Memphis

bthaunert

Heisman
Apr 4, 2007
29,518
21,619
0
Count me in the minority that believes Penny will be a winner at Memphis. Can't understand why people are surprised he's getting some big time recruits, especially since 3 of the guys he signed are from Memphis and the 4th played for Penny in AAU ball. I think his assistant coaching hires were good too. Bringing in Sam Mitchell was a very smart move from a coaching perspective and I imagine Miller is really good in the recruiting world. I think he's going to have success at Memphis.
 

Wildcats1st

Heisman
Sep 16, 2017
18,949
28,911
0
Running a program and coaching are two different things and those who can do both are a rare breed. Plenty of good coaches on the high school and aau circuit but you put them in the position to run a major program and they will screw it up. 3 instances I can think of for penny that prove he will have problems. The issue with Barnes, the de commit of Jeffries and poaching a signed player from duke. Coaches like penny last 2-3 years before they make a mistake and get pounced on by the ncaa. The fact he is loading his roster with players he coached in aau and high school scream of impropriety.
 

Wall2Boogie

Heisman
Jan 28, 2010
26,239
21,732
0
Memphis is buying a team $$$$$ hoping Penny can coach it.
Fed ex may of dropped the ball on cal but they won’t let penny go down without a fight. Since penny was in blue chips he should know how this works already, no need to see the script again
 

jrpross_rivals

Heisman
Feb 21, 2008
17,539
36,014
113
Haven’t you seen the beautiful views?
 

JC CATS

Heisman
Jun 18, 2009
23,517
12,221
0
How’s it any different than when Cal was getting top recruits at Memphis? Same school, city, humidity, and crime as when he was there.
Penny had more success in the nba than Cal did.
I bleed UK blue all the way. But considering the state of college basketball I don’t see why it’s mind blowing to some that an ex nba superstar and Mike Miller are bringing in top recruits at a school where Cal did it too. And the Cal Memphis hired wasn’t the hall of fame coach that’s at KY now.
I disagree, Cal has been a hell of a coach for a long time. Many of us have wanted Cal here a long time before he came here. More success in the NBA? What does that have to do with anything? How much success did these guys have in the NBA, Bobby Knight, Adolph Rupp, Mike K, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Dean Smith, John Wooden?
 

bthaunert

Heisman
Apr 4, 2007
29,518
21,619
0
Running a program and coaching are two different things and those who can do both are a rare breed. Plenty of good coaches on the high school and aau circuit but you put them in the position to run a major program and they will screw it up. 3 instances I can think of for penny that prove he will have problems. The issue with Barnes, the de commit of Jeffries and poaching a signed player from duke. Coaches like penny last 2-3 years before they make a mistake and get pounced on by the ncaa. The fact he is loading his roster with players he coached in aau and high school scream of impropriety.
I don't understand your last point around his roster with former players.
 

ck-2

Heisman
Apr 7, 2007
11,306
19,154
113
I disagree, Cal has been a hell of a coach for a long time. Many of us have wanted Cal here a long time before he came here. More success in the NBA? What does that have to do with anything? How much success did these guys have in the NBA, Bobby Knight, Adolph Rupp, Mike K, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Dean Smith, John Wooden?
Well the success in the NBA statement has to do with the fact that these top recruits goal is to get there. That’s all they care about. When Adolph Rupp was coach we didn’t have a NBA pro day or players first program. We didn’t have the guy who coaches team USA using that as an advantage either. Shoe money didn’t exist. It was a different time completely.
I’m just saying I see where playing for a former NBA star could be appealing to a kid with an NBA goal. That’s the reason (wiseman) many on here wanted Penny hired by Cal as an assistant right before Memphis hired him.
If I’m a top recruit I would trust a coach like Cal who has a proven track record of getting guys to the league vs a guy in Penny who has no coaching track record.

But all I’m saying is this. At the time Cal went to Memphis and started reeling in the likes of Derrick Rose etc. his resume wasn’t stellar. His big success as a coach came from then to now. And when he was getting all that talent at Memphis a lot of people were saying the same things then about Cal and Memphis as they are about Penny now. Guess it just depends on who YOUR guy is.
All that being said I hope Penny fails miserably.
 

