šŸ€ Next Basketball Head Coach Speculation Thread

That goal only seems unattainable and unrealistic, at this point, because the first 3/4 of the season went so badly. Ron was head coach during that stretch as well.

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If that then is Tony still coaching???

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I should be clear that I like Ron and think he has a lot of valuable skills–particularly in recruiting. But I don’t see that his body of work prior to this year would put him in consideration. That is, if Ron didn’t return to UVA and was still at Charlotte, I doubt that he would merit more posts in this thread than Ritchie McCay.

Per H&T’s post above, I would bet he takes a P5 AC position somewhere if he doesn’t get the UVA job.

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I think so. He’s got ties to the state and to UVA, and his record is enough to merit consideration.

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I think as I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of coaching trees, I’ve found out that more than almost any other profession, getting a foot in the door and moving up is as much as who you or your dad or a mentor know as how skilled or qualified you are.

Someone from the Dick Bennett tree or associated with it will hire Sanchez and Williford and Vandross and Wilkins. Williford also has the Holland tree to lean on. Wilkins has his (former?) stepdad’s contacts maybe. And his brother. (If Mike White gets let go, what does Jacob Wilkins do?).

Wouldn’t be surprised if someone linked up with Shaka or Buzz. Or Medved or Lamont Paris or Otz.

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Even more enamored if we remove that negative association. (Though in this hypothetical I’ll assume his UMBC team knocked off a different 1-seed, so he still has that on his resume.)

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Yes

has done well at 3 mid majors now

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I wonder if Ron’s next role should be as a GM for a good program… he has an eye for talent…

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No. And it wasn’t a ā€œgiftā€ that helped us win next year no matter what Tony says. It sounds good. It’s inspirational…I guess. It’s also bullshit. Some hoo fans hold that game in some kind of reverence, I think, to minimize just how embarrassing that game was.

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I’ve actually never watched the UMBC game other than the last minute.

I boozed hard that evening and passed out on the couch before the game started. Woke up with a minute left.

Couldn’t tell ya other than what I’ve read why we lost. So I don’t really think that changes my opinion on Odom.

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No shit. Tony Bennett himself was literally a nepo hire when he got the WSU job.

His body of work isn’t the issue here or what he did at Charlotte isn’t the issue. The issue is the fit at UVA going forward. This should be a no-brainer. They should hire Ron, under a contract with favorable terms to the university and go from there.

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Its going to be a Ron on the Rise tonight. Prepare yourself for the arrival. He will lead us to the choosen land.

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LOL. I think Duke wins easily tonight. Regardless, I’m headed up to Charlottsville now from the 757 to cheer on UVA.

GO HOOS!!!

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Bruce seems to be doing a good job at balancing his time on Twitter and coaching basketball. If he spent less time on Twitter, do you think Auburn would be ranked even higher? :thinking:

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Look you can make a case for retaining Ron but by no means is it a ā€œno-brainer.ā€

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Which would have been a lot more concerning for a program with a natty in the past decade.

But Washington State was in a much different position than we. When Dick Bennett took the Wazzou job, the plan was for him to start the cultural and systemic changes, replace the foundation, then turn the program over to his son.

I know this isn’t what he was saying but I get annoyed with fans who compare us hiring Tony 15+ years ago to our current search and realistic candidates. Thanks to Tony, we should be able to hire a coach with a much better resume than Tony had. No, it’s not all about resumes but let’s stop pretending like we’re trying to find a Dave Leitao replacement. This is a fantastic job and Tony is a big reason why.

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Yep. We need to raise our expectations.

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It’s part of the national championship story. You can roll your eyes all you want, but that’s the truth. Would UVA have been good in 2018-19 regardless? Of course. Would they have won the title? Unknown.

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A lot of teams get worse. Just ask Jeff Capel.