Poll: Your thoughts on the Pikiell Hire
- Thread starter MadRU
- Start date
Beyond discouraged. This was probably the worst of the hires we could have made outside of Cluess. If the America East is the best we can do, we don't belong in the Big Ten.
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He's a solid college coach. That's a step in the right direction. We'll see how it goes.
Hobbs said there is supposed to be announcement about the practice facility fundraising next month.
He hasn't won fewer than 20 games in any season since 2011 and he's been to more ncaa tourneys as head coach of SB than ru has been to in the last 30 years. How much better than that could we have gotten
Where do you think great HC's come from? Coach K coached at Army - ARMY - for crying out loud!
I voted "happy" as I already gave the hire a "B+ of REALISTIC candidate choices, in the "hired' thread," and believe that "thrilled" is an option for "unrealistic" candidates.
That's how a good coach's career path goes. Start out as an assistant at a major school. Then get a head coaching job at a mid major. Then earn yourself a head coaching job at a high major. Pikiell followed those steps.
Yes he did. But for every Coach K there are 50 who don't make it at all. Two sides to every story. That said, I hope this guy makes it. I just don't think he will. Rutgers needed to hit a home run with a proven established coach at a significant school. Ford, Sendek, someone like that. Pikiell is proven. He's established. But it's Stony Brook. I just can't see that cutting it against Ohio State, let alone Michigan State. We will see though. Willing to give him a chance, I just don't like it at the onset.
If you can should be able to win at any level SO LONG as you recruit TO that "level." Hire the right staff - which he should have the $$$ to do - and I think we see this thing (finally) turn around.
I'm no expert on basketball hires.... but my gut tells me this guy will get us into the top half of the Big Ten standings consistently.
Rutgers is the Black Hole of college basketball. People should be happy Hobbs could find someone with success at any level of D1 that is willing to put his career on the line at RU.
Yep, and the fact that our first 2 choice told us "no thanks" should have been a sign that no one with a proven career at this level would even answer the phone, let alone talk to us. Wasn't Eddie our third choice last time as well?
I'll flip that. Rutgers has one of best Freshman in the Big Ten. If he can stay two more years and you can get one other very good and three Big Ten serviceable players, we will be in the top half of the Big Ten in three years. NYC, Jersey, Europe, Africa, the Carribean, JC, transfers, 5th year transfer...a lot of ways to find those extra pieces IF you can ID talent, recruit, and COACH, you can get it DONE at Rutgers. In the long run, it would potentially not take much for recruits to favor RU over St Johns, SHU, UConn and be HUGE. This a much easier path than football.
this is a very good hire--ignore the usual malcontents
plus he was the starting PG under Calhoun making it deep into the tourney...I think he has some experiences to share with him...
Let him donate some of his salary to RU's bball program. He did it at Stoney. I think he will be a great worker.
For some reason people on message boards think all coaches that their teams hire should come with Championships and Highlights..lol.
wow 19,000 posts and 19 likes..I wonder why?
Negative much?
can we let RUfan have his opinion without personally attacking him. I can see his point yet I do not agree with totally because i feel this guy is probably the best we could get given the unattractiveness of the job. Unlike Jordan, Pikiell can coach and that automatically gives us a shot to get better. Its a question of ceiling so he needs to really get early success and somewhat lucky with recruiting.
I do think that the northeast school low majors are not as strong as the pool of coaches out in the midwest or elsewhere. I would have made a run at Jacobsen from Northern Iowa because I like coaches that beat major programs. Pikiell has a lot to prove with that as I think competition out east is far lesser than elsewhere in the country.
In the end Im okay with this hire. I do like guys with have xs and os and thats what he has
I do think that the northeast school low majors are not as strong as the pool of coaches out in the midwest or elsewhere. I would have made a run at Jacobsen from Northern Iowa because I like coaches that beat major programs. Pikiell has a lot to prove with that as I think competition out east is far lesser than elsewhere in the country.
In the end Im okay with this hire. I do like guys with have xs and os and thats what he has
Voted "other" for somewhere in between satisfied and disappointed...will Hobbs surround Pikiell with a real staff? That is a major question for me. Need to see more to get to "cautiously optimistic".
Previous jobs for current B1G men's basketball coaches:
Illinois - John Groce - Ohio, MAC
Indiana - Tom Crean - Marquette, Big East (also a top 10 basketball program IMO)
Iowa - Fran McCaffery - Siena, MAAC
Maryland - Mark Turgeon - Texas A&M, SEC
Michigan - John Beilein - West Virginia, Big East - before that, Richmond
Michigan State - Tom Izzo - was an assistant at MSU - never a head coach in college before
Minnesota - Richard Pitino - FIU, Sun Belt when he was there
Nebraska - Tim Miles - Colorado State, MWC
Northwestern - Chris Collins - assistant at Duke, never a head coach before
Ohio State - Thad Matta - Xavier, A-10
Penn State - Pat Chambers - Boston University, America East
Purdue - Matt Painter - Southern Illinois, Missouri Valley
Rutgers - Steve Pikiell - Stony Brook, America East
Wisconsin - Greg Gard - assistant at Wisconsin, never a head coach before
I'd say the MAC, MAAC, Sun Belt, and America East are all about even in hoops. That's five of the 14 coaches now. Two of them were assistants promoted from within, one an assistant from another team. Six of the coaches were head coaches in better hoops conferences: Big East, SEC, Big East, Mountain West, A-10, and Missouri Valley. Three of those are still mid-major conferences, too (MWC, A-10, and MVC).
