Coaching Blind Resumes

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EG#9

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Selection Sunday has done fantastic posts like this for tournament teams, and I thought I would try it for coaches. It might be obvious who these guys are, but please don't share if you know. All 3 of these guys actually coached in the same mid major conference

Candidate A: 12-6 in conference play this year. Will miss the NCAA tournament this year. Previous job: Low major head coach who went to two NCAA tournaments and won two regular-season titles in his 3 years on the job.

Notes in favor of Candidate A: Candidate A took over a program with a lot of turnover from the previous season and took them to a 12-6 regulars season including winning there last 5 games of the year. Candidate A had two of his transfers play major roles on this years team and has more talent coming in for the '20 season. Candidate A has by far the strongest track record as a recruiter of the 3 candidates as he's spent time on several high major staffs.

Notes against Candidate A: While his resume at his previous low major school is impressive, that school was winning at a high level in its league before he got there.

Candidate B: 11-7 in conference play this year. Will miss the NCAA tournament this year. Previous job: Mid/Low major head coach who had 3 winning conference seasons and one regular-season title in his 5 years.

Notes in favor of Candidate B: Candidate B was 11-7 in conference play this year with 4 of his top 5 players being his recruits even though he's in just his second season. His leading scorer was a Freshman and most of his rotation was Freshmen and Sophomores. Just 2 years ago, Candidate B reportedly beat out Candidate C for this mid major job. Candidate B left previous job(s) in better shape than he found them.

Notes against Candidate B: Candidate B has no real experience at the high major level and none as a recruiter. Candidate B has not coached his team to an NCAA tournament in his career.

Candidate C: 12-6 in conference play. Will go to the NCAA tournament this year. Previous job: Low major head coach who had 3 winning conference seasons and one regular season title in his 4 years.

Notes in favor of Candidate C: Candidate C will likely be going to his second straight NCAA tournament at his current job and his first season marked a significant turnaround for that program. Candidate C recruited one impact player who has has been a significant factor in what will be back to back NCAA tournament trips. While he did not make an NCAA tournament at his previous stop, he did leave the program in better shape than he found it.

Notes against Candidate C: His success at his current stop is largely tied to players he did not recruit including one current Senior who is one of the best players in program history. He has very little experience as a recruiter at the high major level having just spent a couple of years as an assistant at that level.

So who do you prefer Gopher fans? A, B, or C?
 

Fun post. I’d probably go for C.
 





I would go with A as well. Recruiting is huge here and that has to be part of the equation. Note -- at 12-6 he has the same record as the C coach that is going to the tournament.
 

C is still my front runner.

But I do like candidate A as well. Gave the conf first place team their only regular season loss (on the road to boot) Just didn't win enough games. They went 4-8 in their first 12 non-conf. And they bowed out early in the conf tourny, losing in the first round.


Mind you this conference had the #4 team in the nation as its front runner (conf record of 17-1). Then next five teams had conf records of: 12-6, 12-6, 12-6, 11-7, 11-7. o_O
 

EG#9 said:
Notes against Candidate C: His success at his current stop is largely tied to players he did not recruit including one current Senior who is one of the best players in program history.
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How true is this, precisely?

The starting Center was the conf defender of the year and freshman of the year, last season as a true freshman, and someone else mentioned that he was recruited by coach C.
 

A is TJ Otzelberger: Otzelberger was 17-15 at UNLV this year and was 70-33 at South Dakota State over 3 years prior to becoming UNLV coach last Spring. Previously he was an assistant at Iowa State and Washington and is very highly thought of by the Cyclone fan base. South Dakota State was very successful under Scott Nagy prior to Otzelberger's arrival at the school.

B is Niko Medved: Medved was 12-20 in his first year at Colorado State and 20-11 this season. Medved was 17-17 at Drake 3 seasons ago and was 62-70 at Furman over the 4 years prior. His only experience at a high major was at Minnesota when I believe he was promoted to an assistant while Jim Molinari was the interim coach. Niko got the Colorado State over fellow former Colorado State assistant Craig Smith.

C is Craig Smith: Smith was 28-7 in his first year at Utah State and 26-8 this year and was 79-55 at South Dakota prior to becoming the Aggies head coach. Smith got a critical recruit late recruit to boost his first season in C Neemias Queta from Portugal who has been a big factor in the success of Utah State. Unfortunately, he's the only guy Smith has brought in who has made a significant impact on the court to date. This year a JUCO transfer named Alphonso Anderson is the 7th man to join Queta as Smith recruits to get consistent minutes on a tournament team.

