How do you assess Bourne's handling of the men's basketball coaching hire?

You can reference th key planks of why he made his decisions at the link to the press conference.
IMO, it was a complete and utter botch.
Not just a complete botch.
Not just an utter botch.
But a complete AND utter botch.

What are the consequences?
What should be the consequences?

I will list pros and cons later.

please watch all 12 minutes

To add fuel to your fire Mount St Marys and Winthrop both punched their tickets to the NCAAs this week. Both coaches were rumored to have been linked to the JMU MBB opening. The Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey was even said to be a finalist at one point.

Without knowing the details of the search- only rumblings leaks and rumors- we really can't hammer Bourne. I think Bourne is the easy punching bag but most of his hires in other sports have been good to very good. I wouldn't give him 100% credit for those hires either because I'm sure its a process that involves multiple people. I know MBB is a flagship program so you want to get the hire right but it's too easy for us to stand on the sideline like the old guys in the Muppets and judge the hire as a failure based on one season. We don't know all of the facts (unless someone is willing to share them) and we still don't know the outcome (despite some fans saying that they do after a limited sample size).

Too early to tell.

It has literally been almost a year, man. Forty-nine weeks of this, week after week, and you think people have been questioning your thoughts on this matter? Believe me when I say: we all know your opinion.

What's your goal here?

Hart2 thanks for the thread. B.
A stitch in time saves 9.

Way too early to tell if Rowe was a good/bad hire. But in my mind I am 100% certain that it was past time for a change at head coach for the MBB program.

Do I think we underachieved a bit this season. Yes, but mainly with regard to the early OOC games - but some of that was to be expected with a change, but should have won 3-5 of those games. We did about what I expected with regard to conference play. And as opposed to past seasons I never questioned the effort and heart of this team. These guys gave it 100% every night and were never an easy out for someone.

While these guys were/are hard workers.....I don't think we had top-end talent even for the CAA which was evident by the fact I don't think we put anyone on any of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, All-CAA teams. With the exception of the occasional good nights for someone, this was a team of role players with no real go to guy(s). Yo-Yo having medical issues and not doing what we expected did not help.

On the positive side I look at the production Rowe got out of some players that were not developing as they should have:
- Satkus: Steady contributor points and rebounds every night
- Lukic: He was important but a forgotten guy under Brady
- Kent: He seemed to flourish more than anyone under a new coach and showed a level of confidence he had never shown before.
- Brown: was missing with injuries and lack of defense for much of season. Once he bought in to playing defense he played much more effectively down the stretch.

It is gonna take 3 season's before you can realistically evaluate this hire.

But we could have had Coach K on the bench this year and we maybe win 15-16 games tops. This team had mediocre talent. Forget that it was 7 seniors----they were 7 mediocre seniors.

The real botch was the indefensible decision to let Brady coach as a lame duck. No other gaffe (even the MRDs to Frisco fiasco) even comes close. Sure, Linwood Rowe made the call, people say. I'm gonna go ahead & say the AD gets blame. He's the AD.

Brady should have been canned instead of coaching his final year. His teams weren't good enough. He didn't show consistent progress. He didn't have control of the kids he recruited. He wasn't the answer at JMU. Respect to him for bringing us out of the depths, but how many years do you keep a mediocre coach just because his predecessors were hot garbage?

If we weren't willing to pay better than entry level, I think Rowe was a good hire. Perhaps an assessment of Charlie King should be included in this thread.

A+++. Would hire again.

(03-08-2017 07:36 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  



please watch all 12 minutes

I came for the jimmie rustling

(03-08-2017 09:48 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  A+++. Would hire again.

Haha! Sounds like an Ebay rating.

Jury is out...most of the other hires have all worked out...most better than ever expected. Give him a few years to get his guys in

(03-08-2017 10:09 AM)olddawg Wrote:  

(03-08-2017 09:48 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  A+++. Would hire again.

Haha! Sounds like an Ebay rating.

Item as advertised. Delivery was slow. Ohh well.

I was apathetic about whether Brady was let go or retained and was not a fan of the Rowe hire (when someone with no head coaching experience is hired, I like to see more of a pedigree). That said, Bourne hired Rowe for his recruiting prowess not his X and Os proficiency. It is too early to tell if Bourne was right (and I don't think you'll be able to make a complete judgment after next season either).

To paraphrase Norman Dale, I would hope you would support who Rowe is; not who he is not. This is your coach.

Bourne's handling of firing Brady with no succession plan and then last minute hiring an inexperienced coach on the cheap speaks for itself. If Bourne was handcuffed, we have two problems, 1) he is handcuffed and 2) he is willing to be handcuffed and ride it out until retirement.

