📡 Alabama begins its search for their new basketball coach

[planomateo]

Greg Byrne didn't hire a basketball coach (men's or women's) at Mississippi State or Arizona, all the hires were done by his predecessors or successors. So this will be his first.

 

[BamaFan334]

I say we go after Johnny Dawkins at Central Florida. Damn good college player and has shown he can be successful. Beat us twice in the last couple of years if I remember correctly.

 

[BamaFan334]

I wrote in the other thread, but wasn't sure which one was getting more views, so I say go after Johnny Dawkins. Has shown he can win and has his kids playing hard. I was thinking this before the Duke game, but he definitely had me thinking we should after that one yesterday. Paying him what we paid Avery would double his salary. That would make a guy think, especially with the renewed support for the basketball program that Avery brought and recruited.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Well, I hope the writer gets his wish on "what will happen." Matta was bringing a beast of a basketball program to the madness every year. He was maintaining a top 10 program and his players truly reflected the head coach's toughness. The Ohio State I saw last night was not the super talented bunch Matta had established in Columbus. I think Thad Matta would bring Alabama instant credibility in recruiting, nationally.

The SEC has come a long way in basketball in a short time. A lot of the credit has to be for SEC teams going after proven veterans to run things. Matta wouldn't be taking a back seat to Barnes, Crean, Pearl, Howland. Anderson, Davis. I want that guy.

 

[#80]

Dawkins was pretty much a bust at Stanford. Not interested.

 

[BamaFan334]

Dawkins was pretty much a bust at Stanford. Not interested.

Throw the kitchen sink and the checkbook at Coach K then.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Throw the kitchen sink and the checkbook at Coach K then.

Dude is in his 70s.

 

[#80]

Throw the kitchen sink and the checkbook at Coach K then.

Everyone has an opinion you are certainly entitled to yours. Dawkins conference record at Stanford in eight years was 66-78 (.458).
I personally want Sampson. Hell some writer on Al.com is pushing the Mountain Brook High School coach.

 

[TerryP]

I say we go after Johnny Dawkins at Central Florida. Damn good college player and has shown he can be successful. Beat us twice in the last couple of years if I remember correctly.

An interesting name.

How do you distinguish him from Anthony Grant?

 

[BamaFan334]

Dude is in his 70s.

It was a joke.

 

[BamaFan334]

An interesting name.

How do you distinguish him from Anthony Grant?

I didn't know a ton about Grant, other than appearing to be a very non-talkative or outgoing person. Dawkins had a killer playing career, learned under the best in Coach K as an assistant for years, and appears to have his UCF team playing very well the past couple of years. I never saw any of that under Grant, but you know more about him than me and could possibly educate me.

 

[The Old Man and the Tide]

Everyone has an opinion you are certainly entitled to yours. Dawkins conference record at Stanford in eight years was 66-78 (.458).
I personally want Sampson. Hell some writer on Al.com is pushing the Mountain Brook High School coach.

I think going after the best high school coach in the country is a great idea. If he can bring the best player with him, even better. Pay the guy 350K. Don't give him a buyout. If he fails, fire him and start over. Either way the school is saving millions. If he wins, give him a huge raise.

Look, Alabama paid about 13 million the last four years and got nothing. Unbuckle. The previous four years? Paid millions and got nothing.

So what have you got to lose? The University of Alabama's very own version of "Trading Places".

 

[TerryP]

@BamaFan334, Dawkins was mentioned to me a few days ago. I recall looking at his time at Stanford (all I could remember off the top of my head was mediocre and he was suing them,) and his time at UCF as well. I saw 11 years experience—the same as Grant—as a head coach and Grant's had his teams dancing more than Dawkins (by one season.)

Pulling from the Coach K coaching tree is a very logical move. His proteges have had a mixed bag of results with Mike Brey probably being the most successful.

What interesting about that, to me at least, is if you look up famous coaching trees in basketball you'll see Matta and Pitino's names and their trees mentioned just as prevalently.

Two thoughts to add to this for your consideration:

We've seen things like Matta's health brought up several times. It's among a few "con's" that have been thrown out there. I have to balance what we heard from his last days at Ohio State with the fact we're also dealing with one Gene Smith. How's his track record when it comes to handling coaching adversity?

This was brought to my attention and you may find it of note that Cecil, Travis Reier, and John Pelphrey's latest follows on Twitter on Pitino. Coincidence? Very possibly.

 

[Sgt. Lincoln Osiris]

 

[TerryP]

Director of Athletics Greg Byrne to Hold Press Conference Monday Afternoon

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne will hold a press conference to discuss the men’s basketball coaching search on Monday, March 25, at 12:30 p.m. CT in the Naylor Stone Media Room at the Mal Moore Athletic Facility. This is not a press conference to announce a new head coach.

Byrne will begin with an opening statement and will take questions from the media for approximately 15 minutes.

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[PurlJam]

Donovan!!!

I concur.... Ray kicks ass.

 

[TerryP]

Greg Byrne's four primary factors for Alabama's next head coach:

1. Player development
2. College background
3. Strong academics
4. NCAA compliance

Byrne asked if Alabama will be using a search firm for this search: "You're looking at the search firm."

 

[RTB X Bot]

 

[JoshB]

Has Alabama ever done a press conference like that for a job search?