Who Should be SMU's next coach?

[Dooby]

A serious thread on the subject.

DMN's poll gives the options of (a) An established, big-name coach; or (b) A young, up-and-coming coach.

I'd love it if (a) were an option, but I don't see it that way. Looking back, Copeland actually had a pretty good collection of candidates the last go around. Hopefully, he can do the same in the next couple of months.

Noting the obvious: The season runs through March, if we interview a good assistant at a good program, then we can't hire him until after that. So no panicking when things are awfully quiet for a while.

[Pony_Fan]

I've said it before - Sean Sutton.

[Hoop Fan]

I'm surprised this happened during the season, but after last night, there was no choice. Its a sad day, but its a relief. One good thing Copeland can sell is a long leash. No matter what you think of the job, SMU showed Dement loyalty for 9 years. Thats a long time these days to wait on an NCAA appearance.

[PK]

Considering the situation at Baylor, their "up and coming" new coach seems to be doing pretty well. I would think that prior experience in recruiting Texas would be an important element in choosing the new hire.

[Dooby]

Tossing out a list of random names:
Jessie Evans (La-La)
Steve McClain (Wyoming)(former Tubbs Assistant at TCU)
Dennis Wolff (Boston University)(interviewed 9 years ago)
Joe Scott (Air Force)
Johnny Dawkins (Duke Assistant)
Steve Wojciechowski (Duke Assistant)

Edit: as mentioned above, Sean Sutton at OSU is a good suggestion.

[Pony_Fan]

Considering the situation at Baylor, their "up and coming" new coach seems to be doing pretty well. I would think that prior experience in recruiting Texas would be an important element in choosing the new hire.

I'd hardly say he was up and coming. He had tons of success at Valpo.

Drew was named the 1998-99 National Recruiter of the Year by Court Vision and helped produce what Hoop Scoop magazine named the nation’s sixth-best recruiting class in 2001 (per average talent), the 13th-best in 1999 (per average talent) and the 27th-best in 2003 (per average talent), a class that included three Top-100 national recruits.

[gostangs]

What is Penders up to these days?

[Longtime]

The Valpo coach who had longtime success is Homer Drew.

The Baylor coach is his son, Scott Drew, who was the head coach for one season at Valpo after his dad retired. Homer un-retired when Scott left for Baylor.

Yes, Scott was known to be a good recruiter as an assistant. Most of his success was in recruiting foreign athletes.

[Dooby]

Surely no one is suggesting we hire Scott Drew. That wouldn't make much sense from his perspective.

[BigEasyPony]

I've been on record for this for awhile now so I'm sticking with it. Matt Doherty.

[Duke Blue Blood]

Matt Dougherty. Please tell me you are joking. He had all the talent in the world and drove the Carolina program into the dumps!

DBB

[TacoPony]

on Matt Doherty:

the prima donna UNC players couldn't handle the coach with the tough personality. Doherty's teams went 26-7 (AP Coach of the Year, NCAA #2 seed), then 8-20, then 19-16. This all with players who didn't like him and threatened to transfer.

But the 26-7 team didn't seem to have a problem, and the Notre Dame teams didn't seem to have a problem with him.

he's still actually unproven, but maybe that's why SMU might have a chance...

[PK]

Surely no one is suggesting we hire Scott Drew. That wouldn't make much sense from his perspective.

In my post, I was just responding to the question brought up in your initial post of whether we should go after (a) An established, big-name coach; or (b) A young, up-and-coming coach.

I only referenced Baylor to suggest that option (b) can work...not that we should try to get Drew.

[PonyTales]

Doherty won't take the SMU job -- not high-profile enough.

Fran Fraschilla is my choice.

[RGV Pony]

Fran Fraschilla went to a situation at UNM where the entire city, administration, and for the most part state is behind a basketball program to win. He wound up resigning, leaving the Lobo faithful longing for the days of Dave Bliss. Kind of like when we pine for the days of Ron Meyer.

I'm on the record for my choice. Bob Hoffman.