The time has come......to find a coach to take Tulsa into the AAC with a bang and a very competitive team. Several coaches are being mentioned but there is more than one thing to consider. Having some success is important but if the players they were able to recruit were non qualifiers or real close to it isn't going to help us at Tulsa. N Mexico St has had some good players over the years but I've heard for years that N Mexico St got the players that couldn't qualify at the PAC 10 schools.....kind of like Boise St use to be. I don't know if that is going to help Tulsa. We are losing a well known basketball name, maybe another one wouldn't hurt, Bobby Hurley......a nice NBA career, played at Duke, smaller private school, coach on the court.....Tulsa would be famous again!! More than one TV basketball analyst are available that would be known to all the young players......Tulsa stays in the spotlight. Personally, I would hire Charles Barkley, funny guy that loves the spotlight......OK, just kidding. This hire is really important and I just hope we aren't trying to find some coach that will accept the meager amount of money we are willing to offer........If we are going to be big time we have to act like it.........and if I hear someone say "the power Conferences", again, I'm going to scream.......that's football.......the AAC is definitely a power conference in basketball and we need to act like that too!!!!

I'm so depressed, I'm thinking of taking a break and just staying off the boards awhile. This DM thing has just got me down right now. I just can't believe he bolted so quickly and especially "like this"! Its like he was using TU to step on, mislead the fans and find someone a little bit "prettier".

IMO I'd like a new, young up and comer with a lot of energy, but still a lot of BB knowledge. Thats the kind of coach that players will play for and fans can adopt. Its not DW, but it wouldn't be JP either. Give him a chance, but not "forever" if he can't do the job.

But right now, I need to just do something else for a couple of weeks. Its like having an argument with your "significant other" and going fishing for awhile.

TU FB - in the dumper
TU WBB - needs a lot of improvement to compete in probably the best WBB conf in the nation
TU MBB - I hope they can just keep the kids together right now

I have to blame the administration at least in part for all this. And some of the decisions they are making don't seem to be well thought out. We sometimes seem "leaderless". We haven't had a good AD since (believe it or not) Judy.

IMO

But I'll still make the spring game.

(04-06-2014 11:10 AM)jfisher Wrote:  The time has come......to find a coach to take Tulsa into the AAC with a bang and a very competitive team. Several coaches are being mentioned but there is more than one thing to consider. Having some success is important but if the players they were able to recruit were non qualifiers or real close to it isn't going to help us at Tulsa. N Mexico St has had some good players over the years but I've heard for years that N Mexico St got the players that couldn't qualify at the PAC 10 schools.....kind of like Boise St use to be. I don't know if that is going to help Tulsa. We are losing a well known basketball name, maybe another one wouldn't hurt, Bobby Hurley......a nice NBA career, played at Duke, smaller private school, coach on the court.....Tulsa would be famous again!! More than one TV basketball analyst are available that would be known to all the young players......Tulsa stays in the spotlight. Personally, I would hire Charles Barkley, funny guy that loves the spotlight......OK, just kidding. This hire is really important and I just hope we aren't trying to find some coach that will accept the meager amount of money we are willing to offer........If we are going to be big time we have to act like it.........and if I hear someone say "the power Conferences", again, I'm going to scream.......that's football.......the AAC is definitely a power conference in basketball and we need to act like that too!!!!

If we get Mike White, that would be a very good hire. However, we would need to be ready to potentially replace him in 2-3 years. He will some day end up at a top 10 job, imo.

If we get someone else, I just hope we get someone who plays an uptempo style & someone who relates well to the players. In other words, the opposite of Wojcik! With our current roster, new conference & willingness to pay, we should be able to attract a good coach.

It sounds like Mike White is out, but Bryce Drew's name has surfaced today. Who knows ?! I would prefer Drew over the other 3 names that are continually mentioned : Hoffman, Underwood & Tyndall.

TU sure keeps these things quiet, too quiet for those of us waiting to hear some news !

Yeah I'd be with Drew. I'm really not interested in the other 3 at all...

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I wander who the "coach of the Day" will be today......Bryce Drew would be a solid hire but I have a feeling a few more names will pop up before this thing is over. I once heard......a good AD has a standing list of 4 or 5 candidates for any coaching position at any given time......which makes sense to me. I hope that is the case with our AD and he and the committee are just going over those 4 or 5 names and picking the best one for Tulsa!!! If our new coach isn't an "up tempo" coach we will probably lose a few more players.....so I agree completely with that observation!!!!

As the search goes on and on......I hope it is either Drew or Hurley, I would be happy with either one of them. The longer it goes on, besides the fans being on edge, I would think the players are too.......and that isn't good.....gives them too much time to think negatively about their future at Tulsa and they might make some hasty decisions. Obviously no one is going to be released until after a coach is hired and they have a chance to meet him.....but it sure gives them more time to talk to a lot of people and plan a possible exit. I want the right guy, Drew or Hurley, so let's get it down and get back to talking basketball instead of lingering doubt!!!

(04-13-2014 05:54 PM)jfisher Wrote:  As the search goes on and on......I hope it is either Drew or Hurley, I would be happy with either one of them. The longer it goes on, besides the fans being on edge, I would think the players are too.......and that isn't good.....gives them too much time to think negatively about their future at Tulsa and they might make some hasty decisions. Obviously no one is going to be released until after a coach is hired and they have a chance to meet him.....but it sure gives them more time to talk to a lot of people and plan a possible exit. I want the right guy, Drew or Hurley, so let's get it down and get back to talking basketball instead of lingering doubt!!!