America East is below all those other conferences easily. Ohio and Siena dwarf Stony Brook. The only two coaches around Pickiell's level are Chambers and Pitino and Wojo. No surprise that these schools seem to have struggled the most in the Big 10....and Chambers and Wojo are moving their programs forward but its a slow crawl to move up the ladder
I just guess my expectations were unrealistic. Thought we could do better but sounds like a solid hire. Hopefully will become a great hire and turn the program. My support will never waiver no matter who was hired.
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And those other schools made investments in basketball. This is best Rutgers could do. Not even the ugly ducklings want to try to take us to the dance. Hoping to be surprised by how this hire turns out. I guess setting expectations low allow for a higher ceiling next season. For now "meh" is best that can describe feelings on this one.
That's true there are successes and there are failures. But that's why there are ADs. It's their job to find the successes otherwise in the end they themselves become failures too.
I think this is the best hire we could hope for in light of the terrible reputation, lack of facilities, and historical lack of commitment to the program. By reputation he is a solid x and o's guy. He is a hard worker. Folks in the NYC basketball world like and respect him. He pays attention to academics and character.
Here is the potential downside. Top tier recruits are not going to be swayed to RU because of this hire. Will RU hire strong and successful recruiters as assistants. Will RU be willing to overpay for such assistants. Will the RU recruiting budget be substantially increased. Will we be able to demonstrate that a practice facility and other program upgrades will be in place within 2-3 years. If all of the foregoing can be accomplished we will have an opportunity to recruit kids in the 100-150 range. McDuffie from Wichita State, and Myles Davis from Xavier (both former NJ high school players) are the type of kids we could have the potential to obtain. If such kids arrive on a consistent basis and stay four years we will be in the best shape we have been in for 30 years. Moreover, within four years we will have the potential to be a middle of the pack Big Ten team.
I do not expect significant transfers out of the program this year. I believe the players will like and respect the new coach right off the bat. With respect to Sanders, it will be all about whether he wants to head overseas to play immediately. With Freeman, I have no idea what the true issues are with him. If those issues can be addressed in a positive manner and he returns that will be a plus.
If everyone returns next season I envision a 12-14 win year with less blowouts. We still have a very long way to go, but it could be a more competitive product on the court. It is a least a start. We could not obtain any of the elite level coaches or those a step below. In many respects this hire is reminiscent of Bannon, Waters, Rice, etc...Perhaps if we learn the lessons from their failures this regime can improve the arc of the program.
Here is the potential downside. Top tier recruits are not going to be swayed to RU because of this hire. Will RU hire strong and successful recruiters as assistants. Will RU be willing to overpay for such assistants. Will the RU recruiting budget be substantially increased. Will we be able to demonstrate that a practice facility and other program upgrades will be in place within 2-3 years. If all of the foregoing can be accomplished we will have an opportunity to recruit kids in the 100-150 range. McDuffie from Wichita State, and Myles Davis from Xavier (both former NJ high school players) are the type of kids we could have the potential to obtain. If such kids arrive on a consistent basis and stay four years we will be in the best shape we have been in for 30 years. Moreover, within four years we will have the potential to be a middle of the pack Big Ten team.
I do not expect significant transfers out of the program this year. I believe the players will like and respect the new coach right off the bat. With respect to Sanders, it will be all about whether he wants to head overseas to play immediately. With Freeman, I have no idea what the true issues are with him. If those issues can be addressed in a positive manner and he returns that will be a plus.
If everyone returns next season I envision a 12-14 win year with less blowouts. We still have a very long way to go, but it could be a more competitive product on the court. It is a least a start. We could not obtain any of the elite level coaches or those a step below. In many respects this hire is reminiscent of Bannon, Waters, Rice, etc...Perhaps if we learn the lessons from their failures this regime can improve the arc of the program.
Some of us had unreasonably high expectations. As it was proven out, guys like Lonergan and Hurley are not interested in taking over this train wreck. Right now we need a hungry unproven coach to get this train wreck respectable. Then if we are back to respectability, either he stays and we continue to get better or he moves on and we are then in a position to get a higher profile coach.
Cautiously optimistic and hoping for the best. I believe that Pikiell is the best candidate that Hobbs could get to take the job.
I view him as a clear upgrade over Eddie and hope that we all support him.
I view him as a clear upgrade over Eddie and hope that we all support him.