Agree on others but Oats is a thug that runs a thug program. He has a guy being tried for cap murder as we speak. He is a good coach but not the caliber or standard for UK basketball.
List of viable replacements.
- Thread starter Son_Of_Saul
- Start date
We need a Hurley to turn this around. Comes from a family used to coaching pressures. Comes for good background. Oats could be BCG part 2 or Eddie Sutton part 2. No matter what we lose some current guys, recruits and such. We will be down a year or so, unless Cal were to leave early enough for a new coach to have time to sell himself to the guys out there. We are getting closer to IU than we are returning to glory right now.
CAL loathes the KENTUCKY people and feels he is way above us all. He really thinks that getting kids drafted is above winning. What he cannot fathom is he was hired to win basketball games at KENTUCKY. Not looks the the all star game and say hey we have 7 guys in the all start game. LOL
Cal is one of these guys that thinks he knows what is good for KENTUCKY and we are backwards thinking to want wins at the college level. Even though he is paid to win at the college level.
CAL loathes the KENTUCKY people and feels he is way above us all. He really thinks that getting kids drafted is above winning. What he cannot fathom is he was hired to win basketball games at KENTUCKY. Not looks the the all star game and say hey we have 7 guys in the all start game. LOL
Cal is one of these guys that thinks he knows what is good for KENTUCKY and we are backwards thinking to want wins at the college level. Even though he is paid to win at the college level.
Look up their salaries. Some of the guys I mentioned are assistants and don't even make $2 million a year. Others make in the $4 million range. UK pays $9 to 10 million. That's two to three times the amount many of the guys I listed make.
So no, I'm not buying your argument. It's an emaciated argument and needs some serious fine-tuning on your part.
My first call would be to Frank Vogel.
Known as an X & O guy who has a reputation as a great teacher of the game. Assistants have stated that he encouraged their input and had good relationships with players. Has overachieved with less talented teams and led a talented team to the championship. These are observations from people that have worked with him in the NBA. Pitino stated that he had a great basketball mind and put in the work needed. Believe he is worth a 5 minute phone call.
My other out of the box candidates would be Bob Richey at Furman, Matt Langal at Colgate, and Grant McCasland at Texas Tech. However, any potential candidate would have to answer the following except #5.
1. Why do you want this job and what makes you think you are qualified to be the head coach at UK?
2. What is your recruiting philosophy? Is there anything you want to hear/see from a high school or portal recruit before you offer him a scholarship?
3. What traits do you look for in assistant coaches wanting to work under you?
4. The pressure of this job is enormous with the several million coaches, I mean fans, that are hanging on your every word as the coach. How would you prepare yourself for this challenge 365 days a year?
5. You only have NBA experience. How does this help you at UK? What are some of the challenges in moving to a college head coaching job?
Known as an X & O guy who has a reputation as a great teacher of the game. Assistants have stated that he encouraged their input and had good relationships with players. Has overachieved with less talented teams and led a talented team to the championship. These are observations from people that have worked with him in the NBA. Pitino stated that he had a great basketball mind and put in the work needed. Believe he is worth a 5 minute phone call.
My other out of the box candidates would be Bob Richey at Furman, Matt Langal at Colgate, and Grant McCasland at Texas Tech. However, any potential candidate would have to answer the following except #5.
1. Why do you want this job and what makes you think you are qualified to be the head coach at UK?
2. What is your recruiting philosophy? Is there anything you want to hear/see from a high school or portal recruit before you offer him a scholarship?
3. What traits do you look for in assistant coaches wanting to work under you?
4. The pressure of this job is enormous with the several million coaches, I mean fans, that are hanging on your every word as the coach. How would you prepare yourself for this challenge 365 days a year?
5. You only have NBA experience. How does this help you at UK? What are some of the challenges in moving to a college head coaching job?
People can say what they want about Nate Oats but the dude can coach. Imagine if he had the tools to recruit with the best of them, I mean Bama is a football school and they don’t really care about Basketball that much. Give Oats the resources and he would do very well at UK. He may not have any championships but you cannot deny his ability to get his teams to win.
