My memory is fading!

[tbaydog]

Who deserves credit for hiring Rick Ray?

 

[TBone.sixpack]

The Traitor.

 

[Reunion Dog]

The male cheerleader from Jackson Prep.

 

[catvet]

Keenum vetoed several before Ray was hired. They may have proven to be bad hires as well, but his hands were on this as well.

 

[FQDawg]

Relatedly, who was the assistant at (I think) Kentucky that everyone wanted us to hire at the time?

 

[MSUDC11]

Relatedly, who was the assistant at (I think) Kentucky that everyone wanted us to hire at the time?

Kenny Payne. He’s still at Kentucky. Originally from Laurel.

I remember being told at the time that Steve Prohm and Frank Martin said no. Prohm was apparently our top target, he was fresh off a 31-2 year at Murray State. He has been pretty meh at Iowa State but obviously he would’ve been better than Ray was.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

What a memory. Impressive.

 

[MSUDC11]

I will never figure out how Ray is who we settled on though. Like how far down the list do you have to get before you say, “screw it, let’s hire the number two or three assistant from a mediocre ACC program.” I feel like I could pretty easily find 50-100 realistic candidates more qualified than he was, and while I know the program had a bad stigma at the time, there’s no way that he was the only guy who would take the job.

I remember seeing the tweet from some national writer that he was the hire, and I don’t think a single one of our fans had ever heard of Ray before that moment. I just remember feeling nothing whatsoever.

 

[jdbulldog]

Payne fully expected to be offered the job, and was already putting together a potential staff. Something happened last minute, and Payne got a call that MSU was going another direction. He was completely stunned. Payne had informally offered a coaching staff position to a friend of mine. This is why I know the story is true. Neither my friend nor KP ever learned for sure exactly what happened.

Kenny Payne. He’s still at Kentucky. Originally from Laurel.

I remember being told at the time that Steve Prohm and Frank Martin said no. Prohm was apparently our top target, he was fresh off a 31-2 year at Murray State. He has been pretty meh at Iowa State but obviously he would’ve been better than Ray was.

 

[MSUDC11]

Payne fully expected to be offered the job, and was already putting together a potential staff. Something happened last minute, and Payne got a call that MSU was going another direction. He was completely stunned. Payne had informally offered a coaching staff position to a friend of mine. This is why I know the story is true. Neither my friend nor KP ever learned for sure exactly what happened.

That is consistent with what I’ve always heard. We were going to hire Payne, then we chickened out because we were scared of his AAU connections and switched to Ray at the last minute.

I have no idea if Payne would’ve been any better. The fact that 8 years later he’s still in the exact same position kinda tells me maybe not. But he certainly couldn’t have been worse.

It was the first major hire Stricklin had to make and he bungled that search badly.

 

[garddog]

Yep, all the crazy AAU stuff from Memphis, and the Nike guy. But Cal never got in trouble nor did Payne.

 

[Bulldogg31]

Yep, all the crazy AAU stuff from Memphis, and the Nike guy. But Cal never got in trouble nor did Payne.

No, instead we just decided to impose a five year death penalty on our own program.

 

[maroonmania]

I will never figure out how Ray is who we settled on though. Like how far down the list do you have to get before you say, “screw it, let’s hire the number two or three assistant from a mediocre ACC program.” I feel like I could pretty easily find 50-100 realistic candidates more qualified than he was, and while I know the program had a bad stigma at the time, there’s no way that he was the only guy who would take the job.

I remember seeing the tweet from some national writer that he was the hire, and I don’t think a single one of our fans had ever heard of Ray before that moment. I just remember feeling nothing whatsoever.

I can understand how Kermit Davis might not have been the top target, but how in the heck do you get to Rick Ray before making Kermit the offer? There was some real stupidity in that coaching hiring process at the time it happened.