Women get nice win vs CMU who won 16 games. We need the man equivalent to Kathy Bennett. She is getting quite a lot out of average talent and building a tough mind set

Hopefully, she can recruit.

I say give her the job! We would get a good coach and loads of publicity! It would put our program on the map immediately!

Yes, I actually joked likewise earlier but unfortunately not a move which would be found comfortable for too many Type A male recruits desired.

For every one recruit comfortable with a female HC , IMHO four would not likely be favorable to signing with her.

Works ok in jr and senior high where players have little choice .... and in movies....

My only prerequisite is a coach who will allow a Martel Moore and Demarcus Grady backcourt :-P

Need a coach who can recruit Chicago area bball players.

Dick Bennet with his Blocker, Mover.Shaker Offense and a Tough Defense

or
PJ with Billy Lowe as an assistant

(02-17-2011 01:30 PM)RitzHuskie Wrote:  Need a coach who can recruit Chicago area bball players.

I think that the whole "recruiting Chicago" is extremely overrated. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying we should overlook Chicago, but to say we NEED someone with Chicago ties, or someone "who can recruit Chicago" is wrong.

We need someone who is a good recruiter, regardless of what ties that coach has. A good recruiter will be a good recruiter regardless of the area he is from and will be successful wherever he goes. A good recruiter will understand the importance of recruiting the surrounding area and establishing ties as soon as he arrives. More importantly, a good recruiter will recruit whatever talent is available regardless of where it comes from.

The top talent in the Chicagoland is gobbled up by the Major schools and we are left with the very bottom of the litter. It's not a surprise that our top 5 scorers and arguably best players, are NOT from the Chicago area. DePaul's top 3 players are not from Chicago. UIC's top 2 players (and only 2 players averaging double figures) aren't from Chicago. Loyola's top 5 scorers, only one is from Chicago area.

What does that tell you when schools that are located in Chicago can't even get Chicago players to be their top players? What it's even more sad is that all 3 of those schools haven't been very good. Loyola has had the most success out of those schools, and only 3 of the player on their current roster are from Chicago.

Chicago has a lot of talented HS players, but until we become a good basketball program, there is no point in spending all our efforts picking up the leftovers. Get the best talent available that is willing to come here, regardless of location.

As for coaching profile. I would go for a young assistant that is willing to work hard and leave this program with an identity. Someone who is trying to work his way up the coaching ladder, and will leave this program in better shape than he found it.

No more old farts that are happy just sitting on the sidelines cashing in on their last coaching gig of their career. If we are going to suck, I would rather have someone who is a bad coach but at least is working hard and taking responsibility for their failures rather than blaming it on everyone else.

The program has considerable potential and many of the required building blocks for success.

NIU should not need to settle for an unproven candidate.

Candidate should come from a program with an extended history of success. Age one way or another should not factor into the profile.

Candidate need not necessarily be familiar with NIU, the MAC and IL HS bball but it sure would help jump start his liftoff.

Candidate needs an outgoing, dynamic personality that relates well to & reaches out to all stakeholders: athletes, parents, recruits, donors, administrators, NIU students in general, the media and F A N S.

Candidate must be highly ethical (NCAA) without any significant personal baggage.

Candidate must believe in creating a sense of family and giving somethings back to the community.

Candidate must hold himself and staff accountable to same strong work ethic standards expected from players.

Candidate knows how to get the most from this players and knows how to develop and best utilize their skills and talents.

He should gain their repsect and motivate players who are then willing to run thru walls for him and their teammates.

Candidate must impart a winning attitude. At all times public and private he should want to be at NIU and have a burning desire to build something special and lasting.

Candidate should avoid injecting & imposing religious tones to the mission of the team yet allow players to individually express their belief systems.

(02-17-2011 02:34 PM)niuliger09 Wrote:  As for coaching profile. I would go for a young assistant that is willing to work hard and leave this program with an identity. Someone who is trying to work his way up the coaching ladder, and will leave this program in better shape than he found it.

No more old farts that are happy just sitting on the sidelines cashing in on their last coaching gig of their career. If we are going to suck, I would rather have someone who is a bad coach but at least is working hard and taking responsibility for their failures rather than blaming it on everyone else.

