Article about new hire:

"This isn't a lateral move," Hayford said. "The upside and the future and what we can do at Seattle U in partnering in this great city with this great academic institution. It's not looking at where things are at now. It's looking at where things can be and that's what drew me to this job."

Seattle was once a powerhouse in Division I hoops. Until Gonzaga's trip to the Final Four this season, the last team from the state of Washington to reach the Final Four was Seattle back in 1958. There is history and a legacy of success associated with the program that was not reached in the beginning stages of its return to Division I.

"We were looking for an experienced head coach who had developed a blueprint for our aspirations," athletic director Shaney Fink said.

Hayford was 106-91 in his six seasons with the Eagles, including a pair of 20-win seasons. Hayford took Eastern Washington to the NCAA Tournament in 2015 for the second time in school history. Prior to going to Eastern Washington in 2011, Hayford spent 10 seasons as the head coach at Division III Whitworth, turning the Pirates into a powerhouse at the lower level.

"I want this challenge and I'm glad that they picked me," Hayford said.

http://collegebasketball.ap.org/article/...=AP_Sports

Seattle will be in this same spot 3-4 years from now, firing a head coach, and hiring a crappy replacement.

(03-31-2017 11:01 AM)FINALFOUR1970SWEETSIXTEEN1992 Wrote:  Seattle will be in this same spot 3-4 years from now, firing a head coach, and hiring a crappy replacement.

Care to provide any reasoning why Hayford is a "crappy replacement"

This is a good hire and Hayford is a good coach. Solid move by Seattle.

Not sure how this turned into a hate on FCS by NMSU fans...seriously no FBS conference wants you, that's why you are in Indy status.

(03-31-2017 11:44 AM)SDHornet Wrote:  This is a good hire and Hayford is a good coach. Solid move by Seattle.

Not sure how this turned into a hate on FCS by NMSU fans...seriously no FBS conference wants you, that's why you are in Indy status.

Not all NMSU fans have the same idea... In fact I'm for this move. The WAC has real potential and I've called it for a while now. If SeattleU can become competive again it would be great for the WAC and we could get a bit of attention from that city especially since there is some familiar foes for fans to hate. Seriously in all pro sports Phonix, Seattle and now LA are usually in the same division/conference. The WAC is beginning to take over Phonix and with a little help from the Seattle U admin we could gain interest in the Seattle Area (which is my favorite city btw/ yet to visit). All this benefits NMSU. We bring our brand to those metros and its huge for recruitment and exposure esspicially since we pretty much win at everything. It's establishes us as a winning program. It even helps us in D1 football. Something that most of your schools can't afford. We can offer that to them. Honestly I hope we stay independent and keep our sports in the WAC. If we can somehow build this conference togther, we could be the conference competing with the PAC 12 in MBB. Now to get Denver back to the WAC. ? Also, mid major conferences in football don't matter anymore. How much are schools getting paid in CUSA? 250k per school or something like that? If NMSU schedule 4 money games we make 4 million sort of like being in better mid major conference plus all the exposure. We can offer recruits a P5 schedule

I think Jim Hayford is a good hire for Seattle. Looking at his EWU rosters, it is comprised of five players from the state of Washington, three from California, One from Nevada. And outside the USA, five players from Australia, one from Ukraine, and one from Serbia. So, it appears Hayford has worked the recruiting world in the places where it can help Seattle U.

(04-01-2017 11:48 AM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  I think Jim Hayford is a good hire for Seattle. Looking at his EWU rosters, it is comprised of five players from the state of Washington, three from California, One from Nevada. And outside the USA, five players from Australia, one from Ukraine, and one from Serbia. So, it appears Hayford has worked the recruiting world in the places where it can help Seattle U.

One of those foreign kids also played his HS basketball at Todd Beamer HS in Federal Way just south of Seattle

(04-01-2017 12:05 PM)SeattleVandals Wrote:  

(04-01-2017 11:48 AM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  I think Jim Hayford is a good hire for Seattle. Looking at his EWU rosters, it is comprised of five players from the state of Washington, three from California, One from Nevada. And outside the USA, five players from Australia, one from Ukraine, and one from Serbia. So, it appears Hayford has worked the recruiting world in the places where it can help Seattle U.

One of those foreign kids also played his HS basketball at Todd Beamer HS in Federal Way just south of Seattle

EWU was a fairly high scoring offense with one of the better defenses in the Big Sky. So, it will be interesting to see what Hayford does with Seattle U's existing roster. Aaron Menzies gives the Redhawks a rim protector and a low post presence but he definitely slows down the tempo of the team. Will Hayford adjust his style while Menzies is on the team? Or, doesn't he chose to go to a smaller quicker line up which better fits his style of play? Moore, Kavas, Morgan, and Ulaneo appear to be good young players at Seattle U. Will Hayford build his program around these guys or will he clean house and start from scratch with his own players?

Other than the fact that I think his looks Uncle Fester, I think he will get the Seattle program moving in the right direction.

So whatever happened with the Key Arena issue. Last thing I saw posted on the old WAC board was that the City want to demo it. What is the update on that? And curious if that was a factor in Hayford's decision.

(04-01-2017 02:21 PM)SDHornet Wrote:  So whatever happened with the Key Arena issue. Last thing I saw posted on the old WAC board was that the City want to demo it. What is the update on that? And curious if that was a factor in Hayford's decision.

They extended the lease last year. Not sure for how long. And if a new NBA arena is built, they want to play in it

(04-01-2017 01:44 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(04-01-2017 12:05 PM)SeattleVandals Wrote:  

(04-01-2017 11:48 AM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  I think Jim Hayford is a good hire for Seattle. Looking at his EWU rosters, it is comprised of five players from the state of Washington, three from California, One from Nevada. And outside the USA, five players from Australia, one from Ukraine, and one from Serbia. So, it appears Hayford has worked the recruiting world in the places where it can help Seattle U.