JC CATS

Heisman
Jun 18, 2009
23,517
12,221
0
Well the success in the NBA statement has to do with the fact that these top recruits goal is to get there. That’s all they care about. When Adolph Rupp was coach we didn’t have a NBA pro day or players first program. We didn’t have the guy who coaches team USA using that as an advantage either. Shoe money didn’t exist. It was a different time completely.
I’m just saying I see where playing for a former NBA star could be appealing to a kid with an NBA goal. That’s the reason (wiseman) many on here wanted Penny hired by Cal as an assistant right before Memphis hired him.
If I’m a top recruit I would trust a coach like Cal who has a proven track record of getting guys to the league vs a guy in Penny who has no coaching track record.

But all I’m saying is this. At the time Cal went to Memphis and started reeling in the likes of Derrick Rose etc. his resume wasn’t stellar. His big success as a coach came from then to now. And when he was getting all that talent at Memphis a lot of people were saying the same things then about Cal and Memphis as they are about Penny now. Guess it just depends on who YOUR guy is.
All that being said I hope Penny fails miserably.
I see where you are coming from but the fact is, not too many NBA stars or even players have been good head coaches. Not saying that Penny won't, but I also hope he fails, he has rubbed many the wrong way already. I strongly agree that Cal is to be trusted before Penny at this time. I think Cal did do some work at UMASS which isn't an easy gig
 

Wildcats1st

Heisman
Sep 16, 2017
18,949
28,911
0
I don't understand your last point around his roster with former players.

I’m just going to tell you from my 20+ years of coaching at the high school level and club that coaches who don’t make big salaries help their needy players. Now if you have a coach like penny with deep pockets I’m sure he has taken very good care of his kids. It’s kind of unprecedented to have a hs coach go directly to a major d1 program and the backbone of his haul are his hs and aau players.
 
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LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,833
60,858
113
Penny is basically the highschool recruit going right to the NBA because he knows teams have zero information on his talent.

His recruiting pitch should just be "I'm getting hyped, might as well come find out if it's true or not".

That won't work for long though.
 
Last edited:

bthaunert

Heisman
Apr 4, 2007
29,518
21,619
0
I’m just going to tell you from my 20+ years of coaching at the high school level and club that coaches who don’t make big salaries help their needy players. Now if you have a coach like penny with deep pockets I’m sure he has taken very good care of his kids. It’s kind of unprecedented to have a hs coach go directly to a major d1 program and the backbone of his haul are his hs and aau players.
It's unprecedented in general to have a HS coach go directly to a major D1 program so there is nothing to compare it too. I won't disagree with your experience, but I also don't think it's so far fetched that kids who played for Penny in AUU ball would want to stay local and play for him in college too.
 

BBUK_anon

Hall of Famer
May 26, 2005
52,358
124,843
0
Periods
  1. Rule 1. Use a period at the end of a complete sentence that is a statement.
  2. Rule 2. If the last item in the sentence is an abbreviation that ends in a period, do not follow it with another period.
  3. Rule 3. Question marks and exclamation points replace and eliminate periods at the end of a sentence.

That was one sentence. Give the guy a break, he only missed one period.


(Maybe only one breath too.)
 

bluegrayhammer

Redshirt
Apr 13, 2009
2
1
0
Cal had coached more than little league when he went to Memphis , and had a history of helping kids get where they wanted to go.
Penny is a legend here in Memphis. Obviously the verdict is still out whether he can coach when there is high expectations. He does have Sam Mitchell on the bench who was a head coach in the NBA. It should come as no surprise that he will be able to get recruits and will continue as long as they do well in the tournament and has players move onto the NBA. Time will tell.
 
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Aike

Heisman
Mar 17, 2002
75,405
46,213
90
It's unprecedented in general to have a HS coach go directly to a major D1 program so there is nothing to compare it too. I won't disagree with your experience, but I also don't think it's so far fetched that kids who played for Penny in AUU ball would want to stay local and play for him in college too.

Especially since he’s been sticking Nike cash in their pockets for years. Why mess with a good thing?
 

true-blue1

Heisman
May 15, 2007
12,325
10,522
93
Count me in the minority that believes Penny will be a winner at Memphis. Can't understand why people are surprised he's getting some big time recruits, especially since 3 of the guys he signed are from Memphis and the 4th played for Penny in AAU ball. I think his assistant coaching hires were good too. Bringing in Sam Mitchell was a very smart move from a coaching perspective and I imagine Miller is really good in the recruiting world. I think he's going to have success at Memphis.
Who has he got? He coached Wiseman in High School, huge get. Penny Coaching reminds me of John Brady, who used to coach LSU.
 