Thats discrimination. If I were a candidate, I would sue for age descrimination. I am over 40 and you hired the "younger" guy.

Not losing 20 games every season would be great.

(02-17-2011 04:21 PM)klake87 Wrote:  

(02-17-2011 02:34 PM)niuliger09 Wrote:  As for coaching profile. I would go for a young assistant that is willing to work hard and leave this program with an identity. Someone who is trying to work his way up the coaching ladder, and will leave this program in better shape than he found it.

No more old farts that are happy just sitting on the sidelines cashing in on their last coaching gig of their career. If we are going to suck, I would rather have someone who is a bad coach but at least is working hard and taking responsibility for their failures rather than blaming it on everyone else.

Thats discrimination. If I were a candidate, I would sue for age descrimination. I am over 40 and you hired the "younger" guy.

That's what I meant by young hehehe

As the players we get will generally not be the top tier, besides being an excellent recruiter, being able to develop players is key. As we have seen with both Judson and Patton, they were unable to develop players.

While we have had a few good to excellent players from the city, I don't think having an in, in the city is a prerequisite. Probably too much garbage going on with street agents etc. to get consistent results.

(02-17-2011 04:43 PM)NIUSAE Wrote:  As the players we get will generally not be the top tier, besides being an excellent recruiter, being able to develop players is key.

I think Patton and staff has recruited good enough high school players. Some of them were recruited by many other schools as well, so obviously many coaches thought they were good recruits. I don't have a problem with the players they have brought in over the past few years. It is what they have developed or not developed into that concerns me.

Cannot win consistently or on the road without a true point guard and a big man in the middle to at the very least defend lane, rebound and score a few put backs.

It's fine to have signed some sought after recruits but not having key position players and their backups is unacceptable.

I like the thought of a Kathi Bennett type hire for the men's side.

A hot assistant and a recently fired retread have blown up in our faces in the last decade. One unexplored path is the coach who climbed, got burned, and rebooted their career as an assistant again.

For an example of this working look at Ray McCallum at Detroit. Guy was a winner at Ball State, fizzled at Houston, went back to the assistant ranks, and is winning again.

The other unexplored path is to find a coach with a track record of success at a program in a league further down the D1 foodchain (i.e. the jobs that pay less than NIU would).

(02-18-2011 12:40 PM)DogTracks Wrote:  I like the thought of a Kathi Bennett type hire for the men's side.

A hot assistant and a recently fired retread have blown up in our faces in the last decade. One unexplored path is the coach who climbed, got burned, and rebooted their career as an assistant again.

For an example of this working look at Ray McCallum at Detroit. Guy was a winner at Ball State, fizzled at Houston, went back to the assistant ranks, and is winning again.

The other unexplored path is to find a coach with a track record of success at a program in a league further down the D1 foodchain (i.e. the jobs that pay less than NIU would).

I'm thinking this option gets my vote. All things considered, I think it fits our situation best at this time.

(02-18-2011 12:47 PM)chihuskie Wrote:  

(02-18-2011 12:40 PM)DogTracks Wrote:  I like the thought of a Kathi Bennett type hire for the men's side.

A hot assistant and a recently fired retread have blown up in our faces in the last decade. One unexplored path is the coach who climbed, got burned, and rebooted their career as an assistant again.

For an example of this working look at Ray McCallum at Detroit. Guy was a winner at Ball State, fizzled at Houston, went back to the assistant ranks, and is winning again.

The other unexplored path is to find a coach with a track record of success at a program in a league further down the D1 foodchain (i.e. the jobs that pay less than NIU would).

I'm thinking this option gets my vote. All things considered, I think it fits our situation best at this time.

+1 here. Either that or an up-and-coming assistant that has not had college head coaching experience yet but is looking to move up the ranks.

We don't want a Patton situation again, where we are stuck with a bad coach and a bad contract.

I would rather have a smaller contract given to someone with upside but not necessarily the experience.

We need to give ourselves outs in case things don't go well, because let's face it, regardless of the type of coach we get, no coach will be a "for sure".

I would like a coach that can keep a player in the program for more than 2 years. And yes, let's dream big, one that actually begins and graduates from NIU!