Looks like Hipsher may be unemployed again...

[The Hip Zip]

Heath fired at Arkansas By NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports WriterMarch 26, 2007LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Stan Heath was fired Monday after five seasons as basketball coach at Arkansas after losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. The Razorbacks made the NCAA tournament thanks to a late-season run, but that was not enough to save Heath's job. Arkansas (21-14) lost 77-60 to Southern California in the first round. Arkansas spokesman Kevin Trainor said Heath and athletic director Frank Broyles met Monday morning, and Broyles informed Heath of the decision. "The decision to make a coaching change was difficult due to the respect I have for Stan Heath," Broyles said in a release. "He represented the University of Arkansas with professionalism and integrity. ... However, in my professional judgment, it is best that the program move forward under new leadership in our efforts to return Razorback basketball to national prominence." Heath met with reporters in Fayetteville shortly after the announcement. "I'm a little surprised, but in this business, universities have the right to make decisions," Heath said. "They have the right to make choices about what they want and what they feel is best for their university." After Heath led Can't State to the round of eight in the NCAA tournament in 2002, he took over at Arkansas that offseason after Nolan Richardson was fired. The Razorbacks missed the tournament his first three seasons but made it in 2006 and 2007, losing in the first round each time. Arkansas went 9-19 in 2002-03, then improved its win total for three straight seasons. Heath's record at the school was 82-71, but he went 31-49 in Southeastern Conference play. When the Razorbacks struggled toward the end of the regular season, reports surfaced that Heath would be fired if Arkansas did not make the NCAA tournament. The Razorbacks then won five straight games and reached the SEC tournament final. Arkansas made the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed before being blown out by the Trojans. "About five years ago, when I came here, I knew it was a hard, hard job -- the environment was tough," Heath said. "There were a lot of things we had to deal with, and we found a way to get through that. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of the fact that this program is better now than it was five years ago when we started." Broyles, who is retiring at the end of the season, said the search for a replacement will begin immediately. Whoever coaches Arkansas next season will inherit plenty of talent. The Razorbacks had no seniors on this season's roster. Guard Patrick Beverley was named SEC newcomer of the year and fellow freshmen Stefan Welsh and Michael Washington were contributing by the end of the season.Maybe BG will call Dan, who knows?? It's unlikely that he'll stay at Arkansas.

[GoZips]

Dan Hipsher is a fine man. I like and respect him. Is he a great D-1 head coach?Probably not. An excellent assistant who knows the game. Actually, coach Hipsher might be an outstanding candidate for the Bowling Green job.I wish him all the best. For you bashers ... remember this, it was Hip who got KD backinto D-1 coaching. Thanks, Dan.

[UAZipster0305]

I don't think Heath's performance warrants being fired! He turned the program around and went to the NCAA's the past two years. I don't think that's fair and is why I'd never want to be a coach. What do you all think?You'd think stability would be a good thing for a program...that's why I like what we have with KD here!

[UA Fan]

Actually, coach Hipsher might be an outstanding candidate for the Bowling Green job.

iirc, dh is a bgsu alum and they were interested in him while he was having success at akron, but he wanted to stay at akron so they got dakich instead.where is coleman crawford these days?

[zip37]

I have no use for Hipsher, but he is in his element as an assist.

[GoZips88]

Not a big Hipsher fan here. He might know his X's and O's but from all I witnessed and have gathered, he didn't treat his players very well at all. It will be interesting to see if BG is interested. I like having an Akron guy coaching at Akron and wish Hipsher the best if he does somehow end up coaching at his alma mater.

[ZipAlumn]

I don't think Heath's performance warrants being fired! He turned the program around and went to the NCAA's the past two years. I don't think that's fair and is why I'd never want to be a coach. What do you all think?You'd think stability would be a good thing for a program...that's why I like what we have with KD here!

Unfortunately in coaching as in business and life. it's "what have you done for me lately" and "why can't you be more like ....". Is it fair - NO .... do I like it - NO. Everyone has bad day, bad weeks, bad years, but they should always be measured against the good. The job you do should be judged on more than the results of your last game or your last assignment. When I was in a position of authority I tried to judge people that way, and any success I had in my career (which was pretty successful) was due entirely to the people that worked for me.

