UT's next basketball coach - discussion/debate

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

1 minute ago, David Dennison said:

Not at all, but convincing a successful coach to leave Charlottesville for Austin will be a tall order.

This has very little impact. Most coaches want to win. Which school is going to give him the most money to win? It isn't Virginia. 

[jimmyjazz 46982]

6 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Have you ever been to the University of Virginia? 

Have you ever been to Austin?

[Js1 86949]

6 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Not at all, but convincing a successful coach to leave Charlottesville for Austin will be a tall order.

CDC has convinced many successful coaches to come to Austin.  Clearly he has a vision for his department and sells it well. 

DeLoss, Patterson and that interim guy whose name I don't even remember aren't the ones hiring this basketball coach.  The successful, competent AD who convinced Vic Schaefer, Mike White, Floreal and Chris Beard to ditch their schools and come to Austin is the guy doing it again. 

Moody Center, NIL, a $5-6 million salary and getting to recruit DFW/Houston 3 hours from your living room are an easy sell to a coach. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Js1

[David Dennison 19441]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

CDC has convinced many successful coaches to come to Austin.  Clearly he has a vision for his department and sells it well. 

DeLoss, Patterson and that interim guy whose name I don't even remember aren't the ones hiring this basketball coach.  The successful, competent AD who convinced Vic Schaefer, Mike White, Floreal and Chris Beard to ditch their schools and come to Austin is the guy doing it again. 

Moody Center, NIL, a $5-6 million salary and getting to recruit DFW/Houston 3 hours from your living room are an easy sell to a coach. 

I'd be shocked if he can convince Bennett to leave UVA. But you never know.

[Acropora 864]

Bennett's a home run and he falls into that sweet spot of elite in every aspect except recruiting.  Not sure how much he'd use the portal.  Still, to a certain extent Texas, through its inherent additions and a robust nil program (thank you to those that have built this), recruits at a decent baseline irrespective of the coach.  I don't know that this isn't a situation where an elite x's and O's guy doesn't do better than an elite recruiter (calipari).  College basketball also lends itself to experience trumping pure talent.  

Beard initially approached through the portal to build quickly and given his track record, would have likely focused on the portal for a large portion.  Bennett might not, though we would likely see some use with greater resources.  However, I bet he'd be elite in taking talent and developing and there is a lot of talent in Texas. 

Go get him CDC!

Edited February 27, 2023 by Acropora

[pyrohornIII 4845]

So is Brad Underwood still under the cloud of the OSU scandal, even though he was never alleded to be involved?   Ilinois just re-upped him for 4.1 million up to 4.5 mil by '27.   

I was hoping Texas would pick him up instead of Smart,  but water under the bridge.   

[honolulu horn 6215]

I would love for Bennett to come to Texas, but I don't get the "he will come because the ACC is shitty" logic. For the first time in what feels like recorded history, Duke and UNC are both down. Why wouldn't Bennett want to seize the moment and be at the top of the conference heap for a while? 

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

11 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

So is Brad Underwood still under the cloud of the OSU scandal, even though he was never alleded to be involved?   Ilinois just re-upped him for 4.1 million up to 4.5 mil by '27.   

I was hoping Texas would pick him up instead of Smart,  but water under the bridge.   

Why would Texas want Underwood? In 10 years at Oklahoma State and Illinois he's never made the 2nd weekend of the NCAA tournament. 

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

1 minute ago, honolulu horn said:

I would love for Bennett to come to Texas, but I don't get the "he will come because the ACC is shitty" logic. For the first time in what feels like recorded history, Duke and UNC are both down. Why wouldn't Bennett want to seize the moment and be at the top of the conference heap for a while? 

Because the idea is to win national titles. Competition normally produces the best results and best recruits. The last 2 national title teams came from the Big 12 (the best conference).

Also, doing well in the NCAA tournament often depends on seeding. Virginia is 21-6 and will struggle to get a top 4 seed because the ACC is terrible. 

 

[Loop 1604 227]

Does Bennett have any current (or ex) psycho significant others? 

[jimmyjazz 46982]

Yeah, why doesn't Bennett angle for the Old Dominion job?  (Assuming the job was open, work with me here.)

[shadow_operative 15932]

6 hours ago, pyrohornIII said:

So is Brad Underwood still under the cloud of the OSU scandal, even though he was never alleded to be involved?   Ilinois just re-upped him for 4.1 million up to 4.5 mil by '27.   

I was hoping Texas would pick him up instead of Smart,  but water under the bridge.   

don't want underwood, dude is angrier than a rick barnes/frank martin love child.

