Kind of mixed reactions. He's got a great pedigree, but he's been passed over for a couple of other jobs. Mainly because he's come off as a guy who thinks that the MAC is beneath him.
I think that with the right coach, NIU is a prime "gateway" school. It's got a beautiful arena, a prime location and good fans. Now it's up to a quality coach to turn this team around... and then jump ship.
http://themacdaily.com/index.php?news&nid=642
(03-23-2011 05:45 PM)psc2009 Wrote: [ -> ]Kind of mixed reactions. He's got a great pedigree, but he's been passed over for a couple of other jobs. Mainly because he's come off as a guy who thinks that the MAC is beneath him.
I think that with the right coach, NIU is a prime "gateway" school. It's got a beautiful arena, a prime location and good fans. Now it's up to a quality coach to turn this team around... and then jump ship.
http://themacdaily.com/index.php?news&nid=642
NIU has the most potential of any school in the MAC right now as far as demographics go.
So he was passed over for Charles Ramsey and then Tod Kowalczyk?
I hope he does well at NIU. Agree with everyone who sees the potential.
(03-23-2011 05:45 PM)psc2009 Wrote: [ -> ]Kind of mixed reactions. He's got a great pedigree, but he's been passed over for a couple of other jobs. Mainly because he's come off as a guy who thinks that the MAC is beneath him.
I think that with the right coach, NIU is a prime "gateway" school. It's got a beautiful arena, a prime location and good fans. Now it's up to a quality coach to turn this team around... and then jump ship.
http://themacdaily.com/index.php?news&nid=642
depends how you define "prime location" , being close to a great urban bball city does not mean everything. dekalb definitely has its limitations. not putting it down, just saying that "prime" is questionable.
It's not like D-I schools closer to Chicago prove the point that proximity to Chicagoland is a significant attribute: NW, UIC, Chicago St.(!). It doesn't matter where you get your players from. You just need better recruiters and coaches at NIU, and it's irrelevant if they get the talent from Nashville or Naperville, Baltimore or Berwyn. It's kind of a romantic idea: we'll have a bunch of Chicago kids and get a lot of great press and interest in the local media, but it's not reality. Get good with talent from anywhere and the rest takes care of itself.
(03-24-2011 07:05 AM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]It's not like D-I schools closer to Chicago prove the point that proximity to Chicagoland is a significant attribute: NW, UIC, Chicago St.(!). It doesn't matter where you get your players from. You just need better recruiters and coaches at NIU, and it's irrelevant if they get the talent from Nashville or Naperville, Baltimore or Berwyn. It's kind of a romantic idea: we'll have a bunch of Chicago kids and get a lot of great press and interest in the local media, but it's not reality. Get good with talent from anywhere and the rest takes care of itself.
BERWYN?!
(03-24-2011 09:36 AM)MacLord Wrote: [ -> ] (03-24-2011 07:05 AM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ]It's not like D-I schools closer to Chicago prove the point that proximity to Chicagoland is a significant attribute: NW, UIC, Chicago St.(!). It doesn't matter where you get your players from. You just need better recruiters and coaches at NIU, and it's irrelevant if they get the talent from Nashville or Naperville, Baltimore or Berwyn. It's kind of a romantic idea: we'll have a bunch of Chicago kids and get a lot of great press and interest in the local media, but it's not reality. Get good with talent from anywhere and the rest takes care of itself.
BERWYN?!
(Inside joke if you know Berwyn.)
(03-23-2011 08:43 PM)FlashFan Wrote: [ -> ]I hope he does well at NIU. Agree with everyone who sees the potential.
+1
Seems like a very good hire...
The Chicago area has a lot of mid-level D1 talent that can help Northern Illinois, but most of it leaves the area. DJ Cooper is in Ohio, Carlton Guyton at Kent, Jeremy Montgomery at Cleveland St., Marcus Jordan at UCF, etc.
Not that you would expect them all to stay local, but NIU should be able to build a foundation off of local recruits (along with Loyola University Chicago (who just fired their coach) and UIC). Chicago St. just moved to D1, that school is considered a bit of a troubled school in the state, so I don't know they should be looked at the same way.
Really, a miserably bad NIU is bad for the MAC and I hope the new coach corrects the situation there after the Patton era fiasco.
