[quote="Section9" post=340819][quote="SJU61982" post=340807][quote="Section9" post=340801][quote="SJU61982" post=340755][quote="Section9" post=340737][quote="SJU61982" post=340732][quote="Section9" post=340726][quote="Johnnie Drama" post=340712][quote="MainMan" post=340708][quote="SJU61982" post=340705]
Big guys? That's another story. That's where you may have a beef with Cluess's recruiting, but I'll stay open-minded, because he's proven everything else, IMO.[/quote]
Cluess' best players were arguably Mike Glover, who played like a beast down low, and 6'9 David Laury, who was the league MVP.[/quote]
You can throw in Jordan Washington as well.[/quote]
Yeah, they beat up on low mid major teams, how's that gonna fly in the BE? And I'm hot excusing Chris from his small ball either.[/quote]
These are exactly the same kind of questions Cluess faced when he went from high school ball to junior college.
He faced them again when he went from JC to college ball.
He faced them again when he went from D2 coaching, to D1 coaching.
The only constant in this, is that he has proven the so-called "experts" wrong every time. Maybe he won't this time, but IMO, the odds are overwhelmingly in his favor.[/quote]
All the steps you describe are baby steps compared to jumping to top D. 1 competition. I have absolutely no confidence that he pull it off at SJU.[/quote]
OK, what realistic candidate do you have more confidence in? And don't say "anybody", that's not an answer.
I can't believe that this many intelligent people, both fans and media, are so against his hiring. You can never be 100% sure of anybody, but he check all the marks for me.
Did you object to Fran's hiring? He came from the MAAC. Yes, he was unstable, but he had the program on the right track.
Would you have objected to us hiring Cooley, or Willard, at the times Providence and Seton Hall took them? Willard to the Hall surprised me at the time, I will admit, but it's worked out for them.
The MAAC is not a death knell for coaches moving to the big time. Quite a few of them have actually been very successful, and Cluess's resume is better then any of the three I just mentioned, at the time of the hiring (well, Fran won an NCAA game, so maybe not him, but definitely better then the other two).[/quote]
i'd take Scheyer over Cluess.
As far as Fran was concerned, it was a different scenario then. First he was a lot younger, Cluess is 60. And, yeah, Franny was a wacko, but who knew then, Fran was in his 30s and had long-term potential. I don't see Cleuss aging gracefully as our coach.
Fran brought in a fantastic local recruiting class. The dynamic has changed. Today virtually all those kids would go to prep schools out of the area. Think Cluess has the gravitas to chase after and sign 4* kids the majority of whom are outside the area? I don't.
You use Cooley and Willard as examples, and to answer your question, no I wouldn't have been pleased if we hired either. Yeah, they worked out but I'm just not willing to take the same chance with Cluess.[/quote]
I'm not big on Scheyer, though I admit some personel bias. Maybe he can do the job very well, but the record coming from Coach K's tree is not overly impressive.
Guys like Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins, Jeff Capel, et al. have usually been good for one nice run into the second weekend of the NCAAs (which I admit, would be real nice to get around here), but after that they flame out. It's kind of similar to what Mike Jarvis did here, and I know for a fact, that you were one of Jarvis's first detractors.
The only Duke assistant that's had prolonged success at one place is Mike Brey, and he's firmly entrenched in South Bend, so that's not happening.
Cluess gives us a better chance at sustained success, IMO. He's won everywhere he's been, and for a long time at that (except Suffolk, because he was only there one year). He deserves the chance to prove you and all of the naysayers wrong, which I think he'll do[/quote]
Mike, we'll just have to agree to disagree.
[/quote]
Wouldn't be the first time we've done that.