I am a fellow Margaret Hague alum like them so I can honestly say I’ve been there too, just depends on the sport.🤷♂️
The Hurley Mistake
- Thread starter RUsojo
- Start date
Calhoun was almost 40 years ago - please put that aside as it has no bearing on present day.
Hurley took over a program that had won a National Championship 5 years prior. The team won 14 games in the season prior to his arrival. Please explain how that is faltering - especially compared to RU's history. Rutgers won one conference game in the year prior to Pike. We had a 50 point loss that year. You've been around this site for a long time - how do you not remember just how bad basketball was here at the time? Also - how do you not understand how program history, reputation and winning traditions build continual fan and benefactor support - which are the foundation of winning programs.
Hurley turned RU down so not even sure why you are pretending it was some type of mistake by RU. It's a false narrative presented by the OP. RU was a mess at the time and could not get out of its own way with extremely poor play, suits by assistant coaches, firing and turnover of coaches and athletic directors, low funding, attacks and swipes by the media, low fan interest and worn down facilities.
What are you talking about? Calhoun's last year at UConn was 2011/2012. It was his player's that one the last championship prior to this one. The UConn program Hurley took over was playing in the American Conference and was just treading water. Please stop making up facts to somehow prove that Pike was a better hire than Hurley would have been at Rutgers.
You said "They were nothing to speak of before Calhoun, period."......that was almost 40 years ago so not sure why it is pertinent.
Why do you keep advancing a false narrative that Hurley was coming to RU. HE TURNED US DOWN. He may have been a great coach here but it did not happen because HE TURNED US DOWN. Pike was not RU's first choice as Head Coach......Hurley was.....but HE TURNED US DOWN. I am not advancing the notion that Pike is a better coach than Hurley - but he is RU's coach likely because HURLEY TURNED US DOWN. For some reason you appear stuck arguing a strawman projection of what a guy who did not want to coach RU as HC would have done compared to a guy who decided to come here. I'm OK with Pike as HC, apparently you are not.
Further - not sure what more can be said about a coach's chances of success coming into a traditional winning program and a coach coming into a mess.
This is not the first time I have heard Pike called a miracle worker and I can't agree. He took over a bad program and made it above average, good job. However in 7 years we haven't played in a B10 semifinal (maybe not even quarterfinal?) and have one win in the NCAA tournament and this year was a backslide. He improved a bad team, credit to him. Bringing average team to greatness is the hard part, which Hurley has done, and hopefully Pike will.
Pretty sure Hurley knew UConn was making plans to go back to the Big East (as formal talks started a little after he started the job).
You're minimizing 4 National Titles. A program with 4 recent National Titles can play in the Sun Belt and still recruit well.
A little Monday morning quarterbacking going on here. Hurley was just a slightly above average coach at URI. Over 7 years he had a .570 winning percentage.
I mean you really have to be spinning up a grandiose set of horse blinders to believe Pike is a better coach than Hurley.
Saying Pike has been a great coach is like saying you moved from the emergency room to an in-patient hospital room. Of course we're better - we used to be in the abyss.
Pike has yet to prove he can win clutch games at the end of seasons consistently, even in a mediocre conference like the B1G, and that he isn't afraid of actually scheduling a solid out of conference slate of games.
Saying Pike has been a great coach is like saying you moved from the emergency room to an in-patient hospital room. Of course we're better - we used to be in the abyss.
Pike has yet to prove he can win clutch games at the end of seasons consistently, even in a mediocre conference like the B1G, and that he isn't afraid of actually scheduling a solid out of conference slate of games.
OP is not an actual Rutgers basketball fan.
He loves to passively aggressively antagonize the board.
I’m glad more and more are seeing what an actual troll he is.
He loves to passively aggressively antagonize the board.
I’m glad more and more are seeing what an actual troll he is.
Other than this year, what are the amazing accomplishments of Hurley to suggest he is this incredible coach?
The contract wasn’t reasonable and chances are Hurley would have bolted if he turned the program around like Pikiell.
It’s dumb to even compare the Rutgers program at that time to a storied program like UCONN. You have no idea if Hurley would have been able to turn this program around.
Just a dumb thread.
Waste of board space.
Other than being the most dominant post-season team in recent memory, winning a national championship and, oh yeah, also recruiting/assembling this great team? Not much.
He’s not very bright. Seems like you may be giving too much credit here
There were no great teams this year, including UConn. Great teams don’t finish fourth in the Big East, not win their league tournament and go through a stretch of really bad play for one month in the season. That said, it was a great season because they won the title.
Looking forward to seeing what Hurley does moving forward. Before this year he hadn’t won an NCAA game in 4 years at a blood blue program.
The only mistake Rutgers made with Hurley,
is letting him string us along twice in coaching hires.
Hurley was never coming to Rutgers. I'm not sure why he even interviewed for a job he clearly didn't want. I can give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the same NJ basketball insiders who told Rutgers they needed to hire Hurley also put the bug in his ear that he needed to coach at Rutgers.