[Zip Watcher]

Dan Hipsher won't be unemployed very long. He's an asset to a high major program as an offensive coach / strategist. I'm sure he'll land somewhere soon. It's good that Arkansas pulled the trigger this week. Final Four is when most of the gigs .. both head and assistant coaches .. settle out.On a related note .. rumors swirling that Dakitch will end up at New Mexico as one of Alford's assisstants.

[blueandgold]

Let's hope Hipsher ends up at BG. We need two guaranteed MAC East wins each season.

[skip-zip]

Programs like Arkansas are going to pull the trigger on a coach sooner rather than later when they don't see that they are moving towards "national championship" caliber. Sure, he was probably doing "a pretty good job", just like Tubby Smith. But at certain programs, "pretty good" is not what the school, or the fans want. I'm still rather amused at the fact that the previous two Can't coaches were derailed in their attempts to move into the big time ranks of college coaching. And it still amazes me that a seasoned athletic administrator like Frank Broyles would have chosed Heath after only one year as head coach, especially when his success had so much to do with the players he had returning. I'm no Hipsher fan either, but it would seem that he would at least be a candidate for the BG job considering his connection to the school. I think they'll be sorry if they pick him though.

[Blue & Gold]

I've never seen a team quit on (and apparently despise) a head coach like Hipsher's team did. A team featuring talents such as Ryan Andrick, Jimmal Ball and Jamie Bosley. Something was not right there.

[timmyboy]

I've never seen a team quit on (and apparently despise) a head coach like Hipsher's team did. A team featuring talents such as Ryan Andrick, Jimmal Ball and Jamie Bosley. Something was not right there.

he treated his players like crap...so nobody wanted to try anymore, there s only so much they could take and i guess they reached their limit.

[Zips fan]

Dan was a great guy and I feel that he is a capable head coach. He brought a team in bad shape up to a competitive level. When Hipsher was let go, the team had fallen below .500 and it was time to go, but they had several winning seasons. He left the team stronger than when he arrived. He has some conflicts with players over priorities but that is expected. He wanted the players in his program to achieve more than the players were willing to give. I wish Dan luck and if he does end up at BG don't plan on those being easy wins. There is a lot of pride for a coach at his alma mater and I think Dan would do a great job.

[skip-zip]

What was very visible about the Hipsher-era teams was that they underachieved. You have no choice but to look at the coach when that happens. He gathered a group of talented young guys together as freshmen and sophomores (the players mentioned), and we all thought we'd see great things from them by the time they were seniors. And what did we get? A pretty decent team over the next few years that ended their careers by taking a first-round exit from the MAC tournament as seniors. It was really dissappointing. He never recovered from that. I remember an interview with Hipsher right after he finally won a MAC tournament game during one of this last seasons. And when he was questioned about why it took so long to win a MAC tournament game, he responded with something along the lines of "hey, it's the first time any Akron coach has won a MAC tournament game". As if it was some sort of great accomplishment. I knew at that moment that he didn't have the attitude to take us where we needed to go.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I will be blunt:There is no MAC school stupid enough to hire Hipsher. He was a train wreck at Akron. Everyone knows it. Words to describe his teams include:UnderachievingUnderperformingNepotism-ladenUninspiredSure he left the team better than he found it....that's not too tough when your predecessor hands you a 3-20-whatever squad. I thank Dan Hipsher for Z-E-R-O.No one remembers Bryan Hipsher? The kid couldn't have warmed the bench for Tiffin, yet he was logging major minutes for the Zips. I could go on and on...Gheez....

[Valpo Zip]

I think that Hipsher can compete or may be even beat Buffalo's Witherspoon for the worst Mac Coach award.

[Z.I.P.]

Considering the resources he has, I think Reggie Witherspoon is one of the BEST coaches in the MAC. How long will it be before a FB coach achieves what he has at UB?

[Z.I.P.]

where is coleman crawford these days?

Coleman is Head Coach at Richland Community College in Dallas. After he and Steve Robinson were fired by Florida St., he was Asst Coach at SMU for a couple years (again, HC fired), then he coached a minor league (ABL or something) team in Dallas before taking his current position.Regardless of his success or lack thereof as Akron HC, Coleman is one of the most respected coaches of post players, as well as the nicest guy I've ever met in the profession.Hope he gets back to D-1.

