legler from us?

[coqui900]

The Legler exposure would last for like one day in local media and also maybe a small mention on ESPN. It's not like he's a huge star. It would create some excitement and increased local news coverage for his first few games. But that would wear off by January. And then you have to win games.

[a10]

Not a big Jeff Neubauer fan idea as far as him being our next coach.

[coqui900]

I am also all for hiring a qualified female coach. I think Becky Hammond is a pipe dream/out of our price range. I mean, she's a friggin' assistant to Gregg Popovich. She might get a NBA gig at some point. But I would love if we could find a great woman's coach and at least give it a really considerable look. I have no idea who that would be, though. Do any of the local colleges have any longterm success as a woman's program? I really do not know.

I doubt it would happen but if we really want to make a splash... DAWN STALEY.

[hoopsguest]

Mar 7, 2018 22:13:57 GMT -5 thelasallelunatic said:

Lavin
Massiello
Ash Howard
Geoff Arnold
King Rice

***I'd offer Matta the job at $1 million per, 5 year deal... With a buyout that includes the school he goes to having to play a home and home with La Salle.

Coqui, what kind of sleezeball are we talking? I'd steer clear of a Sean Miller/Rick Pitino/Mike Rice type, but somebody like Larry Eustacy, fired for yelling at players... They wouldn't be off my radar.

****I don't give a shit if we got a program jumper either. It would mean we are winning. For an A10 school, it's important to make the right his.

Massiello - no, questionable ethics.   More than just his resume/degree thing from a couple years back.  Also, hasn't exactly lit the world on fire lately.   Lavin - what has he really accomplished?  Took over for Harrick and did OK.  It's UCLA - I could have won there at that time - and I was a teenager.   King Rice is waiting for something bigger.   He has success next year at Monmouth and he could parlay into a Power 5/Big East job.   He comes to La Salle he would need to be here 2 to 3 years before doing that.  

G had success turning this program around because he came from Maine, which is a horrific job (they just let their coach go who really knows his stuff and is an up and up guy.   They then hired their former women's coach).   So for G, he comes here, and La Salle is a clear step up.   Hahn struggled in part because he was used to having all the amenities at Maryland - when he realized we weren't even close, that bothered him.    The school might want to think about looking hard at some D3 guys (I would have recommended Mike Rhoades in 2004, you knew from his time at Randolph Macon he was going to be a star) or looking at some coaches from say the MEAC.   Lavelle Moton comes to mind. 

[Deleted]

I think Ash Howard and any other top assistant for a top 5-10 team in the country will go somewhere bigger than La Salle. Penn State will be open, uConn, there's going to be jobs they can get with much more to offer than La Salle. BB just hired a baseball coach with a couple years as a low assistant for small D1 teams then coached Penn Charter for 3 years. He's going to find someone young and ambitious as hell that will win. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a D3 head who has D1 experience as an assistant. You can get a mid 30s guy, who's cheaper and out to prove the hell out of himself.

[explorerman]

1) Ashley Howard
2) Ron Sanchez

———————————
I spent some time on Becky Hammon.. Love the media attention and instant credibility with higher profile recruits it would bring.. Everyone knows and respects Pop.. But has never recruited

But if we are going that route, we have someone that is La Salle-bred All-Time great coach, Cheryl Reeve.. Also the GM of the team so she knows how to run an organization.. Also has never recruited..

I just wouldn’t feel comfortable with Legler even if I have the most respect for him. He has been a big supporter of the school but I also come from the school of keeping continuity.. He has never recruited players..
———————————————

As you can tell I think recruiting is important part of college basketball.. Back to continuity piece, if Ashley wanted the job you give it to him.. Ace recruiter and a very smart basketball mind.. Point Guards are the catchers, QBs, center backs.. Whatever other position you can think of another sport that is forced to manage and communicate..

I would sit Ashley down and ask who are your assistants, would you be open to suggestions. I would mention Carr and Legler. If Ashley is comes here, he isn’t going to stop here.. That leaves an opening for continuity and the top spot for one of those guys.. In Leglers case, it gives him a few years to learn college basketball recruiting..
——————————

I believe a few people here would be surprised at the amount of interest in the job... The hypothetical job opening would generate A LOT of interest.. But since I just did the job for the search committee, you don’t need to waste more money of inefficient search firms..

[coqui900]

Mar 7, 2018 23:35:52 GMT -5 explorerman said:

1) Ashley Howard
2) Ron Sanchez

———————————
I spent some time on Becky Hammon.. Love the media attention and instant credibility with higher profile recruits it would bring.. Everyone knows and respects Pop.. But has never recruited

But if we are going that route, we have someone that is La Salle-bred All-Time great coach, Cheryl Reeve.. Also the GM of the team so she knows how to run an organization.. Also has never recruited..

I just wouldn’t feel comfortable with Legler even if I have the most respect for him. He has been a big supporter of the school but I also come from the school of keeping continuity.. He has never recruited players..
———————————————

As you can tell I think recruiting is important part of college basketball.. Back to continuity piece, if Ashley wanted the job you give it to him.. Ace recruiter and a very smart basketball mind.. Point Guards are the catchers, QBs, center backs.. Whatever other position you can think of another sport that is forced to manage and communicate..

I would sit Ashley down and ask who are your assistants, would you be open to suggestions. I would mention Carr and Legler. If Ashley is comes here, he isn’t going to stop here.. That leaves an opening for continuity and the top spot for one of those guys.. In Leglers case, it gives him a few years to learn college basketball recruiting..
——————————

I believe a few people here would be surprised at the amount of interest in the job... The hypothetical job opening would generate A LOT of interest.. But since I just did the job for the search committee, you don’t need to waste more money of inefficient search firms..