(03-24-2011 01:20 PM)bopol Wrote: [ -> ]The Chicago area has a lot of mid-level D1 talent that can help Northern Illinois, but most of it leaves the area. DJ Cooper is in Ohio, Carlton Guyton at Kent, Jeremy Montgomery at Cleveland St., Marcus Jordan at UCF, etc.
Not that you would expect them all to stay local, but NIU should be able to build a foundation off of local recruits (along with Loyola University Chicago (who just fired their coach) and UIC). Chicago St. just moved to D1, that school is considered a bit of a troubled school in the state, so I don't know they should be looked at the same way.
Really, a miserably bad NIU is bad for the MAC and I hope the new coach corrects the situation there after the Patton era fiasco.
Chicago State has been DI since 1985 or so.
NIU has the advantage of being close to Chicago, but not being in Chicago. I think that can be a great sell for players wanting to go to away to college, but wanting to stay close enough to home that friends/family can come watch games or that they can go home to visit at any time.
Also, there's a big distinction to be made. There are the Chicago Public League players and Chicagoland players (suburbs).
CPL players have a lot of talent, but often aren't ready to handle being in college. You will see the occasional Derrick Rose or a Sherron Collins, but more often than not they end up going Juco or just fizzling out of school.
Suburban players in the Chicagoland area are more reliable. There is a vast list of productive college players that came from Chicago suburbs that end up being associated with the city of Chicago. D.J. Cooper (South Holland) in the MAC is one, and D. Wade (Oak Lawn) is probably the biggest one people would know of right now.
The problem with Illinois schools I think is deeper than just the recruitment of the Chicago area. However, there aren't many areas in the country that have the amount of basketball talent that it offers.
Being this close to a hot-bed of basketball talent can never be a bad thing. It's how well you recruit it, and how well you compliment your roster with players from other areas, then develop those players that is the key.
(03-24-2011 01:33 PM)MacLord Wrote: [ -> ] (03-24-2011 01:20 PM)bopol Wrote: [ -> ]The Chicago area has a lot of mid-level D1 talent that can help Northern Illinois, but most of it leaves the area. DJ Cooper is in Ohio, Carlton Guyton at Kent, Jeremy Montgomery at Cleveland St., Marcus Jordan at UCF, etc.
Not that you would expect them all to stay local, but NIU should be able to build a foundation off of local recruits (along with Loyola University Chicago (who just fired their coach) and UIC). Chicago St. just moved to D1, that school is considered a bit of a troubled school in the state, so I don't know they should be looked at the same way.
Really, a miserably bad NIU is bad for the MAC and I hope the new coach corrects the situation there after the Patton era fiasco.
Chicago State has been DI since 1985 or so.
My bad.
yeah but if you want to go away to school yet stay fairly close to home that means bradley, niu, ill st, uw milwaukee, valpo, iupui, butler, in st, ball st, western mich just to name some mid majors. NIU is not really at the top of that list as a location, bball school, etc...
(03-25-2011 04:17 AM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]yeah but if you want to go away to school yet stay fairly close to home that means bradley, niu, ill st, uw milwaukee, valpo, iupui, butler, in st, ball st, western mich just to name some mid majors. NIU is not really at the top of that list as a location, bball school, etc...
Yep, there is a lot of competition at the mid-major ranks within say a 150 mile (or more) radius of Chicago.
This explains why success isn't automatic for teams around Chicago, Detroit (ask EMU
), etc.
BTW, I know nothing about Montgomery as a recruiter.
(03-25-2011 04:17 AM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]yeah but if you want to go away to school yet stay fairly close to home that means bradley, niu, ill st, uw milwaukee, valpo, iupui, butler, in st, ball st, western mich just to name some mid majors. NIU is not really at the top of that list as a location, bball school, etc...
The advantage should be that they can be in Chicago more often and easier than other coaches due to their proximity. They
should be in a better position to find diamonds in the rough and make better connections with the coaches.
However, isn't the key more and more being to cater to the AAU coaches (if it isn't already)? I don't know much about it but that might be a different game altogether.
NIU is about 1 to 1:30 drive from Chicago depending on traffic and where you're located. That's a reasonable drive for family and friends to come watch you play and then return home on the same day. A lot of the other schools mentioned aren't that close. A 1 hour drive is reasonable if you get off work at 6 and game starts at 7...and you can get back at a decent hour if you have to work the next day.
