This raises an interesting process question - how/when does UVa actually do the interviews? Presumably in the couple days following the candidate’s last game?
Do we interview like only top 2?
By the time we get to interview, is it pro forma? Or are we legit undecided?
I guess all the due diligence really helps. Presumably we are talking to third parties / intermediaries about these same questions …
Can someone elaborate on the connection HGN mentioned Pitino and Carla having?? If he is our front runner because they’re pals, I sort of want more info on that. Carla has absolutely not earned the benefit of the doubt on hires.
Some of you weren’t paying attention, we looked like choirboys and played like dawgs.
There’s no obvious overlap. No time spent at the same schools. Not even in the same conference that I can tell. Might be some random NCAA subcommittee or something. Or friends of friends? 
Forgive my ignorance, but do we have no ability for direct contact with candidates prior to the end of the season? If so, what sort of contact have we had with candidates up till now?
https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article44432538.html
You don’t hire someone because your bestie is tight with his dad but any familiarity helps people feel more comfortable about it, on both sides.
I have always understood that the norm is that coaches didn’t talk about this stuff during their seasons, at least directly.
So communication is through agents and other intermediaries.
Maybe that’s incorrect or outdated. Maybe there’s a discord where every AD and coach has their one account. 
On Odom, and most of you know my position there — he jumps too fast for anyone to conclude whether he can sustain a program or recruit, his UMBC program steadily declined after his “one shining moment,” VCU and Utah State are winners despite who’s coaching, he’s already pushing 51 — but the thing that gives me the most pause is that the first P5 job an ex-VCU or Utah State coach takes is largely not successful in the way we’d view “success.”
Really, only Larry Eustachy and Will Wade were — and both lost their jobs at Iowa State and LSU, respectively, for extracurricular activities, so to speak.
We believe Pete Gillen to have been unsuccessful — over seven years he won 55.9% of his games, and took a team to the NCAAs only once.
Capel won 58.2% of his games, and two NCAAs over five years at Oklahoma. Bought out.
Grant won 57.9% of his games, and one NCAA in six years at Alabama. Bought out.
Smart won 55.9% of his games at Texas, earning three bids in six years. He jumped before he was bought out.
Rhoades is 31-32 in his two years at Penn State, and, barring a miracle run, his squad will be sitting out the tourney for the second consecutive season.
Smith has won 51.2% of his games over four seasons at Utah, and will likely miss the NCAAs again this year, after missing his first three years.
Sprinkle is under .500 in his first year at Washington and his team will very likely not get an NCAA invite.
The two successful ones:
Wade — 67.3% winning percentage at LSU, with three NCAA appearances in five seasons. NCAA troubles doomed him.
Eustachy — 63.1% in five seasons at Iowa State, with two NCAA appearances. He was bought out due to morality issues — he had a thing for college coed booty.
Didn’t read this in its entirety and I doubt there’s any info here that we haven’t already heard elsewhere, but Odom tops the list here:
The writer notes that Lil Richard Pitino is ineligible for this list because he coached Minnesota. Weird distinction, but okay…
Eh, the angle is “coaches ready for their first P5 job,” and guys like Pitino, Wade, etc would be getting their 2nd shot. I think it’s fair. He does single them out by name, so he clearly is giving them their due in his own way.
I’ve talked about the eye test before and how results can be misleading at times. I think Mike Young at VT is a great example of this. If you look at his record at Tech, it is very pedestrian to below average. But is he a good coach? Absolutely, he’s one of the best coaches in the league. Why do we say that? Cause of the eye test. We can tell Young’s teams are exceptionally well coached just by looking at them. That Young is maximizing what the squad is capable of. And the vast majority of VT fans would tell you the same.
This leads me to this last point with the whole Odom and Pitino argument. Read what other fanbases who’ve had those coaches think of Odom and Pitino. UMBC, Utah State, VCU, Minnesota, New Mexico all have fans online/message boards. I’ve read those opinions myself, and I’m telling you, the unanimous conclusion amongst all the fans who had Odom as a coach is that he is VERY good. That they never felt he was underperforming with the talent/resources that he was given. The widespread sentiment on the Utah State board is that Odom is best coach they’ve had since Stew Morrill. VCU fans make jokes constantly about how they’re glad Penn State poached Rhoades cause they got Odom out of it lol. That isn’t what Minnesota fans think of Pitino (even if they believe he’s better than their current guy)
Im curious where the guys we don’t hire are going to land. Presumably Odom, Pitinino, and Olen will be P4 head coaches next season regardless.
I don’t know if Olen is a guaranteed P4 spot next year. High mid-major probably.
Odom probably ends up at Villanova
Pitino is an interesting one if Miami and FSU are taken. Not sure on him.
All P4? They may all upgrade but I think not to that level.
For example the two FL jobs are pegged for assisstants.
Is Villanova definitely opening up?
All depends on which jobs open. More will open up (especially if guys like Forbes, Cronin, or Brownell move elsewhere).
Likely got knocked out of any hopes of the field last night. My guess is they’ll be open, but better for us if they aren’t tbh
Pitino was only 29 when he took the FIU job and 30 when he started at Minnesota, but he was 38 by the end of his tenure.
Tony Bennett was 36 when he got the Washington State job and 39 when he took our job.
Billy Donovan, another Rick Pitino protege, was 28 when he became head coach at Marshall and 30 when Florida hired him.
Jeff Jones was 29 when he got the Virginia job.
Shaka Smart was 32 at VCU and 38 at Texas. Kim English 34 at Providence.
Hell, Rick Pitino was 25 when he got the BU job, 32 at Providence, 34 with the Knicks and 36 at Kentucky.
Anyway, I think youth and inexperience can explain not great records early in a tenure, but he was there 8 years. There should be signs of improvement after a few years.
But I’m not against hiring him. He’s done well at NM. If instead of 8 years at NM, he spent 3 more years at FIU and 5 years doing well at Western Kentucky or something before going to New Mexico, his resume would seem better or there’d be fewer questions.
OK, enough pointless rambling. I’m just going to hit post even though I have no idea what I’m trying to say here since I spent too long writing this. Back to work.
Good post, I very much understand the whole ‘he was too young’ thought process on Pitino. The question for me is that whether his time at UNM is enough to discount/discredit his lackluster results at Minnesota. Cause it wasn’t THAT long ago. Minnesota fired Pitino after the 2020-21 season. When Pitino was fired at Minnesota, he wouldn’t have been considered even close to an acceptable candidate for the UVA job. In his subsequent 4 years at UNM, he’s had 1 solid season, and 2 very good seasons (including this year). Are 2 really good years at UNM enough to say that his 8 lackluster years at Minnesota before were an anomaly? IMO, no.
I just think it’s hard to argue Pitino against the totality of Odom’s resume. If you compare Pitino’s time at UNM in a vacuum with Odom’s time at Utah State in a vacuum, sure. Pitino wins there. But not when comparing the totality of their resumes. A guy who’s never even come close to failing at 4 different jobs seems to be a significantly safer choice.
Question: Can anyone think of an example where a guy was very subpar at a high major job, proceeded to resurrect his reputation at a lower level gig, then crushed it at his next high major gig? That would make me feel much better about Pitino if there was a similar situation you could point to. I can’t really think of any so idk
I honestly think Minnesota would consider rehiring Pitino if they fired Johnson. From everything I’ve read on Pitino’s firing, it was much less of a “this guy is doing a bad job” and more of a “time for a change” type of firing. They had already extended him once and were faced with the decision to extend him again or move on. Doing nothing wasnt really an option as his contract was up in a few years. My guess is they regret their decision.