Jim Christian leaving Athens?

[skip-zip]

I don't think this is true. Jon Smith bailed, but the rest of the team played pretty darn hard.

It will be interesting, for sure.

If Smith and N'Dour both leave, along with the graduation of Kellogg, Wilkins, Johnson, and Hall, I would be surprised if it wouldn't be looked at as a true Rebuilding project.

And I have to wonder....was Boals even considered at all ?

[Big Zip]

What a great hire! I thought for sure this guy was in line for a bigger step than the MAC. Going tobe some different ball being played in Athens. I think he can save the players rumored to be leaving too.

[GP1]

And I have to wonder....was Boals even considered at all ?

No. DiG posted a link earlier in this thread.

[GoZips88]

Damn it ... on the surface, seems to be an excellent hire.

I wonder how long it will be before Saul hears banjos and looks elsewhere?

[skip-zip]

No. DiG posted a link earlier in this thread.

Because some reporter cites "a source" told him OU was not looking for an assistant, that means it's true? After the OU AD had just hired an assistant for the last coaching replacement?

[Dr Z]

OU's Saul Phillips has experience winning in the NCCA tournament. Seems like a good hire for the Mac.

More here from ohiobobcats.

[Quickzips]

Good hire for the Bobcats, but his first order of business has to be keeping some of the talent they have remaining and finding new talent. The bobcats have graduated a lot of talent over the last two years, and the rumors of multiple defections in the wake of Christian are only compounding that. First order of business for him has to be convincing Ndour to stick around for his last year. Even with Ndour the Bobcats really don't have any kind of significant depth for next season. It might not be a full on rebuilding job, but Phillips has some work to do if he wants to keep the Bobcats competitive the next couple of years.

[Dave in Green]

Skip, since there's no official word on whether or not Jeff Boals was considered, the reporter's source in the story I linked to is the best information we've got. My take is that makes it less likely he was considered but doesn't absolutely confirm it. All we can do is speculate unless someone has a really reliable inside source. Also, there's no "if" about Jon Smith leaving as this was his 5th season of eligibility.

Phillips appears to be a pretty good hire. His record as a head coach is a little spotty. He was an assistant at NDSU who was promoted to head coach. His first season's (2007-2008) record was 16-13 which jumped to 26-7 in his second season. But then it fell to 11-18, 14-15 and 17-14 over the next three seasons. His record improved to 24-10 and 26-6 over the past two seasons with star players Taylor Braun and Marshall Bjorklund, who Zips fans got to see Zeke shut down at the JAR. Both finished their careers this season, and it's unclear if Phillips recruited enough quality players to replace them. Braun is from Oregon and Bjorklund from Minnesota, so Phillips was able to recruit at least two quality players from out of state to play in lovely Fargo, North Dakota. Athens, Ohio, is a garden spot by comparison with a more established basketball program, so maybe Phillips will do even better at OU.

[OZoner]

Schaus' stated preference is to hire head coaches with prior HC experience. Since John Groce, oddly enough, that has been his pattern. So I would not expect Boals to have been seriously considered.

[Zipmeister]

Now that we have that all settled we can focus on the more import issue of which MAC team Christian will be coaching next. My early prediction is Central Michigan.

[zippy5]

I say K-S-U

[Dave in Green]

JSF, isn't it odd that Schaus prefers candidates with head coaching experience when the only one without head coaching experience he's hired (Groce) delivered the best results (Sweet 16 run)?

[OZoner]

JSF, isn't it odd that Schaus prefers candidates with head coaching experience when the only one without head coaching experience he's hired (Groce) delivered the best results (Sweet 16 run)?

Quite. But I suppose Phillips compares pretty favorably to Groce from a buzz standpoint but is coming in with more experience.

[Dave in Green]

Beyond the obvious of having head coaching experience, I'm not sure I'd agree that Phillips' creds are greater than Groce's prior to arriving at OU:

1996–1997 Wisconsin (operations)
1997–1999 Wayne State College (asst.)
1999–2001 Lake Superior State (asst.)
2001–2004 UW–Milwaukee (asst.)
2004–2007 North Dakota State (asst.)
2007–2014 North Dakota State (head)

1993–1996 Taylor (asst.)
1996–2000 NC State (asst.)
2000–2001 Butler (asst.)
2001–2004 Xavier (asst.)
2004–2008 Ohio State (asst.)