I thought this was an interesting exercise because you can really create a narrative that makes any of these 3 coaches a more attractive than the other 2 (and I am not suggesting any of them should be at/near the top of the list at Minnesota). Since nobody chose B, I'll make a brief case for Niko Medved. He's the only one of the 3 who is playing largely his own players in the Mountain West Conference and only finished a game back in the standings. It's not hard to envision Medved/Colorado State having the best record of the 3 next season. It took until his 3rd season, but Medved turned a losing Furman program in to team that went 11-7 and then 14-4 in conference play in the second half of his tenure. He'd only spend one year at Drake and took a team that was 5-13 in conference play the previous year to 10-8 in conference play. Obviously a high major school can't hire Niko Medved right now as it's just too tough of a sell to a hire a mid major guy who hasn't been to an NCAA tournament in any of his 3 stops as a head coach. I do think there are reasons to believe he's ascending though and could be the best of the 3 at some point (and the other 2 easily could be the best as well).

One thing researching these coaches has me feeling fairly confident of is that Craig Smith would be smart to jump to any high major who offers him this cycle or to sign a contract with a lot of security at Utah State. It's not hard to envision the Aggies taking a major step back on the floor next year with the departure of a generational player for that program in Sam Merrill and the potential loss of Queta to the NBA draft (he tested the process last offseason). Colorado State seems on the rise, UNLV gets a couple of nice transfers eligible next year (including former SDSU PG David Jenkins) and you still have San Diego State, Nevada, and the usually solid (for the MWC) Boise State under Leon Rice.
 




Neither. No home runs in that grouping. All down grades from Pitino.
 

EG#9 said:
A is TJ Otzelberger: Otzelberger was 17-15 at UNLV this year and was 70-33 at South Dakota State over 3 years prior to becoming UNLV coach last Spring. Previously he was an assistant at Iowa State and Washington and is very highly thought of by the Cyclone fan base. South Dakota State was very successful under Scott Nagy prior to Otzelberger's arrival at the school.

B is Niko Medved: Medved was 12-20 in his first year at Colorado State and 20-11 this season. Medved was 17-17 at Drake 3 seasons ago and was 62-70 at Furman over the 4 years prior. His only experience at a high major was at Minnesota when I believe he was promoted to an assistant while Jim Molinari was the interim coach. Niko got the Colorado State over fellow former Colorado State assistant Craig Smith.

C is Craig Smith: Smith was 28-7 in his first year at Utah State and 26-8 this year and was 79-55 at South Dakota prior to becoming the Aggies head coach. Smith got a critical recruit late recruit to boost his first season in C Neemias Queta from Portugal who has been a big factor in the success of Utah State. Unfortunately, he's the only guy Smith has brought in who has made a significant impact on the court to date. This year a JUCO transfer named Alphonso Anderson is the 7th man to join Queta as Smith recruits to get consistent minutes on a tournament team.

I thought this was an interesting exercise because you can really create a narrative that makes any of these 3 coaches a more attractive than the other 2 (and I am not suggesting any of them should be at/near the top of the list at Minnesota). Since nobody chose B, I'll make a brief case for Niko Medved. He's the only one of the 3 who is playing largely his own players in the Mountain West Conference and only finished a game back in the standings. It's not hard to envision Medved/Colorado State having the best record of the 3 next season. It took until his 3rd season, but Medved turned a losing Furman program in to team that went 11-7 and then 14-4 in conference play in the second half of his tenure. He'd only spend one year at Drake and took a team that was 5-13 in conference play the previous year to 10-8 in conference play. Obviously a high major school can't hire Niko Medved right now as it's just too tough of a sell to a hire a mid major guy who hasn't been to an NCAA tournament in any of his 3 stops as a head coach. I do think there are reasons to believe he's ascending though and could be the best of the 3 at some point (and the other 2 easily could be the best as well).

One thing researching these coaches has me feeling fairly confident of is that Craig Smith would be smart to jump to any high major who offers him this cycle or to sign a contract with a lot of security at Utah State. It's not hard to envision the Aggies taking a major step back on the floor next year with the departure of a generational player for that program in Sam Merrill and the potential loss of Queta to the NBA draft (he tested the process last offseason). Colorado State seems on the rise, UNLV gets a couple of nice transfers eligible next year (including former SDSU PG David Jenkins) and you still have San Diego State, Nevada, and the usually solid (for the MWC) Boise State under Leon Rice.
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This. Many Smith supporters don't agree.
 

EG#9 said:
A is TJ Otzelberger: Otzelberger was 17-15 at UNLV this year and was 70-33 at South Dakota State over 3 years prior to becoming UNLV coach last Spring. Previously he was an assistant at Iowa State and Washington and is very highly thought of by the Cyclone fan base. South Dakota State was very successful under Scott Nagy prior to Otzelberger's arrival at the school.

B is Niko Medved: Medved was 12-20 in his first year at Colorado State and 20-11 this season. Medved was 17-17 at Drake 3 seasons ago and was 62-70 at Furman over the 4 years prior. His only experience at a high major was at Minnesota when I believe he was promoted to an assistant while Jim Molinari was the interim coach. Niko got the Colorado State over fellow former Colorado State assistant Craig Smith.