I am not saying that this is the only thing recruits will look at, but this definitely an angle where NIU has an advantage over other schools.
And as CMUprof already stated, I think the major advantage is that you don't have to spend as much money or effort recruiting since you are just down the street.
I'm not suggesting NIU should be a winning program based on location alone, but how can you argue that NIU's location is NOT an advantage over a lot of other schools?
And as far as Montgomery as a recruiter...so far I've read nothing but good comments from local AAU coaches, although it has only been only a couple of comments. Sounds like he is well respected in the HS basketball community in Illinois.
He has received nothing but praise from a future hall-of-famer coach (Tom Izzo), which is expected but still nice to hear. But the more telling fact is that MSU fans are ALL sad to see him leave and wishing him nothing but the best.
This hire looks great on paper, Huskie nation is hoping that it actually works out in the long run.
(03-25-2011 09:49 AM)niuliger09 Wrote: [ -> ]He has received nothing but praise from a future hall-of-famer coach (Tom Izzo), which is expected but still nice to hear. But the more telling fact is that MSU fans are ALL sad to see him leave and wishing him nothing but the best.
Oh, I wouldn't say that is entirely true. From a thread on the hire on the Miami board:
Quote:I just spent a few days in Vegas with a couple of big-time MSU alums and they were totally bashing Montgomery! They couldn't wait for him to take a HC job somewhere else. I don't know much about him personally, but my friends will be glad to see him go.
MiamiHawkTalk.com
(03-25-2011 10:22 AM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ] (03-25-2011 09:49 AM)niuliger09 Wrote: [ -> ]He has received nothing but praise from a future hall-of-famer coach (Tom Izzo), which is expected but still nice to hear. But the more telling fact is that MSU fans are ALL sad to see him leave and wishing him nothing but the best.
Oh, I wouldn't say that is entirely true. From a thread on the hire on the Miami board:
Quote:I just spent a few days in Vegas with a couple of big-time MSU alums and they were totally bashing Montgomery! They couldn't wait for him to take a HC job somewhere else. I don't know much about him personally, but my friends will be glad to see him go.
MiamiHawkTalk.com
Eh. Find me a thread at an actual MSU board and I'll maybe start to get worried.
The guy mentioned his "friends"...not exactly a reliable source as his "friends" might not even exist, or could be complete idiots...Then they went on to talk about how Montgomery has a hot wife.
Hardly stuff that would make me worry about the hire.
I'll take this as a good idea of what Spartans fans thought of Monty.
http://michiganstate.247sports.com/Board...-1543332/1
(03-25-2011 10:45 AM)niuliger09 Wrote: [ -> ] (03-25-2011 10:22 AM)axeme Wrote: [ -> ] (03-25-2011 09:49 AM)niuliger09 Wrote: [ -> ]He has received nothing but praise from a future hall-of-famer coach (Tom Izzo), which is expected but still nice to hear. But the more telling fact is that MSU fans are ALL sad to see him leave and wishing him nothing but the best.
Oh, I wouldn't say that is entirely true. From a thread on the hire on the Miami board:
Quote:I just spent a few days in Vegas with a couple of big-time MSU alums and they were totally bashing Montgomery! They couldn't wait for him to take a HC job somewhere else. I don't know much about him personally, but my friends will be glad to see him go.
MiamiHawkTalk.com
Eh. Find me a thread at an actual MSU board and I'll maybe start to get worried.
The guy mentioned his "friends"...not exactly a reliable source as his "friends" might not even exist, or could be complete idiots...Then they went on to talk about how Montgomery has a hot wife.
Hardly stuff that would make me worry about the hire.
I'll take this as a good idea of what Spartans fans thought of Monty.
http://michiganstate.247sports.com/Board...-1543332/1
It was one guy's comment. He said nothing about the wife. The rest of the thread was pretty complimentary.
Nobody was trying to worry you. The idea that ALL fans share any opinion is absurd. Believe only the positive, ignore all the negative if it makes you feel better.
I know nothing about the guy. But I'll bet it won't take a long time before the negatives on Montgomery start flying on the NIU Dog Pound. Why? Standard Operating Procedure.