Illinois fighting to keep Coach Antigua
- Thread starter CATFANINFLORIDA_rivals38798
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Barbee and Justice were nudged out to make room for OA and Chin Coleman.
Rather than letting them go, they found their new gigs. UK controlled the narrative so that our guys took other jobs rather than being fired/let go.
I think BBN will have a nuclear melt down if we don't get Antigua. I think it's insanely unlikely he stays at Illinois.
Supposedly this has been in the works for a long time.
We had two coaches move on to make way for OA and another coach. I don't believe we let Justice go to Arizona state and didn't have his replacement lined up.
OA and Cal obviously have history. It's not like he has some undying allegiance to Illinois and nothing at UK.
UK is an elite program. It's a major step up.
If it comes down to $$, we're the most financially invested basketball school. There's no way UK doesn't match anything Ill can offer, especially after losing 2 assistants.
Supposedly this has been in the works for a long time.
We had two coaches move on to make way for OA and another coach. I don't believe we let Justice go to Arizona state and didn't have his replacement lined up.
OA and Cal obviously have history. It's not like he has some undying allegiance to Illinois and nothing at UK.
UK is an elite program. It's a major step up.
If it comes down to $$, we're the most financially invested basketball school. There's no way UK doesn't match anything Ill can offer, especially after losing 2 assistants.
I think they’re driving the cost of OA up to prevent us from getting both him and Chin. Time will tell how this plays out. Hopefully we end up with both.
What will Antiqua bring to the table? Recruiting? Better offense? Better defense? What is his strengths?
I just seem to remember when we had coach Antigua we had better recruiting as well better player development. Like Wall, Knight, Davis etc. they seemed to get better throughout the year. Something happened after 2015 and I don’t even think it’s the loss that hurt recruiting, our coaching staff changes seemed to have us different lower tier players besides the year with Fox and Monk. With the new transfer market hope he’s a good developer as well, that’s what we need now.
Well, I was trying to be nice, but guess I should have just called you stupid. I will explain what I know happened:
- Rather than fire two of his people, Barbee and Justice, Cal allowed both to secure employment at other places on their terms. This is something that was in the works for quite some time.
Reason I called your post comedy gold - you believe they both just decided to “leave” because they just happened to both find a new gig at just the right time. That isn’t the real world situation that it truly was. Sorry I offended you though.
Guy is basically one of the most well rounded you can get for that position. He is a great recruiter when he needs to be, he is a great coach, strong x and o guy, he’s great with development, great with building chemistry between players quickly, and he is one of the few people that can actually set Cal straight when necessary.
Ive heard this has been done for months. The announcement was next week but now with the tragedy idk. It is supposedly done and has been for a while. Coach O was in Lex this week to finalize it all. I'm sure Illinois are trying there best but not gonna happen. Ive heard there may have been some strong hints that if O comes back and stays he will have a verybgood chance to be Cals hand picked successor. If coach O has that shot and already told Cal he is coming, I have no worries. Its all just been pushed back because the tragedy. Tfwiw
He’s essentially Kenny Payne but with a persuasive bag. We need him.
Yes, lot like KP. But I think KP can be even more direct with Cal, and better at player development. Coach O better with chemistry, x and o, and recruiting.
The last point is why he is essential.
The HOB insiders said about a month before the season was over that they heard Cal was going to shake up the staff. Then they started hinting that pieces were falling into place a few days before anything happened, all but saying exactly who the 2 new guys would be. Then Barbee & Justus BOTH find new jobs. And people still think they just bolted on their own and Cal is scrambling to replace them.
I mean you can’t make this stuff up.
I mean you can’t make this stuff up.
That’s why it’s sometimes a bad thing when info leaks. It gives the opposition time to cover their bases with a counter offer in this case but with recruits as well by promising more playing time or whatever.The HOB insiders said about a month before the season was over that they heard Cal was going to shake up the staff. Then they started hinting that pieces were falling into place a few days before anything happened, all but saying exactly who the 2 new guys would be. Then Barbee & Justus BOTH find new jobs. And people still think they just bolted on their own and Cal is scrambling to replace them.
I mean you can’t make this stuff up.
We as fans love getting info early but need to remember that some things are better kept quiet till the end.
The Illini insiders haven't really been ahead of any of this. Underwood and the media were just talking about keeping the staff together and what they had built last week and supposedly this has been in the works for months. They also said O gone CHin staying for sure just the other day and now they are saying Chin is mulling over offers from KU as well. Underwood only made 1 Million a year before his raise this year. It's hard to believe they are going to pay an assistant more than what they were paying their head coach, but I guess they don't want to lose to us again like AD.
In the end, I feel like most of you do. Cal wouldn't clear out 2 spots unless he knew. It was just random that after the worse season that both got jobs and left after. I would like to think Cal and O still have a good relationship. If they do I think O is a done deal. If O is just trying to get more money than him and Cal must not have too good of a relationship because I can't see that going down like that. I think it's Illinois wanting to look like they can run with UK, but it feels over.
An assistant at Arz St isn't higher on any level than an assistant at UK. It isn't random the 2 people have been bit thing about left after the worse year. Cal never wanted to fire them so he made sure they had landing spots. He probably owes some favors. I'm sure we will be playing both next year.