[shadow_operative 15932]

6 hours ago, honolulu horn said:

I would love for Bennett to come to Texas, but I don't get the "he will come because the ACC is shitty" logic. For the first time in what feels like recorded history, Duke and UNC are both down. Why wouldn't Bennett want to seize the moment and be at the top of the conference heap for a while? 

it's a crappy, unappealing conference that's falling apart. much easier to recruit to Texas/the SEC than UVA/the current ACC. besides which, he could dominate the SEC and have Texas as the cream of the crop year in and year out. that's what i was expecting from Beard with kentucky falling off, and with the rest of the good coaches in the league being himan pieces of garbage whose time is running out, and rick barnes.

[Texas Wahoo 3627]

19 hours ago, pyrohornIII said:

So is Brad Underwood still under the cloud of the OSU scandal, even though he was never alleded to be involved?   Ilinois just re-upped him for 4.1 million up to 4.5 mil by '27.   

I was hoping Texas would pick him up instead of Smart,  but water under the bridge.   

I can say that Illinois fans are getting tired of him pretty quickly.

[Loop 1604 227]

Surely we don’t keep Terry if we bow out in the second round? I could see another bad matchup with a big giving us some trouble.

[ClubWhatever 12277]

17 minutes ago, Loop 1604 said:

Surely we don’t keep Terry if we bow out in the second round? I could see another bad matchup with a big giving us some trouble.

I think the answer to that depends on what happens in the next two games.  If we tie for conference, and win only one tournament game, I think they will keep him.  (NOT saying they should.)  if they lose one or both of next two and get bounced in second round I think he’s out.   I don’t think CDC “can” push him aside if he shares a conference title.  Unless we suffer an embarrassing first round loss.  How’s that for equivocating?

[Prepuce of Doom 21260]

5 hours ago, Texas Wahoo said:

I can say that Illinois fans are getting tired of him pretty quickly.

A portion of our fanbase will never like anyone. It's not always the same people, but we still have a bunch of idiots who are seriously butthurt over Self leaving for Kansas 20 years ago. And others upset that we hired Bruce Weber instead of Thad Matta. Every fanbase has these people, but I think we have more vocal "perpetual malcontents" than many. 

But you're not wrong - we have lost a lot of games this season in ways that are very disappointing and troubling, and which do not inspire a ton of confidence in how things are going. We might just have a shitty/uncoachable roster somehow, and our lack of depth at PG is a real problem, but the fact that we could beat anyone or lose to anyone on any given night doesn't elicit a ton of faith in the leadership. 

I don't think our AD would let him go without a big fight, and while I count myself among the concerned and annoyed based on how this team has fizzled, and how all of our tournament exits under BU have gone down, I think it would be nuts to let him get away right now. 

But if he did, my first call would be to Dennis Gates at MizNoz. 

For what little it's worth, some of "insiders" at Illinois seem to think that Calipari is the most likely to end up at Texas due to interest on both sides, with Jerome Tang (reportedly not interested), Eric Musselman, and Underwood as the next tier of targets. Allegedly, CDC personally dislikes Sean Miller. No idea how reliable this is though... 

[ATXbronco 4381]

Ya'll have me hoping for Bennet now.  

He's the right age at just 53 y/o.

He beat Beard/Texas Tech in the championship game.

 

The "Fire Tony Bennet" petition only got 19 (of 25) signature.  hahah

https://www.change.org/p/fire-tony-bennett-university-of-virginia-men-s-basketball-coach

 

No crazy girlfriend or wife-beating habits.

Quote

"Bennett is married and has two children, one son and one daughter. Bennett met his wife Laurel (née Purcell) at a church in nearby North Carolina, while he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets.[132] He is a Christian and would likely have become a pastor if not a college basketball coach."
 

 

His Father and Sister were both coaches.

 

doh.  He's turned down the Texas job before.

Or at least, he turned down the offer to be part of the interview process.

https://247sports.com/college/virginia/Article/Report-Tony-Bennett-says-no-thanks-to-Texas-36532274/

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

1 hour ago, ClubWhatever said:

I think the answer to that depends on what happens in the next two games.  If we tie for conference, and win only one tournament game, I think they will keep him.  (NOT saying they should.)  if they lose one or both of next two and get bounced in second round I think he’s out.   I don’t think CDC “can” push him aside if he shares a conference title.  Unless we suffer an embarrassing first round loss.  How’s that for equivocating?

I would bet a large sum of money that Terry is not the coach next year if Texas only wins 1 game in the tournament. 

There is no chance Terry is the coach next season if Texas only wins 1 tournament game. 

