Is the Grasshopper totally screwing up this hire???

[fishwater99]

Or does he come out with a good hire and surprise everyone? To me he is looking like he is in over his head and learning some hard lessons in the process.

1. Our program is a dumpster fire because our "old coach" left it that way. We only have 6 scholarship players returning and only three of them are worth starting, one of which can't play until late December. And our current best player is being wooed to transfer to Louisville by Pitino. We have no point guard, and the one signed wants out of his LOI. We have no low post presence for next year. Who wants to come into that situation and rebuild?

2. Coaches we have contacted are slipping their name to the media and using use that to get a raise or just to drum up interest for future jobs.

3. Scott has been turned down by our Top choices, and now he is back to square one.

4. I now hear that our AD is trying to hire a coach who doesn't want to play the AAU game, are you kidding me??

5. We are Mississippi State and nobody wants to live in S-Vegas........

 

[Irondawg]

The worst thing he's done is allow the opinion of the program to look worse than it really is. I in no way see the program as a dumpster fire/toxic situation for a new coach.<div>
</div><div>1) To start with you're going to get a huge salary, nice facilities and a pretty supportive fan base.</div><div>
</div><div>2) Next you don't play in an elite conference, so getting to the NCAA is not a huge mountain to climb like it would be for the worst team in the Big East for example.</div><div>
</div><div>3) Yeah, your roster has some problems but you have a great player and person in Hood to build around and if you keep the current class together there is some talent. Yeah, it's young, but that actually helps b/c you don't worry about mutiny from players loyal to the old coach.</div><div>
</div><div>4) A recruiting area that isn't dominated by another perennial Top 20 program.</div><div>
</div><div>However my biggest concern with Scott is that he seems to be steering clear of guys who have ties to shady recruiting. Sounds good in theory but like all the stuff in the other post said, it's suicide to try and go squeaky clean. To win basketball games consistently you need talent and to get talent these days you have to play that AAU game.</div><div>
</div><div>If Groce or Prohm or Smart brought his same team to last year's MSU schedule ask yourself if they would have even been in the NCAA tourney to begin with - I'd say no honestly.</div>

 

[JackShephard]

We may already have our guy but can't or won't announce until after the championship game. Maybe it's as big a cluster17 as it appears. We don't know yet but we will soon

 

[JimmyBags]

It appears he has lost control

 

[ckDOG]

Besides the personnel issues we've had the past few seasons and leading into next season, is there any other negative perception about our bball program that has been built up in the coaching community over the years? I ask this because I know everyone's heard passing comments about "$tan$" being dirty, "juicy jumbo" payments, etc. etc.

Do coaches have the perception that the only reason MSU has been competitive at times is because we've been breaking the rules? Coaches don't want to take jobs where penalties are possible just like programs don't want to hire coaches that are rumored to have the NCAA's attention (e.g. Scott Drew).

I'm not suggesting this is reality, but I know the suggestion that we have a dirty program has been there for years. I like to think it's just the typical condescending attitude projected towards us when little ol' MSU shows any kind of success. However, perception, merited or not, can be a big obstacle to overcome.

 

[KurtRambis4]

*

 

[Hanmudog]

What if everything we have heard is total and complete crap and the real first choice is an assistant still coaching in the Final Four? Personally I would still be content with a hungryassistant from a big time program like Kentucky or Kansas that is out to prove himself as a head man over some guy that is just the flavor of the month like Darrin Horn or some of those other guys once were.

Hey it worked with Mullen so why not try it in basketball?

 

[Irondawg]

There's a good hire out there - we just need to find him

 

[patdog]

But I don't think there's much doubt that Drew turned us down yesterday.

 

[BillBraskyDOG]

You are absolutely crazy if you think we turned down SCOTT Drew. You're insane, I repeat insane if you think scott drew wanted to come here and we said no. That didn't happen.

 

[ckDOG]

Pretend I said Tim Floyd or some other coach that has baggage or is rumored to be under NCAA scrutiny. My point was, perception works both ways.

 

[CadaverDawg]

First off, this initially came from a buddy of mine that reads this board, but I heard it again a day later from a different person.

Supposedly there was talk of Dooley becoming the head coach, so the subject of assistant coaches was discussed by he and Grasshopper. Long story short, it was looking like Dooley was going to be the Head Coach and Phil Cunningham was going to stay on as an assistant and recruiter. This was going to help with the transition and the attempt to salvage the recruiting class, especially with Kansas possibly going deep into the tourney. I was even told that both sides were happy with this, because Dooley wanted a guy with good MS contacts and Scott likes Phil. But who knows.

Now, like I said, it's complete rumor and I don't know if Scott would have talked directly to Dooley while he is prepping for NCAA tourney games. So, I'm thinking there's no truth to it. But It will be interesting to see how that turns out. At first I thought, well it wouldn't be my first choice but I would be fine with it....Now, I would take this scenario in a heartbeat.

I'm sure all of the people with the great "sources" ,and the SPS "insiders" will respond by poking holes in this rumor, but rumors are encouraged so I don't give a 17. Take it for what it is

 

[Irondawg]

I know some people knock on Phil, but I've heard stories that he's a very good recruiter as well so I have no problem keeping him or Grant for continuity.

 

[jb1020]

I'm not sending another nickle to MSU!!!111!!!1111!!1

 

[Shmuley]

after the Rich Rodriguez/Rita debacle in late 06. They wanted Mal Moore's *** strung from the top of Denny Chimes. Ol Mal spun that chicken **** into some pretty damn good chicken salad.

No, I don't expect loafer to generate those kind of results, but I think I'll let it play totally out before declaring him the second coming of Lonnie.

 

[DAWG61]

First off, this initially came from a buddy of mine that reads this board, but I heard it again a day later from a different person.

Supposedly there was talk of Dooley becoming the head coach, so the subject of assistant coaches was discussed by he and Grasshopper. Long story short, it was looking like Dooley was going to be the Head Coach and Phil Cunningham was going to stay on as an assistant and recruiter. This was going to help with the transition and the attempt to salvage the recruiting class, especially with Kansas possibly going deep into the tourney. I was even told that both sides were happy with this, because Dooley wanted a guy with good MS contacts and Scott likes Phil. But who knows.

Now, like I said, it's complete rumor and I don't know if Scott would have talked directly to Dooley while he is prepping for NCAA tourney games. So, I'm thinking there's no truth to it. But It will be interesting to see how that turns out. At first I thought, well it wouldn't be my first choice but I would be fine with it....Now, I would take this scenario in a heartbeat.

I'm sure all of the people with the great "sources" ,and the SPS "insiders" will respond by poking holes in this rumor, but rumors are encouraged so I don't give a 17. Take it for what it is

 

[fishwater99]

Nm