[OZoner]

Beyond the obvious of having head coaching experience, I'm not sure I'd agree that Phillips' creds are greater than Groce's prior to arriving at OU:

1996–1997 Wisconsin (operations)

1997–1999 Wayne State College (asst.)

1999–2001 Lake Superior State (asst.)

2001–2004 UW–Milwaukee (asst.)

2004–2007 North Dakota State (asst.)

2007–2014 North Dakota State (head)

1993–1996 Taylor (asst.)

1996–2000 NC State (asst.)

2000–2001 Butler (asst.)

2001–2004 Xavier (asst.)

2004–2008 Ohio State (asst.)

But that head coaching experience pretty much trumps the assistant experience, no? Especially with an NCAA tournament win under his belt?

[Dr Z]

Especially with an NCAA tournament win under his belt?

Yes.

[Captain Kangaroo]

It seems like there are two routes to having a successful head coaching situation in the mAC.

1.) Hire a good coach and keep him for a couple decades.

2.) Become a stepping stone to a BCS-level job and hire up-and-coming young guys, ride their wave, and when they ultimately get their BCS gig, go find another one. You do that a couple times, and it gets easier and easier to find that quality replacement coach.

[Dave in Green]

While I give credit to Phillips for his single NCAA tournament game win as a head coach, a feat that Zips fans can especially appreciate, the things I like about Groce's creds prior to OU are that he had more experience against higher-level competition and more post-season success as an assistant with winning programs in major conferences. His team won at least 1 NIT game every season at NC State, 2 NCAA tournament games in his only season at Butler, 5 NCAA tournament games at Xavier and 6 NCAA tournament games and an NIT championship at tOSU.

In his first head coaching position at OU, Groce was able to quickly translate that winning assistant experience into an NCAA tournament game win in his second season and 2 more in his 4th and final season there. In any case, there's no magic formula that guarantees that a head coach with limited success at a lower level will outperform an assistant coach with more consistent success at a higher level, or vice versa.

[Valpo Zip]

Can anyone fill in the blanks?

BC chose to hire Jim Christian over Philips because ___________________

[Captain Kangaroo]

In any case, there's no magic formula that guarantees that a head coach with limited success at a lower level will outperform an assistant coach with more consistent success at a higher level, or vice versa.

Nothing is guaranteed. But good/great AD's always seem to locate a quality candidate. They can identify a young up-and-comer that has what it takes to win at a high level regardless of his assistant or HC history. Guys like Mack Rhodes and Mike Thomas didn't bat 1.000, but they were a lot better than average...and hence they are now running bigger programs. Successfully.

Some AD's suck, and have no knack for coaching hires.

Some AD's suck, and have deep pockets so they can bail themselves out of mistakes.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Can anyone fill in the blanks?

BC chose to hire Jim Christian over Philips because ___________________

The BC AD sucks?

[skip-zip]

2.) Become a stepping stone to a BCS-level job and hire up-and-coming young guys, ride their wave, and when they ultimately get their BCS gig, go find another one. You do that a couple times, and it gets easier and easier to find that quality replacement coach.

Interesting that you bring this up today, because I was just sitting with a client today who has been well connected for years with Ken+ State.

We talked about how Ken+ has continued this similar kind of string for well over a decade now. And they've also been fortunate enough to find that "up and coming" replacement from WITHIN.

However, it looks like they've now reached the end of the line. According to my "good source" Rob S. would have been gone right now, if it wasn't for the fact that he is only 2 yrs. into his contract. But, he's done at the end of next year, and they will probably sink even further before he's gone.

[GP1]

Can anyone fill in the blanks?

BC chose to hire Jim Christian over Philips because ___________________

Because they are trying to reestablish the long history of mediocrity that is BC basketball.?.?

[Zipmeister]

Can anyone fill in the blanks?

BC chose to hire Jim Christian over Philips because ___________________

He decided to hire in alphabetical order.

[Z.I.P.]

_{The BC AD is the former Miami AD Brad Bates, hired in 2012. He may just be expressing favoritism to his old conference. Who knows?}

_{Background: http://espn.go.com/boston/ncf/story/_/id/8482990/boston-college-eagles-hire-brad-bates-new-athletic-director}