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

13 minutes ago, ATXbronco said:

doh.  He's turned down the Texas job before.

Or at least, he turned down the offer to be part of the interview process.

https://247sports.com/college/virginia/Article/Report-Tony-Bennett-says-no-thanks-to-Texas-36532274/

1) That was with Patterson as the AD. Maybe the worst AD we could have possibly hired. 

2) The big reason why Bennett wasn't looking around at that time is because both his kids were still in middle school/high school. Now both are in college. 

3) The times have changed with NIL and the ACC. 

 

 

[Js1 86949]

1 hour ago, ClubWhatever said:

I think the answer to that depends on what happens in the next two games.  If we tie for conference, and win only one tournament game, I think they will keep him.  (NOT saying they should.)  if they lose one or both of next two and get bounced in second round I think he’s out.   I don’t think CDC “can” push him aside if he shares a conference title.  Unless we suffer an embarrassing first round loss.  How’s that for equivocating?

A top 8-12 team full of experienced super seniors going out in the R32 is not a reason to keep Terry. His office would and should be packed by the time he gets back to Austin bc he will have failed his interview. 

[SL Xpress 7608]

10 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

1) That was with Patterson as the AD. Maybe the worst AD we could have possibly hired. 

2) The big reason why Bennett wasn't looking around at that time is because both his kids were still in middle school/high school. Now both are in college. 

3) The times have changed with NIL and the ACC. 

 

 

Which is not to say he interviews this time around. 

But with a new arena, a new AD, more money rolling in to the athletic department than ever before, with major increases from separating Moody donations from basketball and SEC television revenue, plus the robust emphasis on NIL, it does put Texas in a better spot than in the limited time when penny pinching Patterson was in charge. 

I don't have a strong preference who we hire, but my personal biases tend toward wanting someone good on defense versus someone who is good with offense. I know that's not everyone's predilection, but it is mine. My favorite right now is Tommy Lloyd, but if I thought we had a shot at Bennett I'd take him in a heartbeat. Hiring a championship winning coach is a home run in my opinion.  

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

A top 8-12 team full of experienced super seniors going out in the R32 is not a reason to keep Terry. His office would and should be packed by the time he gets back to Austin bc he will have failed his interview. 

I'd love to keep him as an assistant. No need to pack his office THAT quickly.

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

11 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

Which is not to say he interviews this time around. 

 

True, it's impossible to know what his personal motivations are. But from a rational perspective, I think Bennett makes a ton of sense on both ends. 

I see no logical reason why Bennett would want to stay at UVA unless he just loves it there. 

 

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

The other thing with Bennett is Virginia will be in rebuild mode much like us next season. They're losing 4 starters. 

He won't be returning a great roster that incentivizes him to stay there for another year.

 

[ztejas 44114]

Bennet had just had his first good season at UVA in 2015. He's been there almost 15 years and won a title - he doesn't owe them anything. Texas is also good this season and has a brand new arena. Texas had been a middling program for a few years when Barnes left. 

[David Dennison 19441]

17 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

True, it's impossible to know what his personal motivations are. But from a rational perspective, I think Bennett makes a ton of sense on both ends. 

I see no logical reason why Bennett would want to stay at UVA unless he just loves it there. 

This is our concern, Dude.

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

3 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

This is our concern, Dude.

I mean there are concerns for every coach because they all have their own personal motivations. 

Point still remains, there are a lot of factors working in the favor of Texas in the context of Bennett. 

[Js1 86949]

39 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

This is our concern, Dude.

No one knows if this is true or not. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. Again, Schaefer seemed very happy at Miss St and had back to back national runner up finishes. Yet he still came. Mike White was a WCWS regular, and yet he came. Beard was an NCAA runner up whose school was going to throw every nickel and dime they had to get him to stay, and he still came. 

Texas is its own draw. You think you’re happy, and then CDC calls you up and you realize you could be happier. 

Edited March 1, 2023 by Js1

[David Dennison 19441]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

No one knows if this is true or not. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. Again, Schaefer seemed very happy at Miss St and had back to back national runner up finishes. Yet he still came. Mike White was a WCWS regular, and yet he came. Beard was an NCAA runner up whose school was going to throw every nickel and dime they had to get him to stay, and he still came. 

Texas is its own draw. You think you’re happy, and then CDC calls you up and you realize you could be happier. 

Tony Bennett currently lives and works in one of the few places that can go toe to toe with Austin. Getting him to leave won't be easy.

[Js1 86949]

We get it. You don’t think Texas has a chance. I’m glad CDC doesn’t check with you before he does a coaching search. 