I agree, this search seems to be dragging on & on. I hope there is a legit reason for the slow speed of this search. If we end up with Hoffman or Underwood after all this time, I will consider it a failed search. I agree that the longer we go without a coach, the more likely we will lose current players.

I hope the delay is due to White or Drew or some other good candidate being given time to make their decision. If the delay is due to Gragg just being slow, this is unacceptable.

I think we have pretty much covered about every available coach......let's just hire Nolan and get this over with!!! We maybe down to the coach at St Judas school for girls pretty soon......I hope the players aren't thinking the same thing. The Tulsa job isn't the worst job in college basketball but you would never know it by the length of this search. This is why the AD is suppose to have a short list of coaches at any given minute!!!

It's harder to find a coach than it is to find flight 370.

Well, I guess we found our coach........I must admit I am not overly familiar with him......but to get a Coach of the Year in major college basketball.....WOW!!!! I don't care what school does that, it is impressive!!! I also think a lot of fans of Tulsa and college basketball have to be asking......Why.......and of course I am too. Why do you think he made the jump???? Why would he......SEC school......the SEC isn't a BB powerhouse like it is in football, primarily Kentucky and Florida but it's still the SEC. Are we paying him more money......I don't think so, but I'm sure we are paying him pretty darn good. The AAC might be a better BB conference than the SEC in basketball, at least down the road a year or two.....plus football rules in the SEC......football might rule in the AAC too but not like it does in the SEC!! This guy has been Big Time, so I don't think he is going to leave Tulsa for just any other job that comes along........a thought even crossed my mind that he might have found a place in a Major basketball conference where he could retire down the road.....years down the road!!! Maybe Coach K at Duke makes him think it's possible to be really happy at a smaller school and not put up with as much BS as he would at a bigger state school. I know some Mizzou fans are talking about him getting fired after next year so he left now....I don't know but that wouldn't make a lot of sense when he could have made a lot more money getting fired at Mizzou, at least according to some fans. I don't think his decision was about money......I think it was more than that....it was personal.

I've been sitting out of these "discussions" until someone was hired since its always just conjecture and noone really knows whats happening because they aren't in on the details. And I'm not sure whether I like this hire or not. Its pretty obvious that some very loyal TU people do like it and others just as loyal think its a huge gamble. But here's my take - at least for now.

1. This hire will generate quite a bit of conversation
2. This hire is extrememly risky
3. This hire is as much a political decision as a practical one
4. The coach will not have to show his recruiting abilities for 2 years
5. There will be immediate signs whether the hire was a successful one or not.


My thoughts -

1. The media reaction is in play here because it goes against their idea of the "irrelevancy" of TU sports. Since an SEC coach (whether a good or bad one) was hired, the ones most "impressed" is the TV/print media who really don't care much about the university or the athletic programs in general, so it becomes a topic of conversation to fill their time.

2. The hire is risky because the coach has had sketchy results of late. He was almost assured to be fired at Missouri next year according to what I've seen, so he's like the justice of the peace leaving the tar and feather party behind on the fastest horse he could find.

3. I think the AD and possibly Stead were more concerned with the prestige factor and preception of the hiring rather than whether this hire will really work.

4. From a team standpoint, the new coach will have a team that is ready made for success, but in a league that will be much more difficult to win in. The question will be, CAN we win enough games immediately to consider his hire a success? He will have to really coach here and not just recruit and acquire players on their ability alone. In other words he'll have to work his tail off to get the job done.

5. What I hope will not occur, still may happen - good players leaving. Now I'm not including a player or two that needed development or some incoming prospect that hasn't played a minute of college basketball. If any of the "prime time" players leave or even talk about it, thats a bad, bad sign.

TBH, I don't think DM's staff was a particularly great one because their recruiting track record was "suspect" until this year, but I did like the fact that he took who he had - regardless of the defections - and did a very good job adapting to their strengths and covering up their weaknesses.

So will this be a good or a bad hire? I just don't know yet, but I think there were a lot of dynamics involved and for the time being, it kept people off the AD's and Presidents "behind".

I'm going to wait and see what happens with the players in the off season to re-up my season tix.

There's a lot of question marks right now in the TU athletic dept. Its a time when we need strong leadership - I hope we have it.

Good, bad or indifferent.......Tulsa is big time now......no more Mid Major labels and they can't go back now!!! Tulsa has made a commitment that they want to play with the big boys and I couldn't be happier they made the commitment. Did you ever think you would see the day, when Tulsa took a coach from the SEC. The SEC has to be absolutely reeling right now.....first Cal-Berkley and then......and then Tulsa......I'll bet several of the SEC schools are thinking about a new contract for their basketball coach. A lot of bad mouthing coming from the Mizzou fans, but what would you expect.....I'm sure they are in disbelief......like a lot of people. Tulsa just proved if they want to be big time they can be. Tulsa will no longer will be thought of as Lil" Ol' Tulsa. Miami was bad mouthing him when he left there, now Missouri is doing the same thing......but Missouri was darn happy when they got him. At this point, I don't care what any disgruntled fans say......Tulsa made a big time commitment that's all that matters to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!