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NMSU coach Marvin Menzies is who SMU should contact for their next head coach. After beating LaTech tonight, he will have a 102-67 record in 5 years at NMSU. This will be his 2nd NCAA Tournament trip in 5 years with NMSU.

He is also familiar with the Big East, because he served as an assistant coach for Louiville's Rick Pitino. If the administration is serious about having a winning basketball program, they should throw the money they say they are willing to spend at this guy.

I think one thing we need to grasp is that SMU/Orsini isn't going to hunt down guys that, how shall we say, don't have a rep for playing by the rules. I like Menzies style, and I like many of his players, but much of his success is built on the sketchy acquisition of players. IF we're ready to go down that road, and I wish we were, I'd say Menzies is a very good hire. I'm just not sure this admin is committed in that way.

If we had to bet on a slick recruiter that walks a blurry line, vs a squeaky clean, strong X & Os guy, who do we think Turner/Orsini prefer?

..which is why we are going to keep getting what we've gotten (since we are Hell bent on continuing to do what we've been doing)

LHS81 wrote:NMSU coach Marvin Menzies is who SMU should contact for their next head coach. After beating LaTech tonight, he will have a 102-67 record in 5 years at NMSU. This will be his 2nd NCAA Tournament trip in 5 years with NMSU.

He is also familiar with the Big East, because he served as an assistant coach for Louiville's Rick Pitino. If the administration is serious about having a winning basketball program, they should throw the money they say they are willing to spend at this guy.

Don't know if he can coach, but I find it hard to respect a guy named Marvin. I always want to add "the Martian" after his name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marvinthemartain.jpg

to be fair, IF we get a really strong practice/bench coach, we'll be better. Doh has always been so bad in that regard

So, SMU wants to go after Doc Sadler, Greg Lansing, and Paul Hewitt...Might as well just keep DOH for a 7th year if this is the type of coaches SMU is going to "SETTLE" for.

LHS81 wrote:So, SMU wants to go after Doc Sadler, Greg Lansing, and Paul Hewitt...Might as well just keep DOH for a 7th year if this is the type of coaches SMU is going to "SETTLE" for.

I have no idea if they're going after Sadler or not, and they've only contacted Lansing, as far as I know. All that said, Lansing has a pretty good career arc right now. He's only been a head man 2 years, and has a MVC title, NCAA tourney bid, and looks like CIT this year. Good Xs and Os guy etc. I'm not advocating the hire, just saying he & Menzies aren't light years apart in credentials, maybe experience.

As for Hewitt, he's a crap bench coach, but he has a good resume & is an elite recruiter. Its not like he's not in a Menzies class

Would we look at Scott Sutton?

The bottom line is....... whomever is hired....he will get blasted here on the fan boards by our critical fandom. He just needs to prove it on the court as soon as possible. We will be fine with the new hire and am not worried about it at this time.....just get it on...and leave the Doh period behind.

CoxMustangFan wrote:

hoopmanx wrote:

LHS81 wrote:So, SMU wants to go after Doc Sadler, Greg Lansing, and Paul Hewitt...Might as well just keep DOH for a 7th year if this is the type of coaches SMU is going to "SETTLE" for.

I have no idea if they're going after Sadler or not, and they've only contacted Lansing, as far as I know. All that said, Lansing has a pretty good career arc right now. He's only been a head man 2 years, and has a MVC title, NCAA tourney bid, and looks like CIT this year. Good Xs and Os guy etc. I'm not advocating the hire, just saying he & Menzies aren't light years apart in credentials, maybe experience.

As for Hewitt, he's a crap bench coach, but he has a good resume & is an elite recruiter. Its not like he's not in a Menzies class

Does any realistic hire get you excited hoop? I'm sure you've detailed it on some thread somewhere, but this whole basketball situation is depressing.

To be fair, I don't think too many, myself included, knows all that much about who we've contacted. Once again, Turner/Orsini has this search so close to the vest, hard to tell who is really being proactively approached. So, I guess there's hope we make a good hire, if only b/c we seem to have money.

That said, I'm having a really hard time finding a candidate that balances elite recruiting w/true system/practice & bench skill. It seems pretty either/or out there. So yea, I'm pretty bored w/all this already, and we haven't even fired Doh. Right now, it smells like a lackluster process. If it drags, I may go into self-imposed silence.

See, I don't really see us as having critical fans. We're actually pretty beaten into submission by 25 years of athletic nothingness, and we tend to put up w/a lot more than most schools. There are certain candidates that could rally the masses, its just that those hires don't seem to mesh w/how our admin views the school/program. I understand that, as not every school makes sense for filthy coaches, but I just don't see a way out of making that sort of move. The second we decided we'd take that Big East bid. it became a really slippery slope to become truly competitive

CoxMustangFan wrote:

hoopmanx wrote:...I may go into self-imposed silence.

As I've found myself getting more and more critical of the sports teams, I've done the same. Likely been a refreshing vacation for most!

lol, I've definitely reached the point that I'm more pissed & frustrated than I actually take enjoyment from the programs. I need some me time, dammit

I think we're all mixed with emotions about this because we are eager to move forward, excited about the Big East but fearful the administration will produce a coach that has all the appeal of sitting on a cactus.

Deep down, we all care about the program and just want to start feeling good about it again.

Does Marvin Menzies = Scott Drew?

LA_Mustang wrote:Does Marvin Menzies = Scott Drew?

He was headed that way but seems like he's been lower profile since getting the head coach position. The class they had with herb pope -5 star from PA who eventually transferred- was ridiculous, prob better than most of drews classes. While those were Theus guys, menzies-who had been hired by pitino at Lville to replace Theus when he went to nmsu-was thought to be from the dame cloth. Eventually pope left and i believe one or two others.