But he was never coming to Rutgers. No matter how much money Rutgers offered. Even if they offered to rename the school Hurley University. He was not coming to Rutgers. Maybe he hates Rutgers; maybe he was concerned that the job was career suicide; maybe he thought he couldn't succeed at a perennial cellar dweller. But he was never coming to Rutgers.
Twice Rutgers wasted precious time with Hurley in coaching searches, and risked losing viable candidates. We're lucky that when push came to shove, Hurley admitted that he was never coming to Rutgers and withdrew his candidacy (with the explanation that he didn't want to let down his URI team), and we were able to hire Pike.
is letting him string us along twice in coaching hires.
Hurley was never coming to Rutgers. I'm not sure why he even interviewed for a job he clearly didn't want. I can give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the same NJ basketball insiders who told Rutgers they needed to hire Hurley also put the bug in his ear that he needed to coach at Rutgers.
But he was never coming to Rutgers. No matter how much money Rutgers offered. Even if they offered to rename the school Hurley University. He was not coming to Rutgers. Maybe he hates Rutgers; maybe he was concerned that the job was career suicide; maybe he thought he couldn't succeed at a perennial cellar dweller. But he was never coming to Rutgers.
Twice Rutgers wasted precious time with Hurley in coaching searches, and risked losing viable candidates. We're lucky that when push came to shove, Hurley admitted that he was never coming to Rutgers and withdrew his candidacy (with the explanation that he didn't want to let down his URI team), and we were able to hire Pike.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Nah, he knew they were going to the Big East. 4 relatively recent Natty's..
Apples to oranges to what Pike took over
Apples to oranges to what Pike took over
S_janowski hasn’t posted any real thoughts since he said SOS doesn’t matter 😂😂
This OP was very diplomatically put. Same people always hijacking threads they have no intention of contributing to.
Why does everyone get so triggered talking about Rutgers athletics?
CT guy here - Hurley needed to get out of NJ and someplace like CT to coach, he's too thin-skinned to coach in NJ.
Exactly.
He took over a program that was four years removed from a national title (which they won as an AAC member) and two years away from rejoining the Big East.
Rutgers hadn’t even had a winning record in 9 years.
Why are people acting like these are the same thing?
Really no clutch games. How about beating Purdue at their place the last game of 2021. That win would have gotten us in the tournament
The jobs at the time are not remotely comparable. They were 4 years removed from a natty and 2 years removed from an NCAA tourney. They had a slap on the wrist for recruiting violations. Rutgers was the worst team in power 5, decades removed from success, and a laughing stock. Hell, they didn’t even have air conditioning!
I’m ALL for you not being a pike fan or wishing Hurley accepted but good lord let’s not pretend like we’re comparing apples to apples.
So 2-3 months ago you thought he didn’t, and the results of 2-3 months completely changed your mind?
You must be very smart.
I don't think so. Hurley received an extension and increase at URI in 2015. He interviewed at Rutgers in 2016 (which ultimately resulted in Pikiell being hired). Hurley then got another extension at URI in 2017.
Interestingly, Hurley's compensation at URI after his 2017 extension was less than Rutgers was paying Pike. It was actually about the same as what Rutgers offered him in 2013, and about half what Rutgers offered him in 2016. Because, you know, there was no amount of money that would entice Hurley to take the Rutgers job. He was never going to accept the Rutgers job.
Never say never, but my confidence is shaken right now in GS’s ability to get this thing done in the Big Ten and in this crazy NIL era.
And this is coming from a 35 year fanatic who used to be an optimist.
afaik.. we hired Jay Wright.. but Bob Mulcahy was a Villanova guy (like our current AD is a SHU guy).. and when Nova got wind we were hiring Jay Wright.. Mulcahy let him off the hook instead of selling selling selling him (though Nova was his dream job).
As for Hurley... timing was off. He wanted to come here when he went to Rhodes Island, IIRC. It is not like UCONN wanted him then. He learned a lot at RI... obviously. I was one of the ones who said I didn't care if he was green... but was in the vast minority as everyone was talking about spending many millions for a "name" coach.. which didn't happen either.
it worked out for him... obviously. Rutgers was in a tough spot then and even though he ended up a great coach.. (win a NC and "great" is earned in my book).. there was no guarantee that a job like Rutgers was something he would succeed at.
Born there? yeppers. Funny thing.. when I moved down the shore in 7th grade.. teacher did that little stat thing about how many people in a group means there is more likely to have 2 with the same birthday then not. (its something like 23 or 28) So he has students announce their BDay looking for matches. I shared my BDAY with someone and turned out it was at Margaret Hague as well... but she was a year older (I was a year ahead).
Popular place for baby boomers.
Pike has nothing to prove buddy. Stop being a hater. His teams won plenty of clutch games in 20-21 and 21-22. An injury prevented those wins this year. You have lost your damn mind.
I read that in Stanley’s (from “The Office”) voice.
This is like saying, if only the Browns had hired Belichek, they would have been the Patriots for the last 2 decades.
Mic drop.
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