[David Dennison 19441]

23 minutes ago, Js1 said:

We get it. You don’t think Texas has a chance. I’m glad CDC doesn’t check with you before he does a coaching search. 

Me too.

[MotownHorn 1883]

2 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

A portion of our fanbase will never like anyone. It's not always the same people, but we still have a bunch of idiots who are seriously butthurt over Self leaving for Kansas 20 years ago. And others upset that we hired Bruce Weber instead of Thad Matta. Every fanbase has these people, but I think we have more vocal "perpetual malcontents" than many. 

But you're not wrong - we have lost a lot of games this season in ways that are very disappointing and troubling, and which do not inspire a ton of confidence in how things are going. We might just have a shitty/uncoachable roster somehow, and our lack of depth at PG is a real problem, but the fact that we could beat anyone or lose to anyone on any given night doesn't elicit a ton of faith in the leadership. 

I don't think our AD would let him go without a big fight, and while I count myself among the concerned and annoyed based on how this team has fizzled, and how all of our tournament exits under BU have gone down, I think it would be nuts to let him get away right now. 

But if he did, my first call would be to Dennis Gates at MizNoz. 

For what little it's worth, some of "insiders" at Illinois seem to think that Calipari is the most likely to end up at Texas due to interest on both sides, with Jerome Tang (reportedly not interested), Eric Musselman, and Underwood as the next tier of targets. Allegedly, CDC personally dislikes Sean Miller. No idea how reliable this is though... 

Could you write up a flow chart to help me make sense of all the possibilities here?!?!?!?

[Prepuce of Doom 21260]

7 minutes ago, MotownHorn said:

Could you write up a flow chart to help me make sense of all the possibilities here?!?!?!?

You're getting Calipari. 

[SL Xpress 7608]

Just now, Prepuce of Doom said:

You're getting Calipari. 

I do not believe that even a little bit. 

[South Austin 53155]

42 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Tony Bennett currently lives and works in one of the few places that can go toe to toe with Austin. Getting him to leave won't be easy.

Make him say no.

 

 

 

Or at least make him say, “no, thank you.” Would be more polite.

[Js1 86949]

8 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

You're getting Calipari. 

[jimmyjazz 46982]

1 hour ago, David Dennison said:

Tony Bennett currently lives and works in one of the few places that can go toe to toe with Austin. Getting him to leave won't be easy.

I have no idea why you keep saying things like this.  Great school, no doubt.  Wonderful town.  Sound familiar?

[Rickylovesweed 15309]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

No one knows if this is true or not. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. Again, Schaefer seemed very happy at Miss St and had back to back national runner up finishes. Yet he still came. Mike White was a WCWS regular, and yet he came. Beard was an NCAA runner up whose school was going to throw every nickel and dime they had to get him to stay, and he still came. 

Texas is its own draw. You think you’re happy, and then CDC calls you up and you realize you could be happier. 

The better comparison is White. 

Eugene is beautiful and a great college town. It didn't stop White from making the move. It's just a bad argument because most college coaches want 1) More money and/or 2) The best path to winning. 

Somehow @David Dennisonhas reached the conclusion that where you live is the sole factor in whether a coach leaves or stays. Maybe that's the case with Bennett but it's rarely the case. 

 

 

[David Dennison 19441]

30 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I have no idea why you keep saying things like this.  Great school, no doubt.  Wonderful town.  Sound familiar?

Yep, which begs the question: how many coaches leave Texas voluntarily?

[jimmyjazz 46982]

6 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Yep, which begs the question: how many coaches leave Texas voluntarily?

None.  Texas is a step up from UVa, not the other way around.

[David Dennison 19441]

1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

None.  Texas is a step up from UVa, not the other way around.

We're Texas.

[MotownHorn 1883]

3 hours ago, David Dennison said:

Tony Bennett currently lives and works in one of the few places that can go toe to toe with Austin. Getting him to leave won't be easy.

I live in Virginia. Charlottesville is a very nice place. But it's not even close to Austin. Austin has so much more to offer. Unless you strongly prefer a small town to a big city. 

45,000 people live in Charlottesville. A million people live in Austin. Simple logic tells you that Austin has a much wider variety of excellent food, drink, music, golf courses, etc. etc. etc.

Whatever you're into, Austin has much more of it.

[MAUFRAIS 6734]

What about Dave matthews? We have one less of him.

[honolulu horn 6215]

3 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

The better comparison is White. 

Eugene is beautiful and a great college town. It didn't stop White from making the move. It's just a bad argument because most college coaches want 1) More money and/or 2) The best path to winning. 

