If we hire a competent AD we will. I am not competent AD and I sure as Hell could
Kiss Oats Goodbye. Thanks MITCH!
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In the era of blue blood advantage gone, I tend to think the UK job has little appeal to other top tier coaches given the volatility of the environment. I think everyone needs to be realistic there. Punt Pope out after 3 years, not sure how it really helps the image.
Man, Shaka Smart has ridden one year with VCU into an entire career. After the miracle 2011 Final Four run with VCU, Smart won a total of TWO NCAA Tournament games from 2012-2022 (those two wins wer in 2012 and 2013). As of now, he has a total of five NCAA Tourney wins since that 2011 team.
But then again, we hired a guy who hadn't won a single NCAA Tourney game before coming here. It says a lot how much we suck to have had those two guys up for the job.
I like oats as a coach. I’d take him over Pope thats a no brainer. But good lord is that dude a pr nightmare.
I just read that he married his 30 year old director of basketball operations.
2 consenting adults. So hey do what makes you happy. But kind of seems like a conflict of interests as far as the work place goes. Don’t think i’d want to think about that here. I mean we didn’t even want Calipari to be able to keep Brad as an assistant.
Edit: I’m sorry, got engaged to, not married yet
I just read that he married his 30 year old director of basketball operations.
2 consenting adults. So hey do what makes you happy. But kind of seems like a conflict of interests as far as the work place goes. Don’t think i’d want to think about that here. I mean we didn’t even want Calipari to be able to keep Brad as an assistant.
Edit: I’m sorry, got engaged to, not married yet
We are Kentucky. I know what youre saying about Chapel Hill, but they aren't my concern. If Kentucky REALLY wants a top coach, you make a list of five to six top candidates and work your way down, offering them top dollar and everything they need to win Championships. Bruce Pearl might be sixth on my list,but he would be on it, and he would take it. Thats how I know I coukd land a great coach
Two years ago I’d agree on Pearl. He’s almost 70 and retired. I don’t think that’s quite the slam dunk that you think it is.
Yep. UNC fans are quickly approaching panic mode. And a lot of them still have delusions about being able to pull Dusty May from Michigan and McCollum away from the program he grew up dreaming of leading.
Donovan is their best shot. And Donovan isn’t going to have serious discussions until the nba season is over.
Personally i think it’s worth their while to wait on Donovan at this point. That first season may be difficult due to being behind on portal season. But they’re not going to do better than him at this point.
Thats why he would be number six. But don't kid yourself, he would be great here for 3-4 years. We would make at least one FF in that four years if not win #9
Let me get this straight…. You’re upset that a coach we aren’t interviewing for a job that isn’t open signed a contract extension with the school said coach is already working at?
Yea, some of you need to find other hobbies.
Yea, some of you need to find other hobbies.
We both know I love Pearl, man. I’m a huge fan of his coaching style.
Not likely to be an answer to any questions we have in 2027 or whenever after.
WE ARE KENTUCKY. Yes, but that doesn’t have quite the same allure to prospective coaches as it did years ago. Don’t believe me? Go watch Tyler Hansbrough complaining that the Carolina brand doesn’t seem to be the draw it used to be. It isn’t just Carolina, it’s Kentucky and maybe Kansas also. Duke is still a premium brand at this moment in time, but that can also change quickly.
You and Mitch go teach Sunday school.
Some of us are tired of getting our teeth kicked in all sports that matter. I don’t want Oats. But the ones I do want Mitch isn’t smart enough to hire.
Mitch is a crumb bum.
I don't have to like Mitch to dislike Oats. I know you aren't very bright, but you can figure that one out, Marsha.
Remind me again what he has accomplished at Bama? Not much different than Calipari really. I'm not let down that he's staying at Alabama.
The chapel hill search isn't over... what will you say if they hire Billy Donovan?
Also there are a bunch of coaches they may hire in tier 2 that are all more qualified than our Mark Pope hire.
So yes, no matter which way it's spun, Mitch and our admin did a poor job in our recent coach hire. Now if UNC hires Stackhouse then you will be right, that would be the mark pope equivalent.
But I bet the lowest they stoop in Vanderbilt's byington which I think will end up being a good hire.
Pitino was in charge of a program that provided alcohol and whores to high school recruits. Coincidentally, his security cameras were out of order during the time that all the prostitute parties happened. Minardi Hall, the place he said he knows everything that happens there.