C is Craig Smith: Smith was 28-7 in his first year at Utah State and 26-8 this year and was 79-55 at South Dakota prior to becoming the Aggies head coach. Smith got a critical recruit late recruit to boost his first season in C Neemias Queta from Portugal who has been a big factor in the success of Utah State. Unfortunately, he's the only guy Smith has brought in who has made a significant impact on the court to date. This year a JUCO transfer named Alphonso Anderson is the 7th man to join Queta as Smith recruits to get consistent minutes on a tournament team.

I thought this was an interesting exercise because you can really create a narrative that makes any of these 3 coaches a more attractive than the other 2 (and I am not suggesting any of them should be at/near the top of the list at Minnesota). Since nobody chose B, I'll make a brief case for Niko Medved. He's the only one of the 3 who is playing largely his own players in the Mountain West Conference and only finished a game back in the standings. It's not hard to envision Medved/Colorado State having the best record of the 3 next season. It took until his 3rd season, but Medved turned a losing Furman program in to team that went 11-7 and then 14-4 in conference play in the second half of his tenure. He'd only spend one year at Drake and took a team that was 5-13 in conference play the previous year to 10-8 in conference play. Obviously a high major school can't hire Niko Medved right now as it's just too tough of a sell to a hire a mid major guy who hasn't been to an NCAA tournament in any of his 3 stops as a head coach. I do think there are reasons to believe he's ascending though and could be the best of the 3 at some point (and the other 2 easily could be the best as well).

One thing researching these coaches has me feeling fairly confident of is that Craig Smith would be smart to jump to any high major who offers him this cycle or to sign a contract with a lot of security at Utah State. It's not hard to envision the Aggies taking a major step back on the floor next year with the departure of a generational player for that program in Sam Merrill and the potential loss of Queta to the NBA draft (he tested the process last offseason). Colorado State seems on the rise, UNLV gets a couple of nice transfers eligible next year (including former SDSU PG David Jenkins) and you still have San Diego State, Nevada, and the usually solid (for the MWC) Boise State under Leon Rice.
Click to expand...

Smith had the number one recruiting class in the conference last year and with the fluidity of kids leaving and coming in, he will be fine. If he doesn't win the conference next year no one will hold it against him. He's also just too good to let them drop to the bottom. Guys that are the level that he is imo wont have years where they just fall through the floor. Their floor is at least top 5 in the conference. They also bring back quite a bit of good talent.
 



All depends what a "major step back on the floor" looks like.

SDSU was #4 in the nation. So no way Utah St was going to win the conf this year. Will SDSU maintain that dominance next year?

The next five teams had conf records of 12-6,12-6,12-6,11-7,11-7. That's going from #2 in the conf, to #6, like nothing.
 

And certainly, losing Queta would probably be as harmful to them as losing Oturu will be to us, for next season.
 

alchemy2u said:
Neither. No home runs in that grouping. All down grades from Pitino.
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It doesnt need to be a home run to be an upgrade to Pitino. A patented Maueresqe soft single to left, with no chance of advancing base runners more than one base, is all it would take.
 

Thing is, I bet these guys don't actually think Pitino is a good coach.

They just hate people advocating for firing him on here, so they pretend to be fighting for him on here. That's what it seems, to me.
 

USAF said:
It doesnt need to be a home run to be an upgrade to Pitino. A patented Maueresqe soft single to left, with no chance of advancing base runners more than one base, is all it would take.
Click to expand...
Ah, so your standards are very low.
 




Smith is still #1 on my list, but I would also be happy with Otzelberger. TJ and Nate Oats were the top two on my list last year if the Gophers were going to make a move then, with Smith as the third option.

But after more research, Smith is my #1 today. He has done more with less at multiple stops. If you want to downgrade Smith because he inherited Merrill, you have to do the same thing for Otzelberger who inherited Daum at SDSU.
 

TJ is at UNLV. Hired March 2019. No freshmen on the team this year. https://unlvrebels.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/2019-20?&sort=class

Looks like they had a bunch of transfers (1 JUCO, 4 from four-year, including one from South Dakota St) https://247sports.com/college/unlv/Season/2019-Basketball/Commits/

EDIT: wow, actually the transfer situation was much more than that. Tons transferred out, and in, according to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_UNLV_Runnin'_Rebels_basketball_team

#1 MWC class for 2020. https://247sports.com/college/unlv/Season/2020-Basketball/Commits/



I will say this. If we regrettably miss on Smith this year, due to Coronavirus or whatever reason -- I believe Smith will be a P5 coach somewhere next season -- and UNLV blows up next year, I would absolutely advocate for TJ to be the target.
 




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