Pitino hired by Minny

volhawk50 said:
the job he did there is more than adequate for him to not be fired from UCLA. From Wikipedia: "Howland became the first men's coach in college basketball history to be fired immediately after winning an outright power-conference title... He is one of only three active coaches to compete in three consecutive Final Fours. The other two are Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski."
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Just from trolling the Bruin sites a little, I think there is more to the story than just wins/losses and expectations. It sounds like Howland did not make many friends at UCLA and an early exit from the NCAA tournament was what they needed to get rid of him. Howland might have some baggage but based on what he accomplished at UCLA and Pitt someone will give him another chance.
 
If Howland got fired for not making friends and an early exit from the dance, what do you think Captain Hair Gel has in his future? This is going to be fun to watch.
 
TritonHawkeye said:
He must not have been alone on that list.
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You are correct on that. There was at least a handful of guys that shunned the Gophs according to media reports.

Hoiberg
Stevens
Smart
Saunders
Cincy Coach

I actually wouldnt be surprised if Jacobson was approaced by Minny and that was why his contract was extended as well.
 
Section136 said:
Im guessing Ben Howland didnt want the job.
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How do we know if they even inquired?

I just don't get why Minnesota looks so unattractive to everybody, are the facilities that bad? Minnesota is the only major college in the state of Minnesota located in the Twin Cities. Schools like UNI have built a decent program just by picking off the 2nd tier of recruits out of Minnesota.
 
ssckelley said:
How do we know if they even inquired?

I just don't get why Minnesota looks so unattractive to everybody, are the facilities that bad? Minnesota is the only major college in the state of Minnesota located in the Twin Cities. Schools like UNI have built a decent program just by picking off the 2nd tier of recruits out of Minnesota.
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Pro sports city
Apathetic fanbase for the most part
Dump of an arena
No practice facility

Here is a good article about how tough of a job Minnesota is right now.

Pitino needs full buy-in from Minnesota - Men's College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
 
Section136 said:
You are correct on that. There was at least a handful of guys that shunned the Gophs according to media reports.

Hoiberg
Stevens
Smart
Saunders
Cincy Coach

I actually wouldnt be surprised if Jacobson was approaced by Minny and that was why his contract was extended as well.
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Most of those guys were long shots to begin with. Teague really blew it on Saunders. That would have been a good hire, and he's a local so it would have been largely applauded by alums, donors and local media. If he didn't win... nobody would have blamed Teague.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
Most of those guys were long shots to begin with. Teague really blew it on Saunders. That would have been a good hire, and he's a local so it would have been largely applauded by alums, donors and local media. If he didn't win... nobody would have blamed Teague.
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They were long shots at best which makes Norwood have even more egg on his face. He had to reach out to Shaka and try and get him but the other guys werent leaving to go to MPLS.
 
Do these ADs not think about who they may actually be able to hire (not who they may want to hire) before they pull the plug on their current coach? It appears the answer would be no they don't.
 
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