Young guy, in NCAAs now in year 2, was an assistant at Louisville.
Matches what i am looking for. Let's see if he beats Duke.
Matches what i am looking for. Let's see if he beats Duke.
Kevin Keatts
- Thread starter Greene Rice FIG
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Nice job in his 2 years there. Wish it was a little longer. Looks like quite a quick turnaround from Buzz Peterson before him too. You know one thing though, out of all the top coaches out there I gotta say the Pitino tree is one of the more fruitful ones to varying degrees. Donovan, Tubby Smith, Sendek, Masiello, Willard, Ford, Cronin, Van Gundy.
What does he know and when did he know it?[/QUOTE]
oops...forgot about that. Scratch him off the list.
What does he know and when did he know it?[/QUOTE]
Thought about that, looked up to see if anything on him with regards to that. So far says he hasn't been contacted and wouldn't comment, that it would be unfair to Louisville. Says he andPitino only talk basketball when they chat.
What does he know and when did he know it?[/QUOTE]
oops...forgot about that. Scratch him off the list.[/QUOTE]
You can say the same thing about Masiello
You know while I would like it to be a little longer tenure than 2 years, the fact that it looks like he basically had an immediate turnaround from the last regime counterbalances that somewhat. It's a pretty big turnaround too from way under .500 records overall and in conference to ties for first place in the conference.
Also Donovan was only at Marshall for 2 years before Florida, Cronin for 3 years at Murray State and Sendek 3 years at Miami of OH before NC State. Again that pretty fruitful Pitino tree as well.
Nice name you brought up, wasn't one that was out there but may be now if they stun Duke. The Louisville hooker thing obviously would be the one caveat and probably need to be vetted well.
Also Donovan was only at Marshall for 2 years before Florida, Cronin for 3 years at Murray State and Sendek 3 years at Miami of OH before NC State. Again that pretty fruitful Pitino tree as well.
Nice name you brought up, wasn't one that was out there but may be now if they stun Duke. The Louisville hooker thing obviously would be the one caveat and probably need to be vetted well.
They aren't beating Duke, but I find it impressive that UNCW dictated tempo. How many times do you see in the playoffs or in the NCAA tournament a team that likes to play at a fast tempo has the game slowed down.
Credit keatts.
Credit keatts.
I was impressed with Keatts today, too, but if we're going the assistant route, the only one I'd go for is Kenny Payne. Rutgers really can't afford to take a risk here unless there's the potential for a slam-dunk home run.
He's not an assistant. He was an assistant to Pitino, now he's been the coach at UNCW for the past 2 years. Kenny Payne is still an assistant at Kentucky.
There are no slam dunk home runs, I think people need to realize that. Out of the realistic names available to us none of them are home runs. Drew, Miller, Mack etc..are likely out of reach for us. Lonergan is the closest thing to a very good hire which we could make and even he's not a guarantee. There are no guarantees. It's all about probabilities and most of our realistic candidates are going to have question marks of varying degrees.
I know he's the coach at UNCW. I watched the game today. I was merely responding to the talk of him being a past Louisville assistant. He's only got 2 years of HC experience, so he's not far removed from being an assistant. If we're going to go the assistant/lower down route, Payne is the only one. Otherwise it has to be an established coach.
Well as I said above some past Pitino assistants haven't had a ton of HC experience and they worked out well. I would like more than 2 years as well but he basically had an immediate turnaround at UNCW which helps counterbalance some of that lack of experience in my mind. Look at their records under Buzz Peterson and then Keatts. Donovan 2 years at Marshall, Cronin 3 at Murray State, Sendek 3 at Miami of Ohio. So that Pitino tree has had some quality coaches who stepped up fairly quickly and did okay.
All true. But none of them inherited the type of situation that the next head coach of Rutgers will be walking into. Not even close. That's the problem. The next guy is going to have to be able to handle this massive job and then succeed, too. Is there anyone that can do that? Anyone that's not headed to the Hall of Fame or untouchable, that is?
I don't think so. There are no home run slam dunk hires for us. There will always be risk and question marks. Lonergan is probably the best we can hope for and likely would be well received by most here. Sendek for the most part too but he could have been hired already if it was him. Those guys were on my top tier but I tend think they're not in play. So then you have the usual names bandied about like Cluess, Masiello, Dooley, Pikiell or assistant coaches and all of them will have some risk in them. It becomes personal preference then.
As for names like Drew, Miller, Mack well those are very likely pie in the sky names and aren't coming here with so many options open to them. So it's up to Hobbs to identify the right guy out of what's realistically in our reach. That's one of the main jobs of an AD.
UNCW coach Kevin Keatts was asked about playing a team in Duke that has seven McDonald's All-Americans while his program has none.
"We don't have a lot of McDonald's All-Americans," Keatts said. "We do pass a lot of McDonald's on our way home."
Looks like a real possibility.
"We don't have a lot of McDonald's All-Americans," Keatts said. "We do pass a lot of McDonald's on our way home."
Looks like a real possibility.
Living in Wilmington (actually Wrightsville Beach) since early November and have watched lots of UNCW games. Keatts come across very well in interviews both TV and papers. He took lots of projects and under performing talented players and brought them along individually and collectively.You could literally see the progress throughout the season and his words always foreshadowed that progress. Very upbeat and positive and his players appear to have complete confidence in what he says and does. Everyone here loves him,
Watched the game and a UNCW bar a stone's throw from campus and had a blast. IMO definitely someone at least worth an interview if he has any interest, barring any connection with the UL scandal of course.
Watched the game and a UNCW bar a stone's throw from campus and had a blast. IMO definitely someone at least worth an interview if he has any interest, barring any connection with the UL scandal of course.