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Wildcats1st

Heisman
Sep 16, 2017
18,949
28,911
0
It's unprecedented in general to have a HS coach go directly to a major D1 program so there is nothing to compare it too. I won't disagree with your experience, but I also don't think it's so far fetched that kids who played for Penny in AUU ball would want to stay local and play for him in college too.

Ultimately that is their reasoning to stay home become the hometown hero following your hs or aau coach. Hardaway recruiting his own player lol you lose that and you’re done right away.
 

Aike

Heisman
Mar 17, 2002
75,405
46,213
90
Well the success in the NBA statement has to do with the fact that these top recruits goal is to get there. That’s all they care about. When Adolph Rupp was coach we didn’t have a NBA pro day or players first program. We didn’t have the guy who coaches team USA using that as an advantage either. Shoe money didn’t exist. It was a different time completely.
I’m just saying I see where playing for a former NBA star could be appealing to a kid with an NBA goal. That’s the reason (wiseman) many on here wanted Penny hired by Cal as an assistant right before Memphis hired him.
If I’m a top recruit I would trust a coach like Cal who has a proven track record of getting guys to the league vs a guy in Penny who has no coaching track record.

But all I’m saying is this. At the time Cal went to Memphis and started reeling in the likes of Derrick Rose etc. his resume wasn’t stellar. His big success as a coach came from then to now. And when he was getting all that talent at Memphis a lot of people were saying the same things then about Cal and Memphis as they are about Penny now. Guess it just depends on who YOUR guy is.
All that being said I hope Penny fails miserably.

Cal wasn’t reeling in top classes when he got to Memphis. That despite having a track record as a Final Four coach and NBA coach. He would maybe get 1 five star and then a mix of other guys.

It took building Memphis into a legitimate title contender for the stars to begin lining up for Memphis. Soon as that happened, Cal headed to Lexington, and the one monster class Memphis was due to land ended up spread out between Kentucky, Kansas, and Memphis.

That being said, Penny hasn’t reeled in his monster class yet. We’ll see how it all plays out.
 

BBUK_anon

Hall of Famer
May 26, 2005
52,358
124,843
0
Cal wasn’t reeling in top classes when he got to Memphis. That despite having a track record as a Final Four coach and NBA coach. He would maybe get 1 five star and then a mix of other guys.

It took building Memphis into a legitimate title contender for the stars to begin lining up for Memphis. Soon as that happened, Cal headed to Lexington, and the one monster class Memphis was due to land ended up spread out between Kentucky, Kansas, and Memphis.

That being said, Penny hasn’t reeled in his monster class yet. We’ll see how it all plays out.

We shall see the KPI's.....or, we won't...
 
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Jan 10, 2015
18,700
31,311
62
You know after watching Precious play a few times I wish we would've went after him a little harder he looked very athletic and just seemed like he would fit the mold of a Calipari type of player.
 
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Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
41,481
63,323
113
Getting the players is one thing, coaching them and getting them to play as a team is another. We shall see.
Cal has proven over and over he can do all of the above.
Penny is like the new good looking girl at school. Gets a lot of attention until everyone finds out she's not all they thought she was.

Many coaches, including Pitino, have said coaching OADs is a hard task. Keeping it simple will be easy for Penny, as I suspect that is what the AAU circuit looks like. But, can he keep it simple and navigate the rough waters against coaches with 4-year players?

I did not see any of their games last year (another reason going to Memphis is an oddity), but the scores and stat pages did not demonstrate Penny was out-coaching many teams.
 

CHAPDAV3

Junior
Dec 31, 2007
320
284
0
Pastner started the same way. He got good recruits. Just couldnt coach.. Memphis offers a lot. Im from there. Fed x Forum is a great place to play. Fan base is solid. And believe it or not. Memphis has stuff to do. Throw in Penny and you got something. Never thought i would say it. But i mis that city. I love going back. Not as bad as it use to be. Im happy for them. I hope Penny pulls it off.
 

shutzhund

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2005
29,202
2,619
0
Pastner started the same way. He got good recruits. Just couldnt coach.. Memphis offers a lot. Im from there. Fed x Forum is a great place to play. Fan base is solid. And believe it or not. Memphis has stuff to do. Throw in Penny and you got something. Never thought i would say it. But i mis that city. I love going back. Not as bad as it use to be. Im happy for them. I hope Penny pulls it off.


That's a veru nice thing to say. But even at that hearing about Memphis if getting boring.
 
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