Literally any D-1 job will get hundreds of applicants. What's the worst team in the America East? If that job opens up, so many will reach for it. And even assistants from really big named schools. They can probably do better if they want to wait to go to UMass-Lowell or wherever, but many will want to make a jump.

The A-10 is almost always the best non-BCS conference and a multi-bid league. A school in the hotbed recruiting region that is Philly in the A-10 that recently made the Sweet 16 is a really friggin' nice gig. That's not to say it doesn't have its challenges. But if there is an opening this year, I would venture to say that we'll be one of the top 15 opportunities out there this season.

I don't know what BCS jobs are opening up. But I'm also going to guess that some are going to open up with "potential major sanctions" lingering, which we do not have. What A-10 jobs are opening up? Does Richmond bounce Chris Mooney out? Does UMass get a new coach? I really have no idea. But it's not like those programs are lightyears beyond ours by any means.

[thelasallelunatic]

UMass just got a new coach. I agree with you 20th and Explorerman. I think some of these guys are way off base with D3 guys and such.

Billy Hahn came from Maryland when it was a national championship contender... Not bullshit Big 10, NIT Maryland.... Big time ACC Maryland.

The reason we got G from Maine, was because it was friggin August, and we put all of our eggs in the Dunphy basket. G was like the 5th choice.

I think all of the women talked about can coach, but I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here. We have to hit a home run with this hire. We don't have to be trailblazers here.

Give me a guy that can develop a 3 star recruit into an NBA player.... Like the coach on City line does. We have a 4 star recruit that didn't get off the bench last night.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Mar 8, 2018 7:28:50 GMT -5 thelasallelunatic said:

I think some of these guys are way off base with D3 guys

We had people on this board talking about hiring the first woman in the history of men's college basketball and a high school coach that is nearly 80. 

***

As if there is no gray area coach. Come on people...not every shiny object should be mentioned. Let's go vanilla.

[durenduren]

Mar 8, 2018 8:00:18 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

Let's go vanilla.

I think Giannini was pretty vanilla. I'd advocate that we don't need to make a stupid-silly splash too, but 13 years of 'mostly boring Giannini' has people wanting anything but. I'm not sure that's anything more than an impulsive thought though, because while we want a coach with some more jam, they'll be the first to say 'that's conduct unbecoming of a coach' or of La Salle.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Mar 8, 2018 8:04:52 GMT -5 durenduren said:

Mar 8, 2018 8:00:18 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

Let's go vanilla.

I think Giannini was pretty vanilla. I'd advocate that we don't need to make a stupid-silly splash too, but 13 years of 'mostly boring Giannini' has people wanting anything but. I'm not sure that's anything more than an impulsive thought though, because while we want a coach with some more jam, they'll be the first to say 'that's conduct unbecoming of a coach' or of La Salle.

He was an August hire. There are no candidates in August.

Vanilla was relative to "Let's hire Thad Matta."

[durenduren]

Mar 7, 2018 22:04:18 GMT -5 coqui900 said:

He hasn't done anything at Fordham in his short tenure there but I am not opposed to Jeff Neubauer. He ran nice stuff at Eastern Kentucky.

Not saying this is even possible, but in the eyes of a prospective coach, is La Salle's gig more desirable than Fordham's? Because as much as I don't want to be grouped in with them, we probably are a parallel in more ways than we'd want to acknowledge.

[explorerman]

Mar 8, 2018 8:00:18 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

Mar 8, 2018 7:28:50 GMT -5 thelasallelunatic said:

I think some of these guys are way off base with D3 guys

We had people on this board talking about hiring the first woman in the history of men's college basketball and a high school coach that is nearly 80. 

***

As if there is no gray area coach. Come on people...not every shiny object should be mentioned. Let's go vanilla.

Respect your opinion but I would rather go splashy.. Got to make the program relevant again.. Now with that being said splashy but a good, reputable person that makes sense.. Ala not Steve Lavin, splashy but not good coach..

[JoeFedorowicz]

Mar 8, 2018 8:49:39 GMT -5 explorerman said:

Mar 8, 2018 8:00:18 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

We had people on this board talking about hiring the first woman in the history of men's college basketball and a high school coach that is nearly 80. 

***

As if there is no gray area coach. Come on people...not every shiny object should be mentioned. Let's go vanilla.

Respect your opinion but I would rather go splashy.. Got to make the program relevant again.. Now with that being said splashy but a good, reputable person that makes sense.. Ala not Steve Lavin, splashy but not good coach..

Splashy is usually also expensive. I don't think La Salle could/should pay their men's basketball coach a million dollars. I don't think they have to. 

I'm ok with this being a stepping stone school. I'm ok with coaches using La Salle as their proving grounds. That is fine to me.

[thelasallelunatic]

Mar 8, 2018 8:49:39 GMT -5 explorerman said:

Mar 8, 2018 8:00:18 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

We had people on this board talking about hiring the first woman in the history of men's college basketball and a high school coach that is nearly 80. 

***

As if there is no gray area coach. Come on people...not every shiny object should be mentioned. Let's go vanilla.

Respect your opinion but I would rather go splashy.. Got to make the program relevant again.. Now with that being said splashy but a good, reputable person that makes sense.. Ala not Steve Lavin, splashy but not good coach..

If 100 over 500, and three 20 win seasons at St John's means you're not a good coach... Sign me up.