Men's Basketball Coaching Search

[Arsenal App]

Just watched the presser. I am optimistic. He says all the right things and seems like a good dude. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with our program.
Also, I will say Congrats dude, and welcome to App Mrs. Kerns! Very attractive lady!

Kerns did mention one thing which I've been saying for years. It's that ASU athletics needs to market itself better in the Tri-Cities area. Jim Garner started doing this back in the late 80's but then he left and the Roach just decided to pull back across the state line.

[AppGrad78]

It’s interesting that everybody on this site thinks DG has made excellent choices. Neither of his new hires has played one game yet. It’s not that I’m doubting his ability but shouldn’t we wait and see how it works out?

Just to expand on this. This transition was presumably planned by DG for sometime. The Satterfield transition was forced by the coach leaving, this was not. Entering the season he had to have minimum level of achievement to retain Fox for the final year and it was apparent by February that whatever those expectations were, would not be met. The selected coach was not the top choice. At least one other coach was offered the job ,and another guy was openly lobbying for it, while at the same time the current roster and recruits have been wondering what is going on. The fact that the current roster has stayed together says something, probably that there are too many players already in the transfer portal, but maybe something else. This just doesn't feel like a well executed search. That said, I wish the new coach luck, and hopefully some crowd support.

I keep asking folks and never can really get an answer. I’m sure there are things i do not know, but what occurred for this to “not feel like a well executed search”? We got turned down by Mike Jones and moved on, and landed on an up and coming coach by all accounts. Is it not well executed just because it wasn’t Bobby Lutz?

I wondered the same thing. To those who said this wasn't a well-executed search, what does such a search look like? We offer a salary in the low-to-lowest end of the D-I scale. Who specifically are we supposed to pursue? Is it about timing? Gillin got it done in fewer than three weeks. Is is about who we hired? We're not going to know that for at least a couple of years. Is it because somebody turned us down? That happens, even to the big boys. Or is this really about Lutz? I liked his resume, too. But any coach who worked with Mark Gottfried -- either at Murray State or Alabama or N.C. State or now Cal State-Northridge -- is going to have that cross to bear. I applaud our administration for going with the squeaky-clean option.

[Rekdiver]

I don’t see anyone else beating down Bobby’s door......

[Arsenal App]

Lutz had has chance back in 2014 when Cobb was literally begging him to take the job. He told us to pack sand. Take the highway, Bobby, and take all you can hold. I believe those are the words of the song.

[dman4x]

I think the cringe-worthy Bobby Lutz situation was something DG could not prevent and for which he is not responsible. Further, I think that would have been the wrong direction. I'm sure Lutz knows you can't campaign your way into these jobs, these days. My point is that if you know you are going to make a change, you presumably have a short list. I assume you check with the agents of the coaches on that list. You assume these coach's current employers will counter to keep their momentum in their programs. Therefore, you prepare your financial offer and check it through the agent in light of the expected counter. You interview your pool, then execute and get your guy. This didn't go that way. The reported change in base at Radford didn't seem significant enough to have not been anticipated. Then it goes haywire at the 11th hour and you end up with another candidate. He may have been another name on that short list, but he may have been a scramble candidate. We don't know, but I would have hoped a cleaner start for him. As for the time frame, that is one of the criteria in evaluating this which was in bounds. But, like Drinkwitz, you want to be perceived as "getting your man". Time to go get some players. I wish him good luck and crowd support.

[goapps93]

I think we have some fans who like to dream things up but don't really know what happened during the process.

[The Rock]

I think we have some fans who like to dream things up but don't really know what happened during the process.

its because this isn't a pay site

[J84]

Lutz had has chance back in 2014 when Cobb was literally begging him to take the job. He told us to pack sand. Take the highway, Bobby, and take all you can hold. I believe those are the words of the song.

Not how that went down but it does not matter now -

[dman4x]

I think we have some fans who like to dream things up but don't really know what happened during the process.

Don't know what happened in this process, but I have been through it and believe this is how it went down for Drinkwitz.

[Arsenal App]

Lutz had has chance back in 2014 when Cobb was literally begging him to take the job. He told us to pack sand. Take the highway, Bobby, and take all you can hold. I believe those are the words of the song.

Not how that went down but it does not matter now -

Yes, that was how it went down, Junior, and it still matters because Lutz doesn't have the job.

[asu66]

I do think the next few days are the most important to DK's first year fortunes. It is critical to keep the incoming class and avoid any mass defections.