That is flat out disgusting, and I would have a hard time cheering for our team if he was out coach.
Cheating is one thing. I could handle Miller or Wade.
Providing alcohol and prostitutes for high school recruits is a level of filth I do not want anywhere near our program.
Man I can't tell you about UNC's issues, because frankly, I don't give a duck turd about UNC. I do think May might come, especially if he loses tomorrow night. I ABSOLUTELY think Otzelberger would come, despite the folks on here that insist to me that he would never leave ISU(LOL). I absolutely think Grant Mccasld would come. I haven't seen Josh Schertz name get much run on this board but I think he us a fantastic coach who would be great here. And Pearl just turned 66, he isnt 70, and I think he would walk here for the job and would do great things. Within two weeks we would have a coach that would turn everything around here
which is what I wish we would have tried to do, wait for donovan, wave off the first season. Cause look we hired Pope, first season was average anyway and 2nd season worse. So Yea i'd think UNC would be smart to go all or nothing on Billy D , i hope they don't.
Nate O was the only coach who could make this right. Thanks Mitch. And, thanks for Covid, WWII, canned peas, the Ford Pinto (still pisses me off), the decline in birthrate, Trump, fluoride in the water (mixed feelings, still not sure, but what was Mitch thinking?), Matt Jones (just because), the Challenger explosion, the Wiggles, lite beer, Bill Cosby, 911, Taylor Swift, and sooooo much more. I wish you would just retire already!!!!
If you aren’t paying close attention to CBB landscape, then your opinion isn’t strongly substantiated by anything of worth. I like you and respect how loyal you are, but you’re mostly making things up. Half the guys you just mentioned have already turned down UNC. We have too many fans that think things ARE just because they WANT them to be. It’s just not the reality of 2026. Do I expect Carolina to hire a terrible basketball coach? No. But they thought they can just checkout an Amazon cart with whatever they could click on. It’s becoming clear they can’t and there is no Mitch to blame it on. This is a different world than 15+ years ago.
Why didn't he take the unc job...i was told all they had to do was ask
Also, Oates has publicly stated before he isnt interested in a uk job
"I've got three daughters. They all like it here in Tuscaloosa," he told Bleacher Report. "My oldest, Lexi, is going into her junior year here [at Alabama]. I haven't had to move a ton in my profession, in college. A lot of these guys are moving every couple of years. I'm fortunate I didn't have to do that. I went to Buffalo with Bobby Hurley. I trusted the Hurley family. They're basketball royalty. I didn't want to move my family and then have to keep moving. We were fortunate we won big and in Year 2 we went to the first NCAA tournament in Buffalo history. I got the head job. So I was there six years. I've been here five. I didn't really want to move my family."
"I think we've got a chance to win a national championship at Alabama, and I think it would mean a lot more winning one here than maybe it would be winning one somewhere where they've won with lots of different coaches over a period of time. It's almost expected at a place like Kentucky. If you don't make the Final Four, they're gonna -- you had a disappointing year, to be honest with you. John Calipari is a pretty good coach. He's won a lot of games. He's won everywhere he's been, and they weren't happy. I mean, he won a national championship."
Also, Oates has publicly stated before he isnt interested in a uk job
"I've got three daughters. They all like it here in Tuscaloosa," he told Bleacher Report. "My oldest, Lexi, is going into her junior year here [at Alabama]. I haven't had to move a ton in my profession, in college. A lot of these guys are moving every couple of years. I'm fortunate I didn't have to do that. I went to Buffalo with Bobby Hurley. I trusted the Hurley family. They're basketball royalty. I didn't want to move my family and then have to keep moving. We were fortunate we won big and in Year 2 we went to the first NCAA tournament in Buffalo history. I got the head job. So I was there six years. I've been here five. I didn't really want to move my family."
"I think we've got a chance to win a national championship at Alabama, and I think it would mean a lot more winning one here than maybe it would be winning one somewhere where they've won with lots of different coaches over a period of time. It's almost expected at a place like Kentucky. If you don't make the Final Four, they're gonna -- you had a disappointing year, to be honest with you. John Calipari is a pretty good coach. He's won a lot of games. He's won everywhere he's been, and they weren't happy. I mean, he won a national championship."