Dan Hurley isn't leaving UCONN. He can be the 1st call. We can "make him say no," but he's going to.
YOU DO NOT KNOW IF HE WILL COME OR NOT. Your opinion is not fact. So dumb.
I agree Vogel would be an excellent X's and O's guy. Which is music to my ears after years of Cal trying to let the kids figure it out on their own.
But is he going to be able to recruit and build a program? He's used to a GM taking care of the roster and he coaches them up.
But is he going to be able to recruit and build a program? He's used to a GM taking care of the roster and he coaches them up.
I thought I was crazy but Frank Vogel has been in my mind too. He’s an incredible coach we could offer a decent raise to (if they figure out something with Cal’s buyout)
Hurley has done well the past two years but vastly unperformed the first 4 years at UCONN and didn’t do much to speak of during his time at Rhode Island. Last year he had 8 losses going into the tournament and the year before they lost 10. The truth is, no one knows how anyone will do until they are here.
I just looked it up, according to google he just signed a 5 yr 31 million dollar contract with the suns. On the other hand Billy Donovan signed a 4 year 24 mil deal in 2020 with the bulls and it doesn’t say anything about renewal 🤔
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Hurley had to rebuild after Kevin Ollie's tenure. It wasn't an overnight thing like Calipari’s hire.
Depends. Does the giant guy have 5-10 years more eligibility left and come with him? Else, no.
Calipari had to build after Billy. Fortunately for us he already had his recruiting class signed. Good thing!
Yes, but Hurley doesn't recruit like Calipari. It's the same reason it took Pearl and Barnes to get their program where they are.
Hurley would be huge, Oats has too much of a thug culture for a program like UK.
Had Cal stepped down after last season which he should of. Frank Vogel is our coach we would of hung onto all players but Wagner and Bradshaw (maybe he keeps both as he hadxa big nba name) And would be sitting at maybe 2 or 3 losses and be top 3 which we should be.
Now Vogel is at Phoenix . I love Beards coaching not the man. Oats has been consistent enough to be up there on list. Maybe Dan Hurley of coaches that are mire likely to come than not If asked.
Now Vogel is at Phoenix . I love Beards coaching not the man. Oats has been consistent enough to be up there on list. Maybe Dan Hurley of coaches that are mire likely to come than not If asked.
Why do you assume he’d want the job? Vogel has no experience in college coaching at all …not even as an assistant …he’s never dealt with recruiting or any of the other unique little annoyances of being a college coach. And he has a mighty damn cushy life in the NBA world.
Even if he’d had the UK option, I’m pretty sure he’s still choosing coaching Durant and Booker in Phoenix over college kids in Lexington.
I didn't say he would come now I said last year this time when he had no head coaching job. He has some ties at UK , it is a top 3 college job , and the Money at UK isn't much different than NBA. There's plenty of reasons he would of wanted to come not saying he would of said yes but there would have been a good chance I believe.
Looks like based on a lot of post in this thread, I am in the minority but I'm not sold on Hurley. He was 38-23 at Wagner, 113-82 at Rhode Island and until the last 2 years 73-47 at UConn. Throw in that he hadn't advanced past the round of 32 before last season and it just seems he has caught lightning in the bottle with this group of guys.
Agree on he would've been good and I truly think he was on the short list till he got in trouble. All for second chances but that probably needs to happen somewere else. But at this point, I'd be ok with him.
I agree. People want these big names because they won the tournament or made the final four. I don’t think that is a huge factor. If it were we could just go hire Kevin Ollie, I’m sure he would take the job. I also don’t think a Roy Williams Kansas to UNC type of move is necessary. The hiring of Pitino is the blueprint. Find someone who is young, hungry and understands todays environment. I guarantee a coach like Todd Golden is gonna be huge. He is gonna win big at Florida.
That’s an angle often overlooked. As batcrap crazy as she is……..
couldn't agree more
he just can't admit that the UK fans may know as much about the game as he does. He always wants to prove them wrong & that his way is the only way
this would seem to be a problem for any one that hasn't done much recruiting, plus this guy isn't a known name is he? I have only heard of him on this board, but of course, I don't follow the NBA