I'm fascinated to see how things flesh out with this hire. I think the potential is there for marked improvements if he doesn't have to start from scratch. Admittedly he wasn't my first choice, but he's our guy now and I'm hopeful he can move us forward.

I missed the presser due to a mid-day meeting. Wish I could have "read the room" and checked attendance and body language of returning players and any assistant coach (that might dare enter the session). There isn't a player on the roster of the nine returnees that I'd want to lose if I were in Kerns' shoes. There's height, speed, ball-handling and a wealth of experience. They just need to be coached up to their potential.

[The Rock]

I know DG thanked Coach Allison, but was he there?

[appstatealum]

Just watched the presser. I am optimistic. He says all the right things and seems like a good dude. Looking forward to seeing what he can do with our program.
Also, I will say Congrats dude, and welcome to App Mrs. Kerns! Very attractive lady!

Kerns did mention one thing which I've been saying for years. It's that ASU athletics needs to market itself better in the Tri-Cities area. Jim Garner started doing this back in the late 80's but then he left and the Roach just decided to pull back across the state line.

I said this very thing to DG a few months ago. I said he and the coaches need to take advantage of the increase in App chatter across the Charlotte and Triad media and increase media interviews (especially Sports radio outside of David Glenn). If we can get the Charlotte and Triad feeling like App is part of these respective markets, we will do ourselves a lot of favors. We will get better media coverage if interest is in demand, other conferences will look at us as a more appealing market draw, and we will get more recruiting attention. Athens is a good haul outside of Atlanta, but still is considered the Atlanta market.

[Yosef10]

I think the cringe-worthy Bobby Lutz situation was something DG could not prevent and for which he is not responsible. Further, I think that would have been the wrong direction. I'm sure Lutz knows you can't campaign your way into these jobs, these days. My point is that if you know you are going to make a change, you presumably have a short list. I assume you check with the agents of the coaches on that list. You assume these coach's current employers will counter to keep their momentum in their programs. Therefore, you prepare your financial offer and check it through the agent in light of the expected counter. You interview your pool, then execute and get your guy. This didn't go that way. The reported change in base at Radford didn't seem significant enough to have not been anticipated. Then it goes haywire at the 11th hour and you end up with another candidate. He may have been another name on that short list, but he may have been a scramble candidate. We don't know, but I would have hoped a cleaner start for him. As for the time frame, that is one of the criteria in evaluating this which was in bounds. But, like Drinkwitz, you want to be perceived as "getting your man". Time to go get some players. I wish him good luck and crowd support.

I’ll just say Mike Jones was in a pretty good situation to turn us down. His son and i believe the sons best friend is committed to Radford and from what i can tell both are legit prospects. I understand why he would want to stay at Radford. I also saw Kerns mentioned as a candidate a few days before the hire, so it wasn’t out of left field. Also, not to toot my own horn, but little old me was literally the only person to suggest “Eli Drinkwitz” on this board before the hire was made. If someone like me without any connections can identify him then i don’t think he’s as out of left field as some keep saying. Both seem to have a bunch of respect within their respective industries. I get being skeptical, but i would like someone to tell me in what ways DG has failed, especially in respect to hires, that should warrant such high levels of skepticism. I’ll be the first to call out coaches when they’re not meeting expectations.

[Rekdiver]

If you ever spent any time talking to DG you would realize he is a smart man. He understands this business and is good at it. My interaction with him leaves me confident.

[appstatealum]

If you ever spent any time talking to DG you would realize he is a smart man. He understands this business and is good at it. My interaction with him leaves me confident.

Yep, down to earth too. He doesn’t come off as political.... straight shooter.

[Stonewall]

I don’t know that Jones turned us down. I do believe we have the right man, at the right time , for our basketball program. “Take the stairs”

[wncapp78]

No spring tour in Asheville or Greenville SC this year. That’s disappointing although the AvL attendance has been somewhat underwhelming. But I hate to concede an inch of market territory toWCU or UNCA. The local App alumni chapter has bern doing good things.

[hapapp]

I don’t know that Jones turned us down. I do believe we have the right man, at the right time , for our basketball program. “Take the stairs”

Actually, I'm pretty sure he was offered.

[Yosef84]

I couldn't care less whether Jones was offered or not. People are offered jobs and turn them down all the time. I don't know why we should care. It's his loss. I am happy with the Kearns hire