Somehow @David Dennisonhas reached the conclusion that where you live is the sole factor in whether a coach leaves or stays. Maybe that's the case with Bennett but it's rarely the case. 

 

 

Just gonna throw this out there one more time -- a friend of mine knows Bennett pretty well and says that Bennett really loves Cville, the church, the community, etc. He seems built different than many other D1 bball coaches. No idea if he'd be interested in leaving or not -- pretty sure any reasonable coach would look at the situation in Texas and be interested -- but it seems that prying him out of VA would be tougher than it would be for other coaches. Details aside, maybe it's somewhat akin to the Chris Peterson situation when we were hunting for a football coach.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, David Dennison said:

Yep, which begs the question: how many coaches leave Texas voluntarily?

Shaka. Ha. 

3 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

None.  Texas is a step up from UVa, not the other way around.

Basketball wise, that is incorrect. Recent national title, multiple periods of sustained success. I mean, we’re close but UVA is a step up. And for a guy like Bennett, Austin and the possibility of UT bullshit is not a draw  over Charlottesville and the stability he has now. I’d be more surprised to hire him than if we were to end up with Calipari. 

[SL Xpress 7608]

5 hours ago, David Dennison said:

Yep, which begs the question: how many coaches leave Texas voluntarily?

Richard Quick, the women's swimming and diving coach that left after a bitter divorce to go on to win multiple national championships at Stanford.

Kind of Mick Haley, who left for the national team and USC after Texas wouldn't raise his salary nor let him coach the national team while being a head coach. He won two national championships with the Trojans. 

I guess Shaka Smart, but that was more of a you can't fire me, I quit sort of deal. Helped us out financially along with public perception, so thank you Shaka. 

I can't think of any others. Like, ever. Coaches just don't tend to leave Texas unless they're canned or they retire, even if it's a forced retirement.

[jimmyjazz 46982]

4 hours ago, Porterhouse said:

Basketball wise, that is incorrect. Recent national title, multiple periods of sustained success. I mean, we’re close but UVA is a step up.

I'd wager if one were to poll every D1 coach as to which job they'd rather have, Texas would top UVa, for all of the reasons laid out in this thread and others.

 

Quote

And for a guy like Bennett, Austin and the possibility of UT bullshit is not a draw  over Charlottesville and the stability he has now. I’d be more surprised to hire him than if we were to end up with Calipari. 

I'm not sure what "bullshit" you're referring to, but coaches are in it to win, and going forward, I'd say it's easier to do so at Texas.  That said, Bennett famously turned down a pay raise following the national title, and instead donated $0.5M to a development fund for UVa players, so money doesn't seem to be much of a motivator for the guy.  It's certainly possible he'd stay at UVa even if offered the job at Texas.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'd wager if one were to poll every D1 coach as to which job they'd rather have, Texas would top UVa, for all of the reasons laid out in this thread and others.

 

I'm not sure what "bullshit" you're referring to, but coaches are in it to win, and going forward, I'd say it's easier to do so at Texas.  That said, Bennett famously turned down a pay raise following the national title, and instead donated $0.5M to a development fund for UVa players, so money doesn't seem to be much of a motivator for the guy.  It's certainly possible he'd stay at UVa even if offered the job at Texas.

I don’t know what D1 coaches would say. Seems like you do and I’m not sure why. 

The bullshit that coaches in football and then basketball from winning here. If coaches are in it to win, then UVA is clearly superior. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 hour ago, Porterhouse said:

I don’t know what D1 coaches would say. Seems like you do and I’m not sure why. 

The bullshit that coaches in football and then basketball from winning here. If coaches are in it to win, then UVA is clearly superior. 

oh for sure, it's just IMPOSSIBLE to know which job cbb cosches would prefer. you know they've done polls on this type of thing right? there was an article posted here a few years ago where D-1 coaches were polled on the best jobs in america and Texas landed 5th or 6th iirc, and the job has only grown in prestige since then. after beard got canned there were a plethora of articles written about the job, all of them mentioning that Texas is considered a premier job by college coaches, for all of the reasons listed here and elsewhere, as jimmy just said to you. the fact that you are admittedly clueless as to how the Texas job is viewed by college surprises no one, and only reinforces your total lack of credibility when discussing this subject. classic rex- "i don't know what i'm talking about at all, but boy do i have a strong opinion on this matter."

Edited March 1, 2023 by shadow_operative

[ztejas 44114]

5 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'd wager if one were to poll every D1 coach as to which job they'd rather have, Texas would top UVa, for all of the reasons laid out in this thread and others.

It wouldn't even be close.