[exexec]

I agree with CK:UnderachievingUnderperformingNepotism-ladenUninspiredThe reason why he did so poorly late in the season is that he treated his players very poorly-that even includes his own sons. I heard a tirade once outside the locker room-I was standing outside smoking a cig. It was so bad I even emailed the ad about how foul and disgusting it was and I am not a prude.

[The Hip Zip]

Considering the resources he has, I think Reggie Witherspoon is one of the BEST coaches in the MAC. How long will it be before a FB coach achieves what he has at UB?

I think Reggie has done a fantastic job of recruiting some talent that brought the program up from the ashes, but do not think that he is a great game day coach by any stretch. He may be in for some more lean years following the graduation of Idbihi and the pending transfer of his best young scorer Moore. I think the immediate future of UB hoops will be rather bleak.And by the way, I hope that Dan does gets a MAC head coaching gig. He is better than at least a half dozen guys that were on the bench last season including Tim O'Shea. Also,don't discount the speculation that Andy may resurface somewhere in the MAC eventually after a stint at Utah Valley State as an assistant coach to Dick Hunsaker. Should Dan get a HC gig somewhere, the two Hipshers may again be on the same bench.

[Valpo Zip]

Considering the resources he has, I think Reggie Witherspoon is one of the BEST coaches in the MAC. How long will it be before a FB coach achieves what he has at UB?

I don't care about FB here. But i think that witherspoon had a lot of excellent players that he didn't know how to use. Idbihi, Middleton, Jordan and Moore are some of the finest MAC players i've seen.Witherspoon cannot see that because he is always busy crying to the refs rather than coaching his team.

[Zip Watcher]

I don't think I'd like to see DHip on an opposing bench anytime soon. It would be like playing Miami an extra 2 times. Say what you want about the roster / player problems while he was here, the guy could coach from the bench when he wanted to. In drawing up a play to get a good shot, he's an expert.Life's all about learning from the past & making your best of second chances, isn't it? We should all know that. And if DHip finds a way to better communicate w/ players and keeps his offensive-minded brain sharp .. he could become a pretty tough guy to beat. I don't see him as a threat to UA's ascension to NCAA elite status if he goes to BG, but I'd just as soon have BG continue to suck. Besides, I don't see them ditching Dakitch to just bring in a very similar style coach. I think they're going in a different direction altogether. There's a new AD there & he needs to put his stamp on something .. and it will be basketball. He's gonna have 2 searches going at once & it will be interesting to see what he does.My bet's on Cuonzo Martin or Jay Price for the BG job. Just a hunch. I think Martin would probably be ready for this step.

[Captain Kangaroo]

And by the way, I hope that Dan does gets a MAC head coaching gig. He is better than at least a half dozen guys that were on the bench last season including Tim O'Shea.

No way.Hipsher was "Dan Dakich Lite." Bring the team to respectability...burn the team out...get fired. At least Dakich could win a few games in the MAC tourney.I'm no O'Shea fan, but at least Tim O'Shea took a team to the NCAA's. Hipsher couldn't win a single MAC tourney game to save his life.No MAC school is stupid enough to hire Dan Hipsher. Everyone saw his "act" up close and personal for 9 years. That was his head coaching audition. He blew it.

[timmyboy]

Dru even mentioned it during his speech this past monday, that when he used to come to the games he would fall asleep. thats because nobody wanted to play for hipser because they didnt like him and how he used to treat them. I can thank hipser for one thing though, gettin KD on his coaching staff because had it not been hipser asking him to join, it would have been some other university asking him (KD) to join their coaching staff and we would still be stuck in the bottom, and been the laughing stock of the MAC...... so for that, i as well as alot of other zips fans thank you hipser!

[UA Fan]

where is coleman crawford these days?

Coleman is Head Coach at Richland Community College in Dallas. After he and Steve Robinson were fired by Florida St., he was Asst Coach at SMU for a couple years (again, HC fired), then he coached a minor league (ABL or something) team in Dallas before taking his current position.Regardless of his success or lack thereof as Akron HC, Coleman is one of the most respected coaches of post players, as well as the nicest guy I've ever met in the profession.Hope he gets back to D-1.

thanks for the update