(02-25-2021 06:17 PM)holyterror Wrote:  

(02-25-2021 05:55 PM)Dylan Wrote:  

(02-25-2021 05:20 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  

(02-25-2021 04:41 PM)Stammers Wrote:  

(02-25-2021 02:39 PM)salukiblue Wrote:  Haha, I feel bad for him a bit.

He's the fifth leading scorer on a team that is 2-17.

He's averaging fewer minutes as a Junior on a team that is 0-14 in conference than he was as a frosh here.

It is always interesting to look back at potential coaches after Pastner left. It is far from an exact science to put it mildly. IF you aren't a blueblood, it is likely that you think you can get a coach that you can't, and even when you make a good hire on paper, it often doesn't pan out. Here is the list of names people were talking about, and others such as Mike White, that went to Florida the year before.

Gregg Marshall - Turned us down
Shaka Smart - Turned us down
Archie Miller - Turned us down
Tom Crean - Flaming out at Georgia
Jim Calhoun - Out of coaching for 6 years, hired at DIII level
Bobby Hurley - Turned us down, or would have turned us down, 1 NCAA and no wins in 6 years at ASU
Dan Hurley - Too lazy to look it up, but I hate him
Mike White - Louisiana Tech to Florida, Elite 8, Round of 32, Round of 32, probably would have been around the same here.
Larry Eustachy - Colorado State, 10-14 his least season in 2018
Tim Floyd - Last season 1-5 at UTEP in 2018; No NCAA 6 years before Pastner left
Steve Masiello - Still at Manhattan, 35-55 since Pastner left
Damon Stoudamire - Pacific, 70-75, I couldn't find any other D1 offers
Andy Kennedy - Ole Piss 14-18 before leaving, 1st season at UAB, no other offers I could find
Ron Hunter - 21 years coaching with 5 decent years at Georgia State
Brad Underwood - Did well at SFA, then turned Illinois around. Illinois looks really good his 4th year there.

So out of all the coaches we talked about, the only one that would have possibly taken the job, who would have been reasonably expected to do well (eventually) is Brad Underwood. Maybe Shaka Smart has turned the corner, but year 6 at Texas and all he has to show for it is 2 NCAA appearances and no wins after 5 seasons.

All this to say that everyone can continue to crap on Pastner for all of his very real shortcomings; but the reality IS that he went to 4 tournaments in a row. None of the coaches who would have taken the job have even come close to doing that, and even great hires on paper like Miller and Smart, have struggled.

It is a bottom line business. For all of his faults, Pastner DID make the tournament 4 times in a row, and won 2 games. A monkey could recruit and win at Memphis? In the last 5 years, Hurley, Prohm, Smart, Underwood and Crean have made the tournament 5 times COMBINED and have 5 wins combined.

A few others were mentioned at various times in recent years:

Chris Beard - Definitely mentioned as a Pastner replacement. Ended up taking TTU after we hired Tubby. We likely could have got him. He's done okay for himself.

Scott Drew - He might have been considered as Cal's replacement - I've lost track. A bit controversial, but he's doing okay at Baylor.

Steve Forbes - He's had his supporters every time the job has opened up. Did well at ETSU and finally got the big job. He's struggling in his 1st year at Wake.

Will Wade - Definitely mentioned to replace Pastner, and we could have most certainly got him. He's proven to be a winner and a survivor. With all the stench around his program, he keeps his job - and even keeps playing Javonte Smart.

Wade was part of that “mindfulness” crew with Graber and Pastner. He wasn’t coming here to replace his buddy.

Seems like we got turned down by Leonard Hamilton at some point too.

The story with Hamilton is apparently that he wanted the job, but RC kept stalling and then lowballed him to make him turn down the job. The 2016 version of Leonard Hamilton was 65 years old and hadn't made the tournament in 4 years. It would have for sure been a risky hire.