Maybe South Florida can answer that.
So why was Antigua fired less than three years into his tenure with USF? There are a multitude of reasons why South Florida not only decided to move forward without Antigua, but why the timing of the move makes sense.
- First, Antigua was not successful in the win column. The former Kentucky assistant won 17 combined games in his first two years, didn’t finish with more than nine wins in any given season and was on pace to bottom out in 2016-17 with just a 6-7 record (0-2 in AAC) so far. The lack of progress wasn’t getting it done.
- In addition to the lack of wins, South Florida lost two important pieces in the last few months. First, the Bulls’ top 2016 recruit, Troy Baxter, opted out of his National Letter of Intent four months ago and committed to UNLV. More recently, the team’s leading scorer Jahmal McMurray decided to transfer and has taken a visit to St. John’s already.
- USF is also dealing with an academic scandal that resulted in the resignation of Antigua’s brother Oliver. The NCAA is still investigating the program for potential academic fraud issues, which could eventually lead to hefty NCAA sanctions.
- Let’s remember, even from the beginning, South Florida was not expected to hire Antigua. The Bulls’ first choice was Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello. However, because the Jaspers’ head coach falsely listed that he graduated from Kentucky on his resume, Antigua was hired as the second option.
- Finally, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, the inexperience of his staff was one of the main reasons he was laid off. The source told Goodman, “And they had all these guys from New York on staff — and didn’t sign kids from New York.”
Funny how they listed academic fraud being investigated, but Carolina does worse and no type of punishments. I’m tired of the NCAA’s double standards.
Underwood started at 3 million when he was hired by Illinois. Your information is wrong. It's also being said that Illinois will match anything Kentucky offers. We will see what happens.
If Cal can’t pull an assistant that he’s been speaking with about the job for awhile now then something is wrong. I’m not ready to give up on the guy yet but if this season isn’t any different, then I’ll be ready for Cal to find another job and let it be a fresh start for everyone involved.
With all the bad stuff that’s happened here over the last year it’s almost like the program has some negative vibes and that needs to change to move forward.
With all the bad stuff that’s happened here over the last year it’s almost like the program has some negative vibes and that needs to change to move forward.
I don't really keep up with Illinois or Underwood, I just saw them say he was making 1 Million a year and then Illinois gave him a big raise and tripled it. Maybe it's an older article I wasn't paying attention. I was just reading about O coming to UK and there was stuff about the staff and Underwood in it.
An article I was reading, "We know Brad Underwood made $1 million this past season and was scheduled for $100,000 raises in each of the next two seasons. We also know Illinois just more than tripled that."
So if it's wrong, oh well. It won't matter if Illinois matches because so will Uk and there will be a point where neither is going to pay an assistant coach 2 million. Either school could go out and get anyone in the nation within reason for that kind of money. Some head coaches don't make that. It pretty much feels like O and Cal are back together and I'm sure Cal is telling him to get what you can, but in the end, this was started months ago and Cal doesn't set 2 assistants up to leave if O wasn't in. Illinois can match all they want, no BB program in the nation puts more money into their BB program than UK. I mean Cal makes 9 million. But sure we will see.
Dude all that is going on in Illinois is still going at it business-wise and Cal and UK are dealing with a tragedy and probably not talking business until at least Monday. This was all more than likely about done and then TC passed. I think we are good and it comes down to can we pull CHin also.
Even if he didn’t recruit them personally it is obvious he knew the caliber of player we needed. We batted a seriously high percentage of ballers when he was here.
“In my club I will splash the pot whenever I F@cking want!”One of my favorite lines (and worst accents) in any movie. Gotta love Teddy KGB.
My personal favorite: “Hanging around, Hanging Around. Kid’s got alligator blood. Can’t get rid of him!”
I bet it has too, I want really good news but since the tragedy I don’t expect much for at least this week.
If Antigua comes it would be an upgrade from what we had. If he doesn’t I am sure Cal can find a suitable replacement, the money and allure of U.K., despite last season, will be enough to draw suitable replacements. As for hiring someone who can tell Cal where the peanut is hid, Dream on, he is the head coach with a lifetime contract, NOBODY is going to tell him how to run his program, we will live or die with him.
When Cal was hiring an assistant last time we ended up with actor/coach that dressed like he was straight from an episode of Sopranos. My point being, just because it’s Kentucky, not everyone feels the same about it as we do. There is a lot of pressure to perform here and that goes for hiring a head coach too, sure we will get takers but will they be the right fit. Fans expect thirty wins every year and that a lot to live up to.
That's a no-brainer if they only match, UK is a much better gig.
I already knew that he was in Glengarry Glen Ross years ago. After doing a little research, it turns out that he also played a referee in Uncle Drew.
Barry Rohrssen but you probably knew that already. I should have clarified my point a little better for those who didn’t understand, for that I apologize
You did say “last time”. Jai was last hire Cal made. Knew who you were referring to though and he was considered a home run hire too.
I guess we could be UC and have a hard time finding someone to fill out our assistant coaches positions:
As expected with the tragic passing of Terrence.
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