I do hope Lou Rowe finds success at JMU.

Go Dukes

For a reference on inexperienced and first time head coaches you need only look to VCU.

Anthony Grant - no head coaching experience
Jeff Capel - no head coaching experience
Shaka Smart - no head coaching experience
Will Wade - 2 years as head coach at Chattanooga

All were successful at VCU. All achieved NCAA berths.

While they took over a more successful program, these guys were not experienced head coaches but were very successful for VCU. Is Lou Rowe in the same company? Not yet, but I have high hopes and expectations for Coach Rowe. Look at the example or continue to beat your drum. I like the hire and will be glad as he develops the program. Coaching wins games. Arenas absolutely help in recruiting, but
coaching makes the difference.
Heck look at one of our own. Lou Campanelli is an icon at JMU. No doubt the best coach we have ever had. - no head coaching experience.

"Campanelli was head coach at James Madison for 13 years (1973–85) where he guided the Dukes to a record of 238-118 and five NCAA Tournament appearances. His 21-year head coaching record stands at 361-226 (.615).
In 2015, Campanelli write a book titled Dare to Dream: How James Madison University Became Coed and Shocked the Basketball World about his dream of becoming a college basketball coach and his accomplishment of growing the all-girl Madison college athletics program into a successful men's NCAA basketball team."

Coaching in any sport is a discipline. Successful head coaches run a disciplined program where they hold players and assistant coaches accountable. Rowe suspending two coaches in mid season sends a strong message to everyone that he has standards and will enforce them. Recruiting wise so far he is fine and I believe bringing in better caliber athletes than what we have had as a general rule. Better athletes and a disciplined program is a great foundation. Onward and upward Lou Campanelli, I mean Rowe.

Look also to the Diamond Dukes. JMU baseball had slumped to a poor level the past few years under Spanky. Bourne hired Ike. Ike had a rough first year, brought in some recruits, established his program and now after beating ODU today is 9-3 thus far this year with every indication of having a turn around year at this point.

Mike Houston, an experienced head coach with an outstanding head coaching record that was hired into some great talent attributes their success this past year to the players buying into his program. A head coach that wins the hearts and minds of his players and earns their respect can do wonders. We just saw it. Oohrah. Go Dukes.

(03-08-2017 02:47 PM)class90 Wrote:  Jury is out...most of the other hires have all worked out...most better than ever expected. Give him a few years to get his guys in

Which begs the question, is the jury still out on Mike Houston after one year? He had question marks coming into his first year and answered them quickly and emphatically.

If the jury isn't out on the Houston hiring, then why should it be on the Rowe hiring? And we know it is much harder to quickly improve a football program than a basketball program due to the number of players. The 10-23 hoops record equates to a 3-8 football record coming on the heels of 2 good seasons. Would we be okay with Houston putting up a 3-8 stinker in his first year? Nope.

You don't get throw away years when you are managing a $44 million athletic budget and get paid in the top 10 of JMU employees. The football coaching hire and the basketball coaching hire matter more than the rest of the sports combined and even moreso now with the Convo funding drive.

I think the firing of Brady without a succession plan to strengthen our coaching situation was a big check mark against Bourne and for those whomever influenced the decision. We needed some proven coaching talent to take over and build on what Brady accomplished. JMU needed to spend money and get the needed talent versus looking for the cheaper way out, selecting Rowe. I have nothing against Rowe but this program cannot afford someone to learn on the job. And, after decades of seeing the MBB program struggle, you would think these leaders would get it.

(03-08-2017 08:17 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  

(03-08-2017 02:47 PM)class90 Wrote:  Jury is out...most of the other hires have all worked out...most better than ever expected. Give him a few years to get his guys in

Which begs the question, is the jury still out on Mike Houston after one year? He had question marks coming into his first year and answered them quickly and emphatically.

If the jury isn't out on the Houston hiring, then why should it be on the Rowe hiring? And we know it is much harder to quickly improve a football program than a basketball program due to the number of players. The 10-23 hoops record equates to a 3-8 football record coming on the heels of 2 good seasons. Would we be okay with Houston putting up a 3-8 stinker in his first year? Nope.

You don't get throw away years when you are managing a $44 million athletic budget and get paid in the top 10 of JMU employees. The football coaching hire and the basketball coaching hire matter more than the rest of the sports combined and even moreso now with the Convo funding drive.

There is little to compare here. Mike Houston took over a team with tons of talent and a great quarterback that beat out a former SEC starter. Houston credits most of their success to senior leadership and his coaching staff. If Lou Rowe had inherited an emerging all star point guard and a BB team with the kind of talent our football team had this thread would never exist. Completely different scenarios.