Well I certainly don't trust Barnhart to not do exactly that. But even Pitino was a gamble at one point. Good coaches have to be found before they are a hot commodity. But that takes diligence, research, and work. Something hopefully the next AD can do that, instead of the easy nepo hire.
You misunderstood. He was saying “I’m dying to go to Kentucky. Once Mitch leaves, I’m packing up my bags and going there because the fans are amazing and I love the pressure of being on the hot seat after a bad year.”
^ That’s a version of events relayed to me by those who deeply know and understand college basketball on this board. You really need to understand Oatspeak better, sir.
there is no mitch to blame it on?, I like you idiot, BUT ... like you said , You expect Carolina to not hire a terrible coach .... they will end up probably with one of the tier 2 guys like byington or hoiberg or something ... which will be worlds better hire than what Mitch did which was try Hurley, then scott drew and then skip all the tier 2 guys and go to tier 3.
I like how UNC atleast is swinging for the fences on every tier 1 guy, make them all say no first before going tier 2... and they may even take the hit and wait to see what billy D says before going to the tier 2.
We probably all would have way less bad things to say about Mitch had we really struck out on 15 dudes before hiring Mark Pope. A alumni legacy hire.
I'll try this one last time.
Nate Oats was going through a divorce and was not going to leave the town. There are custody issues, and he would have had to leave his children behind if he took a job outside of Tuscaloosa.
You're wasting time pining for Oats.
This isn't about loyalty, its just my opinion. Do you know or do I know if TJ Otzelberger would take the Kentucky job if we offered to make him the highest paid coach in the game bring in any assistant or recruiter he wants, and give him an NIL budget that doubles ISU's. You know why we don't know? No one asked him. If we make that offer to the guys on my list, one of them takes the job. I would bet the farm on it
I don’t think my point was that Mitch performed the coaching search perfectly. My point is that we think the only reason we didn’t attract a top level coach is administrative incompetence. UNC is doing exactly what fans now, in hindsight, wish we would have done. However, their brand is taking a hit every time someone is telling them “no.” Btw, I like you too man.
No idea. That’s why you don’t see me saying “I know X will take the job.” You’re doing that. If you don’t have a trustworthy source, it’s just guesswork. However, we can make reasonable assumptions about the current landscape based on how our coaching search went, how UNCs search is going etc and it becomes clear things are not how they used to be.
Then Oats sends Stokes team to negotiate his NIL with JMI. Stokes decommits and Oats decides to go back to Bama.
We are going to have to watch Billy Donovan at UNC shortly after MB couldn't wait a few days to interview him.
I’d be cautious in assuming a 60 year old Coach who hasn’t been in College in a decade is going to be the magic elixir here. He could also be an old punch drunk Boxer whose best days are long gone coming into a sport that no longer resembles the one he left.
I’m telling you all right now, UNC may be in big trouble here and possibly should have kept Davis. Heels are an aging movie star refusing to see all the wrinkles in the mirror since the academy award days. They thought much like many UK fans did, that every big name would just leap for the job and it’s not happening. For someone like a D Hurley; UK and UNC would be a step down when you already coach at a national championship factory in Storrs. Golden just won a title 12 months ago and has his own thing going. May could have a ring tomorrow night and Lloyd is in a very nice position at Arizona. They’re not going to automatically fall for the aging movie stars to get an autograph when they’re already being asked for their autographs and making millions in the process that wouldn’t be dramatically different than what the competitors would pay.
Heels could end up in a mad scramble to put a pulse on the sideline and that’s not what they ever thought would happen.
He spent the past week flirting with the UNC job, so much so that his team got curb stomped in the Final Four.
But hey, he got what he wanted. He'll never have to answer to his AD again. Which is good, because I bet she had some notes on Arizona's first Final Four game in 25 years and how it went down.
I don’t know about being the single highest paid coach in the game, but UNC just offered him all the rest of that and got rejected. You can pretty reasonably infer we wouldn’t be different. It’s just a different world now, and coaches capable of contending for championships in power conferences aren’t viewing those jobs as stepping stones to “basketball schools” anymore.
I said I knew ONE of the guys would take the gig. Pearl is on my list. My Brother, thats a mortal LOCK
OK. May turns it down, on to Otzelberger
Nobody wants the UNC job as they know they will always play 2nd fiddle to Duke in the ACC and have to deal with the Duke whistle.