One of those foreign kids also played his HS basketball at Todd Beamer HS in Federal Way just south of Seattle

EWU was a fairly high scoring offense with one of the better defenses in the Big Sky. So, it will be interesting to see what Hayford does with Seattle U's existing roster. Aaron Menzies gives the Redhawks a rim protector and a low post presence but he definitely slows down the tempo of the team. Will Hayford adjust his style while Menzies is on the team? Or, doesn't he chose to go to a smaller quicker line up which better fits his style of play? Moore, Kavas, Morgan, and Ulaneo appear to be good young players at Seattle U. Will Hayford build his program around these guys or will he clean house and start from scratch with his own players?

Other than the fact that I think his looks Uncle Fester, I think he will get the Seattle program moving in the right direction.

I think he will take us back to a 3-point, high scoring team like Dollar had with Umipig and Flora, but with more defense. I hope he can utilize Menzies though. I have heard Menzies is officially staying, and clearly he is our best player. Kavas is a scorer he can work with. Means has so much upside I hope he can work too, and if Montoya can EVER get healthy he is a lockdown perimeter defender.

Biggest thing is if he can keep signee Nate Pryor. Huge scorer and 3A player of the year from West Seattle. Rumors have been he will go to UW with Dollar, but hopefully not.

Hayford turned EWU around and has averaged 22 wins a season the last 3 years. I feel very good about the hire

Definitely agree that it's a good hire for Seattle U. The guy has done a great job at EWU, and he obviously sees the potential at Seattle. I think we'll see a much more consistent Redhawk team than what Dollar has shown us (in a positive way).

Well, Seattle U has lost Nate Pryor. 3A player of the year (Washington goes up to 4A, but best basketball is played in 3A without question) from West Seattle HS and Dollars prized recruit that had been comitted since his freshman year of HS. Had a career average of 19.9 ppg 4.6 rpg 4.8 apg 3.0 spg in Metro League, one of the toughest HS conferences in the nation (Garfield, Rainier Beach, Eastside Catholic, Franklin, Seattle Prep, #1 in nation Nathan Hale, Metro had top 3 finishers in state playoffs this year) and had scored 27 points against Michael Porter Jr and Nathan Hale this season on their way to a 3rd place finish in state.

A major, but expected loss. Local PG Aaron Nettles is still comitted as of now

It's a shame Seattle U. has to lose a talents player at the expense of firing Cameron Dollar. However, looking beyond this recruiting class, the decision had to be made to sever ties with Dollar if the University wants the basketball program to progress beyond its' present stature. I'm sure Hayford will bring in some good Northwest basketball players in the immediate future; to offset the loss of Pryor. And, a year or two down the road the loss of Pryor will be simply an afterthought to the Seattle program and Redhawk fans.

(04-04-2017 02:37 AM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  It's a shame Seattle U. has to lose a talents player at the expense of firing Cameron Dollar. However, looking beyond this recruiting class, the decision had to be made to sever ties with Dollar if the University wants the basketball program to progress beyond its' present stature. I'm sure Hayford will bring in some good Northwest basketball players in the immediate future; to offset the loss of Pryor. And, a year or two down the road the loss of Pryor will be simply an afterthought to the Seattle program and Redhawk fans.

Pryor appeared to be the local star that Dollar had struggled to land for so long. Shame we are losing him, but like UW with Lorenzo Romar/Michael Porter Jr, you don't keep a failing coach because of a recruit. Rumors have been that Pryor will follow Dollar to UW.

After losing Pryor we have 3 open spots for next year assuming Nettles stays signed, no one transfers, and Zack Moore doesn't get put on scholarship.

Hayford will certainly look at his former player, EWU transfer redshirt freshman PG Michael Wearne who announced he is leaving. Former 3-star SF Alphonso Anderson is transferring from Montana and is from Seattle (Garfield HS). Definitely a player Hayford is familiar with. He is redshirt freshman as well, 6'7 215 pounds.

Former 3-star Jashon Agosoto (Garfield) from LIU-Brooklyn and winningest player in WA HS basketball history declared for the NBA draft after his freshman year, but didn't hire an agent so he could return to college. Since LIUB fired their coach, he could look to come back to Seattle (though he stated in his recruitment he had no desire to stay in the Pacific Northwest, which led him to LIUB). 4-star Jaylen Nowell (Garfield) who is still uncomitted, son of Mike Nowell who passed away on staff at SU, is a pipe dream.

One more name to watch for SU:

4-star SF and former Seattle U signee Ar'Mond Davis is transfering from Alabama. He is a native of Tacoma.

Nowell is a no
Davis is a possibility
the Montana kid I'd think he would be a option
the Eastern kid seems like a shoe in.
Agosoto would be nice but doubtful he will come back into the area.

Any possibility that Moore gets put on scholarship? My roommate played against him in high school and said that he was a total douche bag.

(04-04-2017 04:13 PM)SeattleVandals Wrote:  One more name to watch for SU:

4-star SF and former Seattle U signee Ar'Mond Davis is transfering from Alabama. He is a native of Tacoma.

Davis could wind up at Seattle or he could wind up following Dollar to Washington.

(04-04-2017 08:47 PM)ThunderDan49 Wrote:  Any possibility that Moore gets put on scholarship? My roommate played against him in high school and said that he was a total douche bag.

Yes he was put on scholorship for this coming year before Dollar was let go.

And it wouldn't suprise me, douchebagerry is the norm at Bellevue High School. Ask your